Vandersteen 5a or Eggleston Andra II

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I live in So Cal and I can't find an Eggleston dealer nearby to audition the Andras, which is why I'd like to hear from those of you who have auditioned/purchased them.

My research generated another question regarding the Andra II: I read the Isobaric cabinet design and driver loading method is not as desireable as other speaker designs.

Can anyone with knowledge on this give more information on this?

Thanks in advance.

I own Andra IIs and I admit they take time and effort to set up perfectly. It was a long haul to get them sounding their best but once I got them set up right they sounded/sound fantastic. They image extremely well, have deep, tight bass and the soundstage they produce is very deep and very wide.

They sound damn accurate to me throughout most of the freq. spectrum but getting tight bass from them was a big challenge.

In my 14 by 18 foot room they produced too much boom so I invested in a great stack of bass traps. These lowered the boom substantially. My less than expert measurements (and my ears)show the room to be pretty flat - not perfect but close enough.

I have heard the 5As and I like them. But the 5As ,in my opinion, sound more colored than the Andras - the Andras sound very transparent to me while the 5As sounded like they were a major ingredient of the flavor of their system rather than a window to the gear upstream. This is how I view the Andras, as a clear window to the electronics and the source feeding them. Any change I make in my system has VERY obvious effects at the speakers.

I assume the 5a's adjustments would make them a snap to set up in most rooms. I never had a problem loading my listening room with traps to sort out the Andra's bass but I know not everyone can do this.

I was fascinated by the isobaric woofers when I first heard about them too. I haven't read anything really negative about this configuration. Can you post a link to the info you've read? It won't change my mind about the speakers though. I had them for a few months before I even knew they had two woofers in there!

I have Andra IIs in a 22' X 13.5' X 9' living room, no sound treatment but about 40 framed prints on the wall which breaks up a lot of wall reflection. I have never been a big fan of what seems to be called tight bass by audiophiles, because that isn't what you hear in a hall, either large like Carnegie or even in a small recital hall, since there is so much reflected sound at most points in the hall. When the AIIs are teamed with amps which can control the woofers (I use Mac 501s) they put out what sounds to me remarkably like what I hear live. As to setting them up, my experience is that they present such a wide soundstage with so much center fill, that as long as they are 2-3' from the back wall, 7-9' from each other, on some sort of device (I use Aurios Pros on a rug) to isolate them from the floor, and not too sharply angled in, moving them around (which isn't easy, anyway) didn't change the sound too much. I'm not challenging anyone else's experience, I'm just saying that I have found them about the easiest speakers to live with I have ever owned. (Now the original Andras--they weren't so easy....)

I own Andra IIs which replaced my Wilson WP7's that I owned for 2 years and prior to that Revel Salon's in this system set-up. Both of the speakers you are referring to are world class contenders and you really can't go wrong with either. A good friend has the Vandy 5's with Dartzeel gear along with EMM source, really nice system. In my opinion I prefer the Eggleston's and feel that they are just in another league over all, more musical and over all more convincing. Regarding set-up, I have not had any issues and found them to be very easy. Regarding the Vandy's and their built in amp does not impress me, I have Mac 501's driving the Andra's and feel the bass bettering the Vandy's. I have recently put the Andra's on Sistrum platforms and found positive changes in the sound characteristics along with presentation, I will leave them on the platforms for a few more months and then remove to finalize my over all thoughts. Other associated gear, Audio Research Ref 3 pre (I have a Supratek Sauv. pre. that I'm comparing right now) I have a Oracle 2000 transport connected via Stealth Sextet AES digital cable to a Accustic Arts Dac MK4 which is just a amazing combo. Connection from the dac to pre is XLR Stealth Indra, from the pre to amps XLR Virtual Dynamics Rev. 2.0 and speaker cables Virtual Dynamics Genesis 6ft bi-wire.

I purchased the Andara II's about 3 months ago and there is no doubt that the first thing about the speaker that strikes you is its overall tonal balance followed by how natural the tweeter sounds (although I would have to believe that an excellent crossover comes into play here as well). With solid electronics in front, cymbals sound like cymbals (not irritating metal hash).

I came off of Quad ESL-2805's (just couldn't live without deep bass response and extended highs that I was used to, even after adding a sub - which creates integration problems) which are midrange killers. The Quads are simply at the top of the list when it comes to midrange performance (especially vocals).

Eggleston has done an excellent job at integrating the 6" drivers with the Esotar tweeter to create a high level of transparency and midrange clarity (maybe not to the level of a Quad but I much prefer the overall presentation of the Andra II). I do not find the woofer to get in the way at all and in some ways I wish it was a bit more pronounced in the presentation - however if they did that I think it would have a greater likelihood of making things muddy, which is currently not the case.

I am always looking for weaknesses in my system but for now I am focused on electronics and cables as I find the Andra II's to be simply outstanding speakers.

I have heard the Vandy 5A once but not long enough to give you a good evaluation.

Hope it helps