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$ 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
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Very true, and on a related not the move from 1 to 2 is significantly bigger than 2 to 3, but worth it nonetheless, but that makes sense, there does come a point of diminishing returns, but as Samhar says, the midrange driver found in the 2 and up is a key to the Vandersteen sound as you move up the line compared with the 1. I think the steps up the Vandersteen are real and reflect the prices asked. What I'm not clear on is whether I would would prefer the 3a/dual 2Ws or the 5a - forgetting the ergonomics. There is something to be said of bass loading with the two subwoffers versus bass equalization electronics. Nice problem to have when you have to choose, but I suspect the current revision of the 3A with subs is a very viable option to the 5A.
samhar
1,048 posts
 
Pubul57 you hit on my dilemma, are the 5A's 40%( as some say) and $10,000 better? I've passed on two sets of 5's because of the newer tweeters in my 3A Sigs!!
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I know 5A owners are likely to disagree, but I thought the old 3As with the two subs were not far behind the 5As of that time, the new 3As should be even better. John Rutan knows this gear a lot better than me, but I wager that if ergonomics is not a consideration, the 3A/2Wq would not be far behind the Qauttros or 5As and a great value. Of course the Q and 5 are a neater, more elegant, one-box solution. I thought having the two subs with the mains was cool in my dedicated listening room -- in a living room maybe a different matter.
samhar
1,048 posts
 
From a Minimalist Post Modern point of view they are very "cool", the 5A's aren't particularly exciting proportion wise and the Quatro Wood is bizzare looking. The more I live with the 3's and subs the more they grow on me, and now my wife likes the look!!! So my switching to 5A's would be for sonics not looks!!!
adam18 OP
670 posts
 
Okay,...... so let's go with the theory that the midrange speaker is a key element to the "Vandersteen sound" in the models above the 1C. Now, how do the mid-range and tweeter drivers in the 2CE Sig./II compare to those in the 3A Sig. ? What do you guys think ?
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