Vandersteens, PSB or something else?


I’m looking to upgrade my speakers and would appreciate some input. My system includes ayre amp, aesthetix calypso preamp, and vandy 2c sig IIs. The room is relatively large at 23’ wide (speakers on this side) by 27’. I would like speakers that are good at both music and home theatre. I plan to run HT pass through and 5.1 overall. For music, I listen to a lot of classic rock, blues and jazz. Not too much classical. I do enjoy live Dead and Allman Brothers. I’d like the speakers to image well and present a nice soundstage but also really draw me in emotionally to the music. For home theater, I’d like to be able to include a center channel and get a decent theater experience. The vandies, really no complaints, they have served me very well. But I have budget to take the next step and was thinking maybe the Treos. But once I make this next step, I would not be making any moves for a while, so wanted to explore other alternatives as well. The PSB Imagine T3’s seem to have been reviewed well and may be worth a test. My budget would allow for these, and I guess I could possibly go up to the quatro for the right deal. Any other ideas that, given my musical preference, room, budget could be worth a shot? I have to admit, sometimes I do wonder if the live recordings that I’m listening too would really benefit from a big upgrade to the speakers.

sb_caribou
Sorry we call the large version Focus and the smaller vs Focus Signatures.

Both are based on Focus. 

This discussion mentioned both versions.

We are a displaying dealer and have sold a good number of both.

On the website they are listed as Focus Se and Signature Se if you talk to Legacy even they sometimes refer to the Sig Se as Focus Signatures as they are just a compact less expensive version of the Focus Se.

The point of this discussion is to draw attention to this wonderful brand for both their remarkarble sound quality and value for dollar.

As a Legacy owner please comment if you feel the same way.
I agree that the Legacy brand deserves recognition and certainly represent a good value. My point is that calling both speakers Focus is confusing. They are not the same. Just a bit of history about these models. The original Focus was an extension of the Signature model (not sure if it was sig 2 or 3), IOW the Signature came first. The Signature SE is meant to update the Signature 3 as the Focus HD/SE/XD carried forward from the Focus 20/20, which carried from the original Focus. When I see Focus price mentioned at $7000, it gets my attention, as I know they sell for north of 10k. IMO, avoiding confusion is as simple as calling them what they are called on the company website. Sorry for getting off topic here.
+1 for the Legacy. If you want to "feel" the sound, go with Legacy. They will hit you right in the chest, especially in your large room.
Like Tomic, I'm a Vandersteen owner (Quatro CT's in Havana Black) and have auditioned most of the speakers out there.  We all hear differently, but personally I've heard an incredible theater set up with Vandersteen Quatro's and subs to make a true 'swarm' set up.  It was plenty loud and plenty dynamic.  I won't get into semantics, but it was the most musical HT system I've heard in recent times.  I have heard some that are in the stratosphere price ranges, but that's not what we are talking about.

I personally like the newest version of the Legacy speakers much better than their previous models.  They are still too bright for my taste as I've always found with Heil drivers (my best friend Steve had a pair of the original Transtatic 1's that cost over 1k back in 73.  They were a transmission line bass.  I remember them being nearly as dynamic as his Klipsch Heresy's.  

I too used to love the highly dynamic, but no detail bass along with the bright highs.  Not musical, but it didn't matter back in the day, lol.  Things are much more refined now, but as I said that AMT driver complement is a love hate relationship.  Worth auditioning if all you want is dynamics for home theater I guess.  Lot's of other choices out there for you.  
Bummer
OP caught in a crossfire hurricane

btw Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore is a seminal album and worthy of a great rig... there is great subtlety captured in the drums and symbols... lots of Air and hall ambience in Mountain Jam for example

the better speakers should all be chasing the holy grail of pistonic motion... many high efficiency speakers are junk producers - distortion counts as output...
better to ask WHY is a Vandersteen 7 an 85 bd speaker ?
no trash cone motion in the output...

i used the MQA version of Terrepin Station to help me decide if MQA was any good ( and it is) so keep chasing your dreams !!!

if I can help in some way let me know