Heard Vandersteen Model 5's?

I've listened to them several times in 2 different settings at a local dealers. Some of the best sounds I have ever heard came from a piano black pair powered by Nagra tubes and a Goldmund cd player. Very 3 dimensional, bass is very customizable to each individual room. Sound better with high quality tubes. They are better than my von schweikert 4.5s overall, and smoother than my apogee mini-grands. See Robert Harley's review in the Absolute Sound. These are great $15K speakers for $10-12K

They are exceptional. I heard them with Wadia 860 Ayre K1 and Ayre V1. The cable was Nordost SPM. Beautiful midrange and highs. Exceptional soundstage depth. The music was smooth and alive. The bass and dynamics were a little soft and lacking in extension, but I believe that to be due to the cable and/or amp selection. I have not heard a better loudspeaker and if there are some (possibly Soundlab), I think you will have to pay a lot more.

Yes indeed. Excellent soundstaging the whole way around. The pair I heard was set up by Richard himself, who was on hand for question and discussion. They were powered by Rowland amps and pre with Straightwire cresendo and Essence cabling and cords. The source was provided via Theta. The sound was absolutely marvelous. You should give these a listen. Well worth the investment if you have the funds IMHO.

I have also heard them, and consistent with the previous posts, they are wonderful for the price. The beauty is that you can spend less on your amp and still get big sound with the powered subs in them. I was most impressed how they disappear into a room with incredible speed and time alignment. I also agree that they sound good with quality tube gear. I heard them on Audio Research VT100MKII, LS-25, Linn CD-20, and top of the line AudioTruth Cables -- Great System ($40K). Two thumbs up!!!

I recently sold a more expensive pair of speakers and subwoofer for the 5's. I auditioned many speakers and the 5's outperformed all of them regardless of price. I never realized how inarticulate the bass is in most speakers until I heard the 5's tuned for my room. I run them with Audio Valve Eklipse preamp and Challenger 115 monoblocks(I substituted EL-34s for 6550s so the wattage drops from 140) and Cardas Golden Reference throughout. I had to wait several months to get them which should tell you something about their popularity. They play music.