Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please

Asa,

My system was purchased in the mid-1980s... it was what I guess you could call an entry-level high-end system in those days! The original equipment included the PS Audio Elite Plus integrated amplifier, a turntable that I think went by the name of Systemdeck (it had a glass platter and a pathetic suspension system... just walking around the hardwood floors in my listening room would cause the stylus to skip) paired with a Linn Basik tone arm. And, of course, the Vandersteen 2C (not any of the later upgrades, but the original model).

I later upgraded some things. I replaced the Aperture wire speaker connects with Monster Cable Powerline to2 and replaced the turntable with a SOTA Sapphire. Along the way, I added a Tandberg tuner and a Luxman cassette deck.

As I explained in my opening post of this thread, a home remodel and a much smaller listening room, as well as perilously low "wife acceptance factor" for the Vandersteens in the new listening room (which also has to double as a guest bedroom) led me to sell the Vandersteens here on Audiogon.

Actually, my wife and I are joking that she did me a favor in lobbying me to get rid of the Vandersteens, because the experience of shopping for speakers and connecting with this website has led me back into audio as a hobby, and I've really rediscovered the pleasures of all this... it combines the best of gadgetry, music and obsessive-compulsive personality. :-)

I've gotten to spend several hours in local stereo shops, which has been lots of fun. I also had the opportunity to purchase my first new piece of stereo equipment in over 20 years: a Music Hall 25.2 CD player. I don't have anything to hook it up to yet, but it sure looks nice! ;-) (Yes, I was a vinyl holdout until recently. I have "miles" of vinyl, and a growing collection of CDs, as well.)

Right now, my turntable is at SOTA being tuned up. Between whatever that will cost, plus new speaker cables, plus loudspeakers, I don't think a new amp is in the cards right now... maybe someday soon, though.

Knownothing,

I was wondering if you know whether the Ohms you heard were original (series 1 which first arrived in the early 80's), series 2, which I think started in the early-mid 90's through ~ 2005 or 2006, or series 3, which have only been available for a couple of years?

Reason I ask is I owned series 1 prior to my current 2 pair which are both series 3, and there is a huge difference in imaging accuracy. Imaging accuracy in the new series 3 is competitive with anything out there today despite the omni design in my opinion whereas series 1 was not nearly as well defined. Never heard series 2 so I can't comment on those, but from what I have read they are somewhere in between.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to tell by observation alone in that the cages on all three generations look very similar if not the same. My series 3 Walsh 2's look identical to the series 1 I owned prior.

Rebbi, thanks for listing your system. I had Vandy 1B's when I was in college many, many moons ago. I think the Music Hall Cd was a good choice and you've got the Sota so your front end is ready to go. The problem will be the circa 80's PS Audio. I'm not an anti-PS Audio guy; in fact, I had a Lambda transport years ago too. But PS Audio amps are a different thing, particularly from the eighties - bright and wiry. The Totem Model One's are a nice speaker and I have heard the same thing: they disaappear, are expansive for what they are, and have a rich midrange. True, a bit inefficient and you need to biwire, but you always will have good resale and they are speakers you can build with, if you choose. But they will translate the PS Audio sound, and, hence, I do not think you will hear them in your home like you did at the dealer's. I know $ is an issue, and you may not be able to spring for a PrimaLuna and speakers at once, but I sure would look at moving from the PS Audio at some point. Maybe a Naim Nait 5 (I would think around $1200 used) or something else. In any event, if you get speakers, I think you are going to hear pretty quick where the weak link is. Then again, there's always something to buy, right?! Good luck with your search.

Thanks for the recommendations, Asa. Right now, I know pretty well that the PS Audio amp at least has the "juice" to drive a 4 ohm speaker. If the Arro's are so revealing that they expose the Elite Plus to have crappy sound, then, there's something else to save up for, as you say. When the time comes, I'll get back on Audiogon and see what people recommend in a "budget" priced, used amp. I might even try tubes, if I can swing the $ ! ;-)

Mapman,

The most unique thing about the Vandy's, AFAIK, is that you have the grill cloth "sock" stretched around four corner dowels, and inside is the closest thing to bare speaker guts you can get. They call this a baffle-less design, and it's supposed to eliminate edge diffraction effects; there's no "box," in the conventional sense. Also, the speaker elements are supposed to be time and phase-aligned.

They have lovely bass response — well recorded electric bass sounds like a string instrument, and not low-level mush. When I bought that first system, I carried around my vinyl copy of James Taylor's "That's Why I'm Here" from audio shop to audio shop (this was back when I lived in the NYC area). I listened to the title track over and over and over again for two great audio moments. First, when JT sings the line, "It seems me and Melissa, well we fell out of love," Leland Sklar enters with this swooping bass glissando. Done right, it has "air" around it. The Vandy's got that right. Also, when JT sings "I'm back in touch with my long lost friend," there's a moment when you swear you can hear the wall in back of his head, and his voice is eerily "there." The Vandy's did a good job with that, too.