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Vandersteen Treo CT

Hey guys. I am planning to purchase a pair of Vandersteen Treo CTs and looking for guidance from current owners about pairing them with my current equipment:
1. Simaudio Moon W-3 Solid State
2. Conrad-Johnson PV-14L Hybrid Pre-Amp
3. Oppo BDP 105D CD/SACD/DVD
4. Kimber 8TC speaker cable
5. Kimber Silver Streak Interconnect
6. Synergistic research interconnect
7. Current Speakers: Vienna Acoustics Mozart (originals)
8. Room dimensions: 14W x 23L x 9H

Once I replace the Mozarts with the Treo CTS, I have a few questions:

1. Will my components be able to drive the Treos?
2. Are these components a match for optimal enjoyment?

I would appreciate any other advice or recommendations you can provide. On a side note, Once I purchase the Treos, my budget is blown, so no upgrades for a while.

Thanks for listening and reading.

Cheers,

Steve
stevenyc
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,444 posts
 
I have 5A's...the finish is called Kowazinga....gorgeous.  A furniture repairman that was here fixing a scratch in a table said that the finish on the speakers was masterful.  Vandersteen gets along very well with Audioquest (the cable used in Richard's speakers) The better the electonics, the better the sound out of the speakers
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
I'm so sorry that I'm late to the party. lol.  Former Treo owner and now Quatro owner.  Someone awesome purchased my Cherry Treo's.  I LOVED them....Happy with the Quatro's in my set up, but those Treo's are amazing and the CT version is very very special.

I have mine painted Audi Havana Black. If someone can afford the upgrade, man are they worth it.  They will paint them any auto color you can think of.  I work with wood and have done plenty of veneer work.  It's not easy and Vandersteen does as good a job as anyone.  Please keep us posted.  I too LOVE the Zebra wood as well as String's Kowazinga.  I also love Wenge (a bear to work with, but so pretty).

I use the Ayre AX5/20 and used that as well as the AX7e with the Treo's. The special thing about the Tree is that they scale better than anyting I've heard in that price range.  Any zero feedback amp will usually sound best as Johnny has told you.  Even those Quicksilver amps are crazy good with the AQ cables.  

If you can ever afford the Mimas integrated, GO FOR IT!!!!  You won't ever look back and you can get the DAC built in.  Jim White knows what he's doing.  If I was putting a system together from scratch, I'd pair the Treo with the Mimas/DAC.  Then I'd get the small Innuos server using Roon and hook that up with any DBS AQ balanced interconnect and a bi wired AQ speaker cable.

That system isn't too much money for all you get and it's crazy musical and fun.  

Funny as I just realized I sold my system to Bob and Jim, lol...  I love you guys.
gdnrbob
4,442 posts
 
Ctsooner isn't kidding about the cabinetry of Vandy speakers, and, I can vouch for his wood working abilities, too.

I just got an Ayre KX-R (non Twenty) and wanted to say how great it sounds. It is replacing an AtmaSphere MP-3 for the time being.
I am running it to my Atma MA-1's to my Treo's. Once, I get a feel for the sound, I will switch to the MX-R's for comparison.
To my ears, Ayre truly compliments Vandy speakers. And, as Ctsooner said, Zero Feedback amps seem to be a good match.
Bob
stevenyc OP
23 posts
 
Greetings TwoLeftEars,

Can you tell me what the plane of the drivers means? I'm a bit slow on the uptake. 

Cheers
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,317 posts
 

@stevenyc Hi.  Imagine a curtain hung vertically from the ceiling of your listening room down to the floor (like theatre curtains on a stage), at a certain distance from your listening chair.  If when it hangs down it just touches the front of your speakers, that would be on the plane of the drivers.

Soundstage.  Some speakers project more forward soundstages, and some more laidback.  Some soundstages are deep, some quite shallow.  Other acoustic factors (beyond the speakers) also enter into this.

Forward: the curtain now marks the front of the soundstage, and it appears to be quite close to you, closer than the front of the speakers.

Laid-back: the curtain appears to be hanging somewhere behind the speaker cabinets.

Deep: soundstage expands all the way to the front wall (front wall=the wall behind the speakers), or even appears to be outside the room, beyond the front wall.

Shallow: etc. etc.

Curtain is not the best analogy because the plane is visually and acoustically transparent, but perhaps that gives you an idea.

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