What do you think of Vandersteen 5a's?

I just wanted to compliment mlsstl's response above as maybe the most insightful remarks ever written about speaker quality I've ever read. (They are really words to live by, so take every review with a grain of salt.)
To go even further, as I gained more listening experience, my own likes and dislikes have evolved, so what I liked 10 years ago may be painful now.

I'm an American currently assigned to the US Embassy in Australia. I ordered the 5A's from The US and as such, had no dealer support here. So I hired an audio engineer who owns his own recording studio. He brought another audio engineer friend and a calibrated mike with real time analyzer to properly adjust my 5A's to my room. The fee was to be $66 per hour. We spent about 2-3 hours dialing in the speakers, then broke out the CD's and Belgian beer for some serious listening. They stayed for 3 more hours, then refused payment because they had never heard such a good system and had such a good time listening! That's how good these speakers sound. If you want to spend less, the model 3A Signatures with 2WQ subs are also outstanding. I was quite happy with them until the terrible and wonderful day I made the mistake of hearing the 5A's.

Unless you view buying and selling big speakers as a trivial event, you really should listen to the 5A speakers. The Vandersteen speakers I've heard sound to me as though they are behind an acoustic veil. I auditioned an Ayer C-5xe CD/SACD player at a dealer who used fine Ayer electronics with a pair of 5A speakers, but the audition was too colored by speakers that seemed to hide the detail I was looking for. I have since heard the C-5xe with other speakers and understand what the raves are about.

I would not find selling, packing, and shipping a pair of large speakers an experience I want to add to my life.

db

When I have heard them, and it has always been at the dealer here in Houston, they have been simply sublime. I am a Magnepan guy, and I still love them!! I must repeat the condidtions though, the room and electronics where they are set up is close to perfect, and the guys in the store know how to get the most out of them, but I think they are about the finest speakers I have ever heard. I actually like them better than the Maggie 20.1's.

If you are interested in a speaker that reproduces the signal as faithfully as possible, without collorations or emphasis, and has incredibly accurate harmonic rendering and complete transparancy, I believe the 5A is just about the best there is.

The engineering in this speaker takes into account a flat response, stable impedance level, time and phase accuracy, superior drivers and crossovers, highly rigid cabinets, and the ability to adjust the subs to match the room. The test data confirms this speaker is as accurate as possible with today's technology.

I purchased them because they made instruments and voices sound more real than anything I have ever heard before. I have played the trombone and piano all my life and when I heard such a combo on the 5As I was just astounded at the realism.

My advice is to listen for yourself and don't be misled by speaker reproduction artifacts that appear to add interest but are not present in the source and will become wearysome over time.