I cam from Vandersteen Quatro CT's and although 1/4 the price, I'm happier. They have a "live" sense that is absolutely AWOL on most speakers, regardless of price. I have tried tinned copper cables (Duelund) because Paul Klipsch used them but for me the Audioquest cables I used from the Vandies were more to my liking. I've tried solid state integrated known to be a fantastic match with them (Yamaha A-S2100), a class D amp (Parasound zonemaster2350), and the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III with all Telefunken input tubes in triode mode. For me, the Cronus Magnum III is a stellar match and the phono stage in it is quite good. They are hypersensitive to placement and depending on how lively or dead your room is, toe in and distance to back wall are important. Although most put them close to the back wall, I believe my front baffle is about 54 inches away from the back wall. I have 2 massive subwoofers in the corners that I now leave off as I'm getting ridiculously great bass from them.
I usually don't post (or even look at the forums anymore) but was really curious myself about people's experience with them and hoping more people will chime in. I think these are worth the time and effort to get right (and I've been churning gear for the last decade at a break neck pace-which I'm not proud of but was looking for that "live" feel all along and glad I came across the Fortes).
