Need advice/opinion in choosing Vandy 2ci or Thiel 1.5

to the point made by @holmz

i have personally had thiel 1.5s and 2.2s in the past, (in addition to hearing a very close friend’s system with 3.6’s many many times with different amps) and i currently have vandy 3a sigs (among other speakers)

so while i may fit into the theory of confirmation bias in favor of vandy’s, i would say that my preference for vandy’s and the sound they present is not developed without ample experience to thiels as an alternative

both are well respected brands with illustrious histories but the longstanding vandy sound is more natural and musical to me, less overtly detailed, lean and ’hifi’ sounding - obviously the choice of ancillaries matter in using either brand

@jjss49 My 2C have not been overly sensitive to amplifiers. They sound, and have sounded, good with most amplifiers that drove them (PSE, VTL, NAD, PrimaLuna). I only wish that some of that amps lasted longer.

I’m sure that the newer Vandys are better.

so while i may fit into the theory of confirmation bias in favor of vandy’s, i would say that my preference for vandy’s and the sound they present is not developed without ample experience to thiels as an alternative

The Thiels were also speakers that were time and phase correct. So one is comparing speakers that are more technically closer to each other than two wildly different different speakers. Hence tjhe comment:

“One cannot go too wrong with either”

My confirmation bias point was that people that like Vandys are also people that may not like Klipsch or other bright and hard to listen to speakers. If the OP had suggested Klipsch, then the comments would be filled with Klipsch fanbois (or fans of some other speaker brand),


As I mentioned at the end:

… one should be mindful that the group has a high degree of bias, irregardless of the fact that they are probably right.

@holmz, I don’t swap gear in and out all that often, especially speakers. I’ve kept speakers for decades. What usually causes such changes; is a change in rooms. The room / speaker relationship can not be under emphasized. And this is Audiogon, changes are not that difficult.
@audiomax, For what little it’s worth; I didn’t much care for Thiel’s earlier 1 series, but the 1.5’s and later 1.6’s are to my ears much better, and favorites of mine for small rooms. I should point out that both the Thiel’s even more so for the Vandy’s, need proper room setup more so than some others to perform their best. Small rooms often offer less flexibility in this regard. Both brands offer co-axial designs that are much more forgiving of compromised room set up. Again for what little it’s worth; as much as I think the Vandy 2’s just might be the best overall value in the history of audio, I’ve never much cared for Vandersteen’s 1 series. I firmly believe that one should buy amps for speakers, not speakers for amps. With that said, your current proposed amp will probably work somewhat better with the Vandy 1’s than the Thiel CS 1.5’s.

i am much in agreement with the recent posts by @holmz and @unsound

it was some 20 years ago, but my one very notable point of recall on the thiel 1.5’s was their lack of height... short speaker that while spacious and clear and fairly well balanced, seemed to have the soundstage rather low (waist height), no doubt due to their own rather diminutive stature - i remember at that time living in seattle, i traded my regular loveseat sofa for a low beanbag to ’get down’ to hear the sound properly hahaha

2jjss49, I’ve heard this criticism across various Thiels including larger models from time to time. My experience suggests that this might be more to do with the sloping baffle and ceiling reflections. When I moved from an 8’ ceiling to one with a 15’ peak the soundstage with the very same system including Thiel CS 2 speakers (soon after changed) expanded quite a bit vertically. A bit of room treatment could go a long was to mitigating what you’ve described. FYI, Most Thiel's and Vanderseens are designed to be listened to at standard seating positions, (which interestingly varies by only a few inches for almost everyone) at a minimum distance of 8' for time alignment driver integration.