I went and listened to the 5A at my local dealer and I thought they sounded OK nothing special. The room looked fine and saw no reason whey they should have sounded just OK. I since moved on to Wilson Watt Puppy, Aerial 20T and Kharma speakers but never was real happy with any of them. I went back to the dealer again 3 years later and listened to the 5a again. They sounded better buy not great. I bought them anyways because they sounded better then what I had.
The dealer came out and set them up which didn't take too long. Pretty easy and much easier then everybody makes it sound. They sounded the same in the dealers room as they did in my room. I listened to them and let them break in and after about 1 month I decided to take the time and set them up myself. Long story short. The dealer set them up to what he thought sounded good. That is why it sounded the same as his room. He didn't follow Vandersteen instructions 100% so i went back and redid everything. After me taking 4 hours making adjustments WOW. The best speaker I have ever heard. They just gets better with time.
My point is if you buy 5A take the time and read the manual and set them up yourself to your likings. You will be rewarded.
BTW I thought the Watt Puppies were harder to set up.
The dealer came out and set them up which didn't take too long. Pretty easy and much easier then everybody makes it sound. They sounded the same in the dealers room as they did in my room. I listened to them and let them break in and after about 1 month I decided to take the time and set them up myself. Long story short. The dealer set them up to what he thought sounded good. That is why it sounded the same as his room. He didn't follow Vandersteen instructions 100% so i went back and redid everything. After me taking 4 hours making adjustments WOW. The best speaker I have ever heard. They just gets better with time.
My point is if you buy 5A take the time and read the manual and set them up yourself to your likings. You will be rewarded.
BTW I thought the Watt Puppies were harder to set up.