$ 2500 ....Stay with Vandersteens ??...what else ?


Please refer my "system" to see my current set-up. Everything sounds wonderful together.....extremely musical, great soundstage depth and width, beautiful rendition of timbre and tone, natural presentation of voices and acoustics. BUT....I have the speaker "upgrade itch," wanting fuller, richer, deeper sound, and I need advice from my friends at Audiogon.

I spend around three hours a night of "serious listening," about 2/3 digital and 1/3 vinyl. Roughly 70% of my enjoyment is 1950's - 1960's jazz (Miles, Coltrane, Basie, Rollins, Brubeck, Ella, Mobley, Morgan, etc., etc.), 25% "classic rock" that I grew up with (Allman Brothers, Dead, Dylan, CSNY, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Led Zep, Yes, Hot Tuna, etc.), and the other 5% "newer jazz audiophile stuff" (Patricia Barber, Rebecca Pigeon, etc.)

Keeping the rest of my system the same (except for bi-wire speaker cables if needed), what do you guys recommend for new speakers ? Vandersteen 2CE Sig. II's seem a natural option, but what else should I consider ? I'm open to all kinds of suggestions. Thanks a lot, and Happy Listening !
adam18
Adam18,

I used to have a very old pair of the original Vandersteen 2C's... my first high-end speaker, although they were physically too big (and, in my wife's opinion, too ugly) for the new room I had to move them to, so I was off on a speaker search. Given that I loved the Vandy's and we have similar musical tastes, here's a "left field" suggestion.

I don't know what the output of your amp is (I'm running an 80 watt/channel Unison Unico tube/SS hybrid) but you might want to consider one of the Ohm line of speakers. I have the Micro Walsh Tall's, which are fantastic for a small room and will only set you back $1000 plus shipping. Or, you could well afford the Ohm Walsh 100-S3 (Series 3) which is "only" $1700 to $2000, depending on the finish you choose. They're only sold factory direct these days, but you get a 120-day in-home trial, with a money-back guarantee. The Ohm's are incredible at the price if you like the sound.

My 2 cents. ;-)
I've heard the Vandys...I'd look for a pair of Snell Type AIII's, do the woofers if necessary and save about $1000 of your $2500.

The Snells will have a similar sound to the Vandys...just a better version of it(imho).
Johnnyb53.....In response to your query....My audio habits are quite selfish, and my insulated/panelled/carpeted basement listening room is set up for a specific sweet spot (my leather chair and the small swivel bookcase to my right where I can rest my Scotch and my books on Jazz)...The main level of our home is a separately amplified and sourced system, set up with in-wall and ceiling speakers for "multi-person enjoyment." So,...with the Vandy 1C's that I now have in my basement system, I do enjoy a "sonic hologram in the sweet spot'" and I want to sontinue with this type of musical presentation.
0-23-08: Adam18
Johnnyb53.....In response to your query....My audio habits are quite selfish, and my insulated/panelled/carpeted basement listening room is set up for a specific sweet spot (my leather chair and the small swivel bookcase to my right where I can rest my Scotch and my books on Jazz).
Then I'd say you'd want to stick with a time-aligned speaker that projects a 3-D hologram in the sweet spot. The Vandy's are certainly that. You may also want to consider the Acoustic Zen Adagios. They list somewhere north of $4K, but they sometimes show up in the A-gon classifieds for $2500-3200/pair. They're a time-aligned D'Appolito configuration with a transmission line to augment the bass.