Quick update!!!
I had a chance to stop by 2 dealerships this weekend.
First up was John at Audio Connection....
John, as previously stated is a wonderful guy. I was there for probably two hours and it felt like we were two music buffs just hanging out listening to great tunes. No pressure and extremely helpful.
He first demoed the Vandersteen Treos. Initially with an Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated and then with a Belles Aria. Both amps sounded fantastic but the sound stage with the Ayre was a notch or two above, and at nearly 10x the cost I would expect that to be the case.
We then went in to the back room where we listened to the Vandersteen 1ci’s, again with the Belles Aria integrated. All of the components here were within my initial 5k budget. The speakers were so transparent they just kind of faded into the room. I felt as though I was no longer listening to the speakers but listening to the music. John played types of music I never would consider listening to on my own but the speaks were so engaging.
Next up was Steve at Quest for Sound in Bensalem, PA.....
I told Steve what I was looking for and what my approximate budget was. We then went into one of his show rooms and listened to the KEF R500’s with a Rogue Audio Shynx amp. What a tremendously different experience vs. the Vandersteeens. In comparion the KEF’s sounded more scooped in the mids with a heavy emphasis on tight, punchy bass. Sound stage was virtually non existent and clarity no where near as good as the Vandys.
I asked if perhaps we could give the KEF’s a go with a different amp. He swapped out the Rogue for a Parasound (the model escapes me at the moment). Still not that much of an improvement. Needless to say I was in and out of there in 20 minutes.
I really felt listening to the Vandy 1ci’s with the Belles Aria, that I could be quite content with this system for years to come.
Anyway, that’s were I’m currently at. Comments are more than welcome.
-Joe
