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B&W vs Vandersteen?

After a long search and lots of auditions I narrowed my options down to 2 very different yet excellent brands. I know they sound very different but still. For my 50 sq.meter living room with 5 meters between the wall and the sofa (something like 3,7 meters between the speakers and my ears) and approx. 2,4 meters distance between the centers of the speakers I'm choosing between B&W and Vandersteen at the moment. Each option has something going for and against it.

Vandersteen 3A Signature is

much cheaper than even 802, not to mention 801 and 800 and is not as difficult to drive. I can buy it right now.

It has glorious musical midrange and highs and sounds big.

Since Vandies are not as deep as B&W I can give them more space between the speakers and the wall - up to 1 meter (maximum 60 - 70 cm in case of B&W)

But I'm not sure if it can be as open and dyamic or as fast and tight with heavy metal and other modern rock music. Also I'm not sure it's perfect for movies because of the same PRAT issues.

And most likely I'll have to move away from the well known McIntosh line (I'm a Mac guy for many years now) since Mac and Vandersteen is not a perfect match and get back on audiophile treadmill of choosing amps etc.

The weird small-spades connections make any audition of cables almost impossible since I can only use cables specially made for Vandies.

B&W 800 or 801 or 802?

sound absolutely neutral and equally great with Carpenters and Celtic Frost.

The can be cranked up as high as possible without becoming shouty. Their speed must be perfect for HT use.

I can stay with Macs since they are a classic combo.

Demand huge and highly expensive amps.

Are much more expensive themselves. The only model from the old 800D line still available is 802 so unless I can find a good deal on used 801 and 802 I'll have to settle for 802s or start saving for new 800 Diamonds which I'll be able to afford by the end of this year with good luck...

What do you guys think? I know some would say - audition both at home and choose for yourself. Not possible at the moment and anyway I'm interested in your opinions!
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antonkk
mcreyn
293 posts
 
To me the Vandersteens are the clear winner. I had a pair of 3A sigs for a few months and found them to have incredibly tight bass when driven by a good high powered solid state amp. They also got quiet loud, but if you really crave high DB's may not be enough. FYI, I listen primarily to rock.

I sold the Vandies because I just couldn't part with my Maggie 2.7's and Velodyne ULD-12s (pair). The Vandersteens actually had tighter and deeper bass than that combo.
mcreyn
293 posts
 
One more thing, I have never cared for the B&W's, so I do have a bias. I have been told that they sound much better (different)when driven by the big McIntosh solid state amps.
ig316b
104 posts
 
Antonkk, I posted on your preamp amp question also. But one thing the Vandersteen's offer is the ability to improve upon the sound. If your stuck with only the 3A Signatures you can tailor the last octave or two with a pair of 2Wq's and increase the performance of the 3A Sig's. At one point I was deciding between the the B&W and Vandersteen myself. You have narrowed down two very synergitic systems, not sure if home audition is available but it seems that is the point your at because they can take on a different character in a different environment. By the way the Vandersteen's play Metallica, Creed and Nickleback just fine, just with a different presentation as mentioned earlier. Hope this helps.
vernneal's avatar
vernneal
438 posts
 
Keep the McIntosh and go for the B&W 801s. Classic combination that you cannot go wrong with The V Steens are more picky and have a much poorer resale value vs the B&Ws
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Antonkk, I'm coming back in late here, so maybe you already decided on a speaker, but I wanted to mention your room may be the determining factor. If you are set up on the short wall the Vandersteens don't work well without sufficient distance from the side walls. Also, with the rear firing woofer the speakers need to be farther into the room than some speakers.
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