Vandersteen Treo CT vs Mag 3.7i speakers

Really the question Netwon is why just those two? Have you listened to many others in the price range, have you visted all the dealers in your area?

Both of these speakers have different attributes.

The Maggies are clearer with a fantastic ribbon tweeter, howerver a large panel throws a very large image that many people find too large to be believable, also panels suffer from the ability to play loud as well as having truly fleshed out bass, they are also difficult to drive and very inefficient. 

The Vandys are a polarizing speaker, they do not have the treble clarity of the Maggies, many people like them for their ease of listenablity and musicality, They are inefficient, and do not have very deep bass compared to others in their price range, the image is also a little low for some people and some rooms. 

There are many Vandy fans on these posts who believe they are the only speakers to purchase same thing with the Tekton guys or planer guys, in reality there are many good choices. 

We love the Legacy Signature which use a Heil AMT folded ribbon tweeter and midrange so the top end is similar to the Maggies, with a warm midrange like the Vandys, they are very easy to drive and have very deep bass and they are $7k so similar in price, the only caveat is they are hard to find. 

The Golden Ear Reference at $8.5k are very easy to drive, have very deep bass, (self amplified subs) and are getting a lot of press for their wonderful sound. Again AMT driver for the treble. so good detail. Their look is big black and monolithic so you may not love their look.

.If you are having difficutly choosing then in reality you are not convinced in either model as you like attributes of each or your decision would be easy.

Good luck and if you are wed to this dealer keep on listening or be bold and go see if you can find another set of loudspeakers that combines the virtues of what you like about both of these products.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

call me a fanboy
but i actually own one of the best ribbon tweeters ever built - apogee stage and the vandersteen 7 which while not identical has the CT as in carbon tweeter in the Treo



typical dealer running competing product down as polarizing vs selling..well what they sell...and peddling a myth

what is cool is your dealer has the maggie and the steen it seems ( there are more than a few in the country who do) so leap in

but yes the home demo is easy and you should go that route if at all possible

Both great choices.  I have owned older Maggies and Apogee's as well.  I owned the Treo's while I waited to save the money to upgrade last year. I went with the Quatro's as they took the Treo to another level with the tunable bass. I auditioned nearly all the speakers from 45k down and for my ears, system and house the Vandersteen's just gave me everything I wanted.  I think tonality it so great with them and they were very easy to fit into the room as they go right in the corners of the room.  My wife loves where they are positioned, but I do also.  It's nice not having the speakers out into the room too much.  I don't get suck out in the middle of the sound stage or anything like that.  I'm running all Ayre gear on them.

As for Maggies, their mids can be glorious.  There is something special to be said bout properly set up panels like Maggies.  They just won't have the lower octave in the way the Treo or Quatro will have.  

What are you going to run the system with?  If you can't get them into your house (I"m sure you can), just bring in your amp and pre to your store and listen for a few hours with your favorite pieces.  Rather than listening so critically this time, just listen and see which one make your body move. Which one will make you want to hum along or tap your toes or....Both are always considered top value speakers that punch well beyond their price ranges.  As you can see, Maggie and VAndy's name keep coming up by those of us who own them as we do love them. 

I personally got the Treo and now the Quatro's as I wanted a true full range speaker that would easily fit into my room as well as the system that I already had put together.  You can't go wrong with either as long as your equipment will work with them and I'm sure your dealer and you have already gone over that.  Congrats on two great finalists.  You can't go wrong with either.

thanks for all your comments.