Vandersteen 5a or Eggleston Andra II

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.

Please. This is either yet another overuse of the term "another league", or there is something wrong, somewhere, in the system with the Vandys. I have no issue with someone saying that they prefer the Egglestons, but to claim they are in another league is just plain silly.

There would have to be something very wrong with the Vandy system for the Eggleston's to be in "another league". With these two excellent speaker, it just has to come down to the type of sound you like, they do have different signatures, and both are valid and each will appeal to a different audience. I do think Shadorne does make a reall good point regarding Ludwig anf if you like the recording he produces, his recordings and the EQs and miking would certainly reflect what he is hearing in playback.

"I would not hesitate to take a page out of Bob Ludwig's book and follow his choice."

I would. He used to use wilson's. very different. mastering peopole have some weird systems. Doug sax has a system I can;t make any sense out of.

As long as he can, it doesn't matter, of course.

Referring to the the words used in my thread " in another league". I went over the other day to listen again to the Vandy set-up and my opinion is the same. I do like the Vandy set-up but when I listen to the Eggleston set-up over all find it to be superior and can say it is in another league.

Possibly the Vandy set-up is not at it's best, gear, room etc. but I'm sure the owner would debate with you differing in opinion, he has had this gear for two years now.

or

Possibly the Eggleston set-up is superior.

Listening to these two set-ups it is very obvious, other individuals who have heard the two set-ups also agree along with the actual owner of the Vandy's and that is why they will be replaced shortly.

I do agree people do have their own opinions along with preference, personal taste and that is what makes the world go around.

I had a few emails directed personally to me, one being a little upset obviously a Vandy die hard. Vandy owners need not to take it personally it's only my opinion, I would love to hear your Vandy set-up and then you can hear the Eggleston set-up. Email me personally and then the out come can be posted at a later time.

Eggleston set-up;

Eggleston Andra 2's (On Sistrum platforms)
McIntosh 501 mono blocks
Audio Research Ref3 pre(currently comparing Supratek Sauv.)
Accustic Arts Dac MK4
Oracle 2000 transport
Stealth Sextet Digital AES connection, dac and transport.
Stealth Indra XLR, dac and pre.
Virtual Dynamics Rev. 2.0 XLR interconnect, pre and amps.
Virtual Dynamics Genesis 6 ft bi-wire speaker cables

Just for the record, I didn't send any emails on this subject. I have heard the Egglestons and the Vandys in THE SAME SYSTEM and their respective "leagues" were definitely the same. Now, given matches and/or mismatches of components, one of these pairs may sound better than the other in that particular system to a particular set of ears. In fact, I have heard the Egglestons take the edge in one system while the Vandys were clearly superior in another. All I am saying is that this comes down to preferences and sage component matching.

Offering the "different league" statement, one would expect to find one speaker besting the other in all settings and by a significant margin. And, I'll wager my system that if you assembled 20 folks without an agenda and did a blind test, this would not be the case, at all. Fine that you like the Egglestons, but I still say that claiming them to be in a different league than the Vandys is just plain silly. But, whatever, I mostly responded again such that others would not think that your claim of receiving emails from unnamed sources did not include me.