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Vandersteen 7 mark ll or big Kef blades

I am considering a pair of one  of these.  Anybody have any suggestions , comments, recommendations?
digitaljoseph
yyzsantabarbara
4,975 posts
 
@proacman I do not think the Blades need much rear space. There are a few A’gon users who have a near field setup with Blade 2 in tiny rooms (limited side wall space). They say they love it though I do not think they crack the volume. These are rooms more suited for the KEF LS50. I do not have the guts to try this myself in my 12x11x9 room. If I had a 20x15x9 or larger room then I would get a Blade 2.
proacman
33 posts
 
The biggest issue with my room is the 123 inch screen that sits between and recessed from the speakers. This gives me very little available space on the sides and since the screen is recessed, the speakers are close to the back wall on either side of the recessed area. Only about 18 inches on either side and although I can move the speakers away from the back wall any farther than 2 feet blocks the screen from viewing distance (room is 18 x 14 x 8). The reviews I have read mentioned how there should be room on the sides because of the side facing woofers. Seems with all the options out there I would be better off looking at front firing speakers. But one day I will take a listen at a dealer (such as Audio Doctor) with the speakers placed near the rear and side walls.
yyzsantabarbara
4,975 posts
 
@proacman  I am speaker shopping myself (figured out what I want) and one thing that helped me a lot in communicating with dealers and other A'gon users was posting photos of my room in the virtual systems section of this site.

I have on numerous cases posted a link to the virtual system when dealing with dealers.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,080 posts
 
How nice to have choices, many of us here own a variety of speakers and do a ton of work wringing great sound out of difficult rooms. There is a lot more to Vandersteen than a first order filter, notwithstanding comments above. The Quattro has powered bass with 11 bands of analog EQ and replicates the transfer function of your main amplifier, which provides coherent sub and up matching.
the Carbon tweeter is essentially the same driver as model 7, which is on many best value lists, show awards, reviewers, musician homes etc.... just like some of the brands mentioned above.
well, just finished rebuilding some Decca ribbons and now on to tweaking the bypass on the 3rd order filter,.... they will augment some electrostatics....
have fun on your search, lots of Quattro s out there
your local dealer is a prince of a guy
best
enjoy the music !!!!!
bigkidz
3,407 posts
 

OK my two cents worth for everyone to ponder.

First off, I never really liked the Vandersteen sound at any dealer that I heard them at.  A few years back I bought a used pair of Vandersteen model 5s that were not in great cosmetic shape.  Now understand that I build my own equipment, DAC, preamp and amps.  With my equipment they were a mind opening experience.  The best, well I don't know but some of the best sound reproduction that I have heard.  I recently picked up the 5As and the seller had just purchased the model 7s. Again very nice sounding and I could hear potential but $68K whoa.  I happened to bring my DAC along to hear in the persons system.  He had a Briscati DAC.  Inserting my DAC in the system was a minding opening experience.  The person told me within 30 seconds I never heard anything like this before.  I sat there smiling and realized how good the model 7s were.  I have money, but $68K is still a lot of money.  I thought to myself, I cannot wait until someone sells a pair used for half the price.

So in the right system, the 7s were better than anything I ever heard to date.  But I would have to hear the speakers with my gear.

Happy Listening. 

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