For Vandersteen owners & lovers: Which other brands do you like?

zimick

I ended up buying a pair of the Harbeth SLH 5 Anniversary about two years ago.

I've listened to the Harbeth 30 and 40 at Gig Harbor (WA) Audio (a fine store to visit)... sweet speakers! That "BBC sound" is special. It is interesting that their enclosures are pretty live, and are part of the sound they create much like the body of a guitar, with the resonances. Or so I have read. Richard V builds the cabinets for the Treo CT and Quatro (and the others I assume) with a box in a box, to eliminate as much cabinet resonance as possible (again, what I recall reading). Two different approaches, both right for each maker. That is the fascinating thing about speaker design. Magico takes it to the extreme, CNC milling their cabinets out of aluminum and using carbon fiber. VERY expensive, but they get an inert cabinet.

Someone else pointed out that the Treo is designed to go very near the front wall. which is something I need. The planars like Maggies do best 5-6 feet from the front wall, and my room is too small.

Cheers.

I’d try DeVore Fidelity - a little more open than Vandys and with low order crossovers.

what a lovely civil and helping thread…warms my heart….maybe just maybe there are great caring humans here after all….

Cast a wandering ear as far and wide as you want to…. i have crossed  oceans to hear gear that interested me. It like music is global. IF you get to California you know where to find me and Treo CT w sub3.

@islandmandan  Good on you and yours…grace peace and happiness . In my younger years i spent a bit of time surf fishing Steelhead on the wild sides of your Island… Paradise….

there is a lot of experience, wisdom and maturity in advice given… most if not all suggestions could certainly lead to musical bliss….. I won’t belabor all the various combinations of Vandy products new and or used that can also get you there…plenty of that going on the owners forum on the Vandy site.

enjoy the journey !

Jim

@russ69 @soix ;-) my absolute best to you…. much Grace in your helping posts….

Cabinet in a cabinet starts w Treo. It’s expensive… The 7 is cabinet in cabinet and a carbon fiber layer. The 1-2-3 aka sock series are too budget constrained to get the lower distortion cabinets, ditto the original sock Quattro. I will mention, ALL the Vandy cabinets are built in house in California…..

The 5 series are massively braced and use a very dense stack w milled cavity for the head assembly. The 5A is as mentioned a fantastic speaker….still today…. probably a bit much in your room… just my $.02.