Best Vanishing speakers

Soundlab A-1's- hard to drive, but when driven properly they will change your life.

I agree with the comments about Soundlab and Maggies, and probably should include the Quads. All of these are capable of turning into pure music, where the source appears to change with every recording...into a true to life musical experience. Of these, the Soundlab is the best, and unfortunately, absolutely the most expensive.

I have had both Soundlabs A-1s and the Vandersteen 5. I far prefer the Vandy. It is both transparent and dynamic, and handles the entire frequency range well. Soundstaging is unmatched and the midrange is crystal clear. It is due for a major update early next year. At approximately $10,000, the 5s simply can't be beat and the longer I listen to it, the better I like it, unlike the A-1s whose limitations began to wear after time. One note of caution. The Vandy 5s must be biwired. Good Luck

The limitations of the Soundlab A-1's is the limitation of the other components in the system, or a room problem. In the event that better results are achieved by a cone speaker like the Vandersteen 5, I am certain of this. One of the members of my audio group listens here with me every week, and he has a pair of Vandersteen 5's and nearly the identical equipment as me everywhere else in his system. The point of this? Not only do I think I have superior performance, he thinks so too. Do not consider this as an attack on you or Vandersteen products, I owned Vandersteen 4A's as my last speaker before Soundlab, I had (relative to most systems) a superior system with the Vandersteen, and my listening partner (with Vandy 5's) has an even better system than I did with my 4A's. But as already stated, we both prefer the U-1 Soundlab as the reference with all things being equal. By the way, we are both all high end tube everywhere, analog as our reference, and use properly applied room treatment, it works for both systems, as the room dimensions are also similar. Best wishes.

I had speakers in the range of EPOS ES11, Sonus Faber Electa Amator, Totem Model 1, Dynaudio Contour 1.1, Audience 40... In all honesty, if properly set-up i a room, all speakers will disappear. Its a matter of how they are set-up!!! And I 'm not talking expensive front end equipment here, guys, the key is setting up. When these are done properly, any speaker will disappear!