From Vandersteen 2CE to Devore Gibbons 8 or Focal

The rap on Vandersteens is always too warm, never too bright; even more so with the pre signature models. It's surprising that you're having this issue with all tube equipment. The Focals, in particular, tend toward a prominent treble. You could consider listening further back, changing interconnects and speaker cables, or even using ferrite rings around cables to block rfi/emi. You could also contact Vandersteen for their input.

I have experimented with speaker placement. My cables are MIT Terminator 2 speaker cables and interconnects. I have replaced most of my source components, in addition to the Raysonic cd player, I have a Marantz SA8001 sacd player, a Magnum-Dynalab FT 101A tuner, VPI Scout/ZU Denon 103 cartridge. I have changed tubes in my Modulus 3A from the Sovtek 6922, to the 6h23eb tubes and have settled (for now) on the JJ 6922 tubes. I switched amps from my Classe 15 to the Classe 10 in my upstairs system. I also substituted my origional Modulus 3 preamp from my upstairs system.

This all started when I replaced my Vandersteen 2ci speakers with the 2ce speakers. If I put the 2ci's back in the system, it sounds fine. I even sent the Vandersteens back to the factory for a full check up and they came back fine. All I did was waste 200.00 on shipping to and from the factory. I am also getting very tired of the Vandersteen sound since I have owned them for 17 years.

ok...then time for a new speaker :-) of your two choices, if you are looking for a less pronounced and smoother treble, the Devores are the way to go. Plus you can use lower powered tube amps with them as they are fairly sensitive and more importantly have flat/stable impedance curve. Enjoy and good luck with the new speakers.

I agree with the posts above......I would not consider the Vandersteen character to be "too bright." My 1C's, with 55 watts of EL-34 tube power, sound slightly "on the warm side of neutral." Have you tried playing around with the treble contour control on the back of each speaker ? I found that bringing each speaker's treble setting down one notch really helped.

If, after 17 years, you've had enough of the Vandersteen sound and indeed want a change, that's fine. To my ears, the Focals are too bright (although that may have been due to the Krell amplification which drove them.) With your concerns, I would recommend listening to the DeVore speakers. I had an extended listening session with the Gibbon 9's, driven by Leben electronics, and the music was absolutely beautiful. I have not heard the Gibbon 8's, but I'm sure that their character must be very similar to the 9's.

Good Luck, and Happy Listening !!

There was a great deal for a pair of DeVore Gibbon 8 speakers on Audiogon, so I bought them. I am driving down to the gentlemans house on Wednesday to pick them up. I will keep everyone posted once I get them set up on Thursday. If anyone else has any comments about the 8's, please post them.

Bob