My Venture into Hifi with Vandersteen Model 1

Adam18, OP may very well love the Vandersteen/MAC combo, they are certainly great amps and hard not to have a ball with those beautiful monoblocks, but the Vandersteen 1 is not an ideal speaker for a low wattage tube amp, that isn't simply a matter of opinion with tons being equally valid, all Vandersteen speakers need high current power to sound their best, and that is not what the MC30s will provide. Whether you like a certain type of sound or not, and which is better in in many cases simply personal preference, but matching an amp to a speaker in terms of power (for loudness) and current (for frequency balance) is a bit more scientific and measurable than simple preference. I think OP has a very good entry-level speaker, and an all-time classic amplifier, but they are not ideally suited to each other - but I don't think that will keep him from being moved by the music. OP has much to be content about, but after all, this is a froum for audiophile nudnicks and system building (and the MC30s can be part of a great, not just good system) and he solicited opinions about the pairing.

Pubul57, Vandersteen speakers with large impedance swings and low impedance of 2 ohms? That couldn't be any farther from the truth. In fact, Vandersteen speakers are very easy to drive and extremely tube friendly. The impedance is 6.8 ohms +/- 2ohms and 90db efficient.

McIntosh MC30 monos will be plenty of power and it should sound good depending on associated equipment and cables of course.

Read The Absolute Sound review. www.vandersteen.com/pages/1b_rv.html

Definitely do not sell those amps! It is tempting to use the funds to purchase new stuff, just don't do it. If you do, 20 years from now you will be posting to some audio forum how you were given a mint set up MC30 tube monos but you sold them for some trendy amp of the month.

(((Merlin TSMs - they are small monitors, and will not have the bass of the Vandersteen, but they are phenomenal speakers down to about 40Hz))
40 hz yea with 12 DB of wall gain maybe
Pubic 57 why would you confuse him to go to a less efficient merlin minibox when he already has a full range easy tube load 90 db 8 ohm phase and time correct speaker
Vandies are also amazingly good with live recorded music.

Pubul57

with respect, i have no idea what you talk about. He bought his speakers for a "prayer" which I assume is low price. He already has amp. Someone who has both speaker AND amp and is asking other people what they sound like instead of just putting them together and seeing himself is crazy. It is like I am man with sight who has picture and asks people who have not seen picture asking other people what it look like.

Adam18 is correct. Play equipment, listen, and learn to trust own ear.

Dhunte21: Personal I would not play 90db sensitive speaker with 30W amp, but then my room is very big. I learn more about speaker by buying "get better sound" by jeff smith and playing with placement than hours spent on this forum listening to armchair audiophile who claim to predict what equiment sound like and what you like without knowing anything about your space and not knowing you. If you wish to develop a brain in this hobby, you need to learn to trust your own ears.

I will say this -- anything below middle C, or if you are more generous, an octave below middle C, is combination of your speaker plus your room. Therefore, you cannot really say what any amp/speaker combo sound like in upper bass on down because it does not take room interaction into account. You have speakers so you can try this yourself and you will hear what I am saying