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Vandersteen 5a. How refined a product are they

Im interested in this speaker and went to hear them at a dealers yesterday and they sounded only adequte. They seemed to disappear quite well for a large speaker and dynamics were incredible. They had the detail for sure, But lacked (dear I say- Magic!) I was wondering if there are any Vandy 5a owners who have been able to make peace with this speaker. It definitely Plays at louder levels without strain and thanks to the built in powered subwoofer, (12 inch bass drivers) I would be able to drive it With my moderately powered tube amps which otherwise would have some difficulty with a speaker with the 5a' s size and capabilities. I would greatly appreciate any info including some of the associated equipment which you 5a owners are using. Thanks
fjn04
no_money
638 posts
 
5a is an awesome speaker, hopefully it was the setup. At this price level a home audition is mandatory though.

Didac....calibrate your hearing? That's a new one to me.
fjn04 OP
1,561 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback. I do think the 5a could have been set up better and they were certainly very resolved w/ deep articulate bass and obviously will be very revealing of assoc. equipt.. I have a VAC 220 sig. Amp (4-kt88 per mono chassis) ,First Sound pres del Mk. 2 linestage, Aestetix Io mk. 2 phono, AA capitole 2 digital, Basis 2500, GRaham 2.2, Koetsu RSP cart, Koetsu standard red Cart. Kubala sosna emotion cabling and a 23L - 12 W- 8 high room. I did hear them at 2002 CES with the Tenor 75 and it was much better than my recent audition and the fact that they can be driven with fairly lower power is great because I would then have so many options for amplification. A home audition with this speaker just isnt happening. Thanks
vladimir
346 posts
 
What a didactical oxymoron. Vandersteen 5as are great speakers, better than the previous 5s and especially so at the price. As I am sure others have, I have listened to great speakers badly setup by dealers (in fact one of them was a Vandersteen 5 in Texas years ago) but that just mean the dealer isn't very good.
bruce_1
96 posts
 
Didactically,
Your pen name shows an admirable degree of self awareness.
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
The just-released issue of "The Audiophile Perfectionist" (Richard Hardesty's quarterly audio publication) contains a lengthy review of the both the technology and the sound quality of the Vandersteen 5A. Hardesty was the first audio store owner to carry Vandersteen speakers, and is arguably the most knowledgeable person about them, other than Richard V. himself. If you can borrow a copy of the new issue, there is a wealth of info about the Vandy 5A.
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