Vandersteen Treo vs 3A Sig as upgrade

Ok guys, I'm no pro or scientist on the laws of physics, but I think we all pretty much agree that multiple pairs of large bass drivers will move significantly more air than small bass drivers. I believe much of what we hear in punchy rock/pop bass doesn't really go that low in frequency. Much of this type of bass is in the 40 to 80Hz range. A low "E" note on an electric bass guitar is approx. 42Hz. That's not extremely low in frequency, but heavily amped into a bank of large bass speakers will shake the rafters at a rock concert. Look at the drummer's kick drum. Most times you will see a microphone inside said kick drum. The heavily amped  "thud" of that drum is probably in the 50Hz range even though it feels strong enough to loosen the wax in your ears! It's all about perception. A Speaker like the Treo, properly placed inside say, a medium sized room will give you bass tones down in the low 30Hz range with natural, un-amplified instruments having the "politeness" that Wlutke describes. Simply put it just doesn't move the air in the mid bass that gives rock the slam and boogie that Wlutke likes even though the Treo is quite capable of going quite low in frequency. He is willing to give up some of that resolution for the impact and slam the 3A Sigs give him. I understand this because when I got into this hobby back in the early 70's, strong punchy bass on rock/pop is what attracted me. Another  "one box" speaker solution for Wlutke might be Legacy. They use multiple 10" to 15" bass drivers in a single cabinet. They also have outstanding resolution with the kind of air moving capabilities you crave. I have owned several pairs of them over 20+ years before I bought Vandersteen. Once again, and always, this is just my humble opinion.

A final follow up.  I've replaced the 3A's with a year old pair of perfect and beautiful rosewood lacquered Acoustic Zen Crescendo MKII's for half price (!).  Not a fair comparison but they destroy the 3A's and steamroller the Treos.  They've got that warm musical sound similar to Vandersteen so it was an easy transition.   

I am sincerely happy, wlutke, that you found what you were looking for! Congrats!!!!

Congrats Wulke, but we all hear differently.  I auditioned the Zen's and found they lacked coherency for ME.  I also know of a few guys who didn't like the Zen's nearly as much as the Steen's.  The fact that you love them is awesome.  Neither of us is right or wrong and that's the beauty of audio. We all get what we love. I trust my ears and you trust your's.  That makes it all good.  

To make statements like 'steamroll' and 'destroy' just makes no sense to me when comparing speakers.  I guess these words also mean different things to each of us.  Enjoy your Zen's as I love my Quatro's and Bob loves my former Treo's.  I think he chose the Treo's over the Zen's too, but I can't remember fully. I know it was someone I was talking to when selling the Treo's to upgrade to Quatro's.  Oh well....it's all good in audio