The $3,600 gamble

Very interesting comments regarding the Vandersteen versus ZU equation.  
I've spent a lot of time with a friends pair of Vandy 3A Sig, using similar ARC gear and same songs/res level.  Two different monsters.  Once one add's the Radian upgrade to the Omen Def's, the prices of these two speakers brand new is near par.  I've been very lucky to go back and forth listening to mine and same said friend with 3A's, the differences are much smaller than one would expect.  The Vandy's certainly go deeper unassisted, but the liveliness of the ZU's is their hallmark trade.   This same friend also has a pair of VR33's and to me, they are not a speaker I can live with for past ten minutes of moderate listening.  I was shocked at how much more I like the Vandy over the VR33.  Their size, weight, driver configuration is similar with rear firing 10" drivers. 

In the end, no amount of listening to the Vandy 3A Sig would ever move me from my ZU Omen Def mkII's with Radian's.  The obvious difference for me is recognizing I like the energy of a super efficient speaker, the immediacy of voice presence and especially drum thwack.  Those who like a little more polite, evenly distributed frequency response are well served by the Vandy's.  No losers in this price range and or options available. 

Welcome to the Omen Def club Greg!

Last Lemming and Impeculies, your comments coincide with mine regarding the Zu. They do seem to do things right.
However, I still find the Vandy's a touch more refined and believable in the soundstage and depth of sound reproduction.

The best way for me to explain the sound of the Zu’s would be to make an analogy:

Its like a photo vs a great work of art of what the photo is of, for example, if you were to see a photograph of a scene Monet painted you could argue that the photo is a more acurate representation of the scene Monet painted, however the Monet painting would most likely move you far more. The fact the Monet’s fetch millions probably backs this up. This isn’t to say the photo isn’t nice, but it’s very specific, there is little room for interpretation. The Monet allows each person to see in there mind their own interpretation that moves them the most, it’s more vivid, it’s the essence of the scene distilled to the viewer through an imperfect medium. It’s the same reason books are better than the movies they are based on, and I feel Vinyl is better than the Digital. The Zu’s are like the Monet, not perfect, but the music is rendered in such a way that the parts that are presented to you move you. At least for me. I have both types of audio systems and luckily I have the option to look at great photos (my Thiel’s) and paintings (my Zu’s) depending on my mood. Neither is right or wrong, just deferent presentations.

And if my analogy is flawed I’m ok with that if it fits across my gist of what I’m after so please don’t read too much into it;)

I like your analogy last, I think it's appropriate from a visual perspective. As I read through this thread I couldn't help but think to myself "Gee, I bought my whole system without hearing any of my components" which is probably something I shouldn't admit. I did do extensive research on each piece and for me it has worked out just fine. Had I waited to actually hear each component I would probably still be waiting instead of enjoying music. 

Can’t you audition speakers over the phone? Just have the seller hold up his iPhone and listen......

ok that was a joke but upon rereading it I did realize myself and a friend did distinctly hear the benefits of a power conditioner from a YouTube demo over my iPhone.  I was shocked.