Sam,
To clarify my comments on the Parsifal's bass:
On most music, you will probably find it absolutely satisfying down to the lowest registers. However, certain recordings will reveal the shortcomings of the underdamped Verity approach versus the powered, highly damped Vandy bass system. Specifically, you may want to listen to these speakers with African pop music featuring tuned drums. (Peter Gabriel's Last Tempation of Christ Soundtrack features descending drum patterns at the conclusion of several tracks.) The difference will be obvious. Also, any well recorded kick drum will probably highlight the Vandy's advantage, albeit less dramatically.
I personally would recommend auditioning the speakers with this material (or other similarly revealing music) before spending this kind of money.
On balance, I still prefer the Parsifal. They sing with one voice - one that is tremendously satisfying from the mid-bass up, and a bit less satisfying below that ...but ONLY when you have chosen music that shows off these specific shortcomings. For my listening habits, that is a pretty rare event.
Incidentally, you may prefer the Verity mid bass sound on some material - the speaker imparts just a touch of mid bass warmth that can be addictive on small jazz combos and other small scale acoustic music. While Vandy's also have a reputation for warmth, I found that the 5As sound a bit "dry" in this region (by comparison to either the Parsifals or, for that matter, any of the passive Vandersteen speakers). One man's "warm" is another's "euphonic", just as one man's "tight" is another's "dry".
If this description troubles you, absolutely AUDITION FIRST!
good luck,
Marty
To clarify my comments on the Parsifal's bass:
On most music, you will probably find it absolutely satisfying down to the lowest registers. However, certain recordings will reveal the shortcomings of the underdamped Verity approach versus the powered, highly damped Vandy bass system. Specifically, you may want to listen to these speakers with African pop music featuring tuned drums. (Peter Gabriel's Last Tempation of Christ Soundtrack features descending drum patterns at the conclusion of several tracks.) The difference will be obvious. Also, any well recorded kick drum will probably highlight the Vandy's advantage, albeit less dramatically.
I personally would recommend auditioning the speakers with this material (or other similarly revealing music) before spending this kind of money.
On balance, I still prefer the Parsifal. They sing with one voice - one that is tremendously satisfying from the mid-bass up, and a bit less satisfying below that ...but ONLY when you have chosen music that shows off these specific shortcomings. For my listening habits, that is a pretty rare event.
Incidentally, you may prefer the Verity mid bass sound on some material - the speaker imparts just a touch of mid bass warmth that can be addictive on small jazz combos and other small scale acoustic music. While Vandy's also have a reputation for warmth, I found that the 5As sound a bit "dry" in this region (by comparison to either the Parsifals or, for that matter, any of the passive Vandersteen speakers). One man's "warm" is another's "euphonic", just as one man's "tight" is another's "dry".
If this description troubles you, absolutely AUDITION FIRST!
good luck,
Marty