Shahinian Obelisk vs VandersteenTreo

Bob,
It was generous, yes, but... overall not a pleasant type to deal with, the seller that is.
I am as "paranoid" as you are, believe me :-)
They actually don't have a database even of years of manufacture.  I told Richard the serial number, he couldn't tell me year of manufacture...
On the sidenote, strangely enough, the speakers are playing quite nicely with this midrange missing. Go figure.
A sideways question to you Vandy owners:  how would you describe the sound of Vandies? "Dark" is what comes to my mind...

Hmm, I supposed it depends upon what you were listening to beforehand.
Vandie's aren't bright (as in, lots of treble or beaming uppers).
Also being phase and time aligned, they give a more natural (in my opinion) sound. The closest I can find to them are planars and electrostatic speakers.
Again, to my ears.
Bob

I think I found the reason for this darkish sound coloration: the Conrad-Johnson ET3 pre. It's either that it's still not burnt-in, or it's the Tesla tube coloration, or... that it's just not up to speed...

dark they aint....
etched super hifi pained in an hour no......

as for records it might be that tracking the countless hundreds of improvements and storing all that including drivers matched to within .1 db would kill the frugal dutchman and I suspect require a Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse...
remember he sold a quarter million model 2....
also and i suspect some of his matching techniques require nulling drivers which IF ya think about it goes far beyond recording a few values....

i need to chat w him tommorow anyway as the amps are in breakin...wait till i tell him he can eliminate the midrange....wish me luck

Tom,
I agree. 
Otherwise LOL 😂😂😂