Vandersteen Quatro CT

Hifiman, I completely agree.  I've heard most of the top speakers out there under 100k and I've heard a ton of the esoteric's too and yes the 7 mk 2 are still my favorites and it's not close.  I'm still trying to sell my original Treo's to upgrade to the Quatro.  I've heard Vandy's with subs on them and my favorite by far are still using Vandersteen subs. They have been specifically made to mate with his speakers and the way his amps mate with your own amplifier to not change the sound characteristic seems to be the key.  Not putting down other subs at all as they can sound excellent, just saying that if you are spending the money on a Treo or higher, you really need to go hear the Vandersteen subs before making a decision.  He really does know what he's doing, lol.  Glad that he's got a transition plan in place for when he retires, if he ever does. He's still young and LOVES this business and music.  It's cool that his kids are so involved and loving it too.  He still will answer the phone when folks call in with good questions on his gear.  That's so rare for the size company he has.  

I just heard this speaker for the first time and thought it was very nice.  It's definitely a step up from the Treos.

Lim, are you talking about the Quatro's being a step up from the Treo's or the 3a's?

The non-CT Treo.  I heard the Treo immediately before at my brother's house.

I owned Thiel 2.3s for a no. of years and have heard the higher-end Vandersteen models on a no. of occasions (sometime after purchase of my Thiels). My next speakers will be Vandersteen Quatro CT or Treo CT  (although I wish to check out the Golden Ear Triton models for a possible- and substantially more affordable- alternative, and see if they live up to their press). 
Re. Thiels, my model had some problems with edgy high-end (primarily with digital rather than analogue presentation (on my Rega planar 3 and then an older Linn LP12 with benz micro cart), but had all of the positive attributes of the Thiels as well, and were eventually tamed by component isolation, judicious cable selection, and dampening an overly-bright listening room that I had. I used them with an Ayre cd player and Ayre electronics, excellent their own right, but not the absolutely best match for the 2.3s. 
FWIW, I also heard the Thiel 2.4s sometime after I'd bought the 2.3's in a setup nearly identical to mine, and were definitely superior overall and without the edginess. Also, the folks with the (now-defunct) Audio Perfectionist journal, who had impeccable taste in gear and setup, were big fans of the Thiel line (though bigger fans of Vandersteen).
The Thiel are fabulous speakers, but a bit more system-sensitive than the Vandersteens, I'd say. While I've come to prefer the Vandersteen sound, it's easy to understand how many people would love their Thiels.