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B&W vs Vandersteen?

After a long search and lots of auditions I narrowed my options down to 2 very different yet excellent brands. I know they sound very different but still. For my 50 sq.meter living room with 5 meters between the wall and the sofa (something like 3,7 meters between the speakers and my ears) and approx. 2,4 meters distance between the centers of the speakers I'm choosing between B&W and Vandersteen at the moment. Each option has something going for and against it.

Vandersteen 3A Signature is

much cheaper than even 802, not to mention 801 and 800 and is not as difficult to drive. I can buy it right now.

It has glorious musical midrange and highs and sounds big.

Since Vandies are not as deep as B&W I can give them more space between the speakers and the wall - up to 1 meter (maximum 60 - 70 cm in case of B&W)

But I'm not sure if it can be as open and dyamic or as fast and tight with heavy metal and other modern rock music. Also I'm not sure it's perfect for movies because of the same PRAT issues.

And most likely I'll have to move away from the well known McIntosh line (I'm a Mac guy for many years now) since Mac and Vandersteen is not a perfect match and get back on audiophile treadmill of choosing amps etc.

The weird small-spades connections make any audition of cables almost impossible since I can only use cables specially made for Vandies.

B&W 800 or 801 or 802?

sound absolutely neutral and equally great with Carpenters and Celtic Frost.

The can be cranked up as high as possible without becoming shouty. Their speed must be perfect for HT use.

I can stay with Macs since they are a classic combo.

Demand huge and highly expensive amps.

Are much more expensive themselves. The only model from the old 800D line still available is 802 so unless I can find a good deal on used 801 and 802 I'll have to settle for 802s or start saving for new 800 Diamonds which I'll be able to afford by the end of this year with good luck...

What do you guys think? I know some would say - audition both at home and choose for yourself. Not possible at the moment and anyway I'm interested in your opinions!
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antonkk
daverz
487 posts
 
"Very often numbers speak of names rather than a true value."

Sure, but I still think either Quatro model would be a better comparison to the B&W 802D. I guess the OP was not able to hear the Quatros?
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
766 posts
 
So you shopped at dealers, yet bought used?
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
Daverz, I heard Quatro many times and never liked 'em. Unlike models 3 and 5 it always sounded "small" to me. Maybe it was a set up. With Vandies Quatro or Five you never know if it's the the way the crossover was set up that you're hearing or the speakers themselves. Anyway, all Vandies no matter what model have a highly recognisable signature sound and I came to conclusion that it's a bad rather than a good thing. Plus as good and musical Vandies are I'm yet to hear them play certain kinds of music well (modern metal for example) while B&W's don't give a flying **** about what kind of music they play - be it Mozart or Slayer, Miles or Eagles, Crimson or James Brown - they don't impose their signature all over it like Vandies do. Now don't get me wrong - I still think Vandies are terrific but simply not the speaker I need now.
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
Nrenter, our local dealers don't offer any decent discounts on the discontinued 800D line, on the contrary their policies are hype and hysteria a-la "grab 'em now for that price as there will be none left next week and the new series will be nearly twice more expencive". So the offer from a friend who was upgrading on a mint pair was too good to refuse.
pkubica
134 posts
 
Antonkk, just make sure you have enough power to bring them to life. I also have 802D's and went from a 125W tube amp to bi-amp with class D amps (4 amps) and it made a huge difference in the speakers. They really love high current amps.
Paul
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