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Broken hearted...magnepan and vandersteen

I finally got an opportunity to hear the 1.7i magnepan. I will blame my ears and taste, but I was underwhelmed. I heard them with tweeters inside and outside for comparison. outside did sound a bit better. Then I allowed them to play the vandersteen quatro ct. The speakers disappeared into the music. Deep, tall, wide soundstage with excellent imaging and air around the different instruments. Full range sound. Thankfully the trio ct sounded almost the quatros equal. I really was ready to go with magnepan. I was surprised. All other speakers are sounding inferior now. 
glfrancis2
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
speakers like vandersteen force the tweeter and woofer to go beyond their usual limits. This is a compromise not an achievement. 
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,462 posts
 
I wouldn't screw around with Vandersteens......they sound wonderful in my house...just set them up properly....there's a lot to do to make them near their peak.  Once right is achieved all you have are smiles.  I have 5A's....a treat.  For me, furniture adjustments did the trick.
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
Vandersteen 60k flaghip speaker

22Hz-50kHz +/- 2dB

That's the only spec you get on their website. If their off axis response is something to be proud of which it should be at 60k then they ought to proudly provide these measurements. Every speaker designer worth his salt knows that off axis response is important. 


noromance's avatar
noromance
9,763 posts
 
@tomic601 I listened to them at a hotel demo for 2 hours on some top flight sources and AQ cables. They were good but not $150k good. Admittedly, it was a hotel. But other systems sounded better and they had their best shot in a big space.
mcreyn
293 posts
 
kenjit,

You should let Richard Vandersteen know that he has been doing it all wrong for the lasts 40 years and several hundred thousand pairs of speakers.  Maybe you can show him how to design a proper cross-over while you are at it as well as what he is doing wrong in designing his drivers.  
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