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Broken hearted...magnepan and vandersteen

I finally got an opportunity to hear the 1.7i magnepan. I will blame my ears and taste, but I was underwhelmed. I heard them with tweeters inside and outside for comparison. outside did sound a bit better. Then I allowed them to play the vandersteen quatro ct. The speakers disappeared into the music. Deep, tall, wide soundstage with excellent imaging and air around the different instruments. Full range sound. Thankfully the trio ct sounded almost the quatros equal. I really was ready to go with magnepan. I was surprised. All other speakers are sounding inferior now. 
glfrancis2
frogman
7,441 posts
 
Two of the most reputable speaker brands.

Magnepan 1.7 - $2200
Vandersteen Quatro - $15,000

And you are surprised?
archguy's avatar
archguy
45 posts
 
Magnepans are notoriously a bit of a task to set up properly.  And it's a lot more involved than which side the tweeters go on.  Of course, they also shine better in some environments, with some music, and with particular amplification.  IME they don't work everywhere nor do they work for everyone.  But  when they do shine, they're almost untouchable. 
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,664 posts
 
And the TRIO CT is $9,000! That’s sure not an apples to apples comparison!
Post removed 
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
The problem with the vandersteen speakers is that they have drivers that overlap over a wide range. This is not only pointless but can cause a muddy sound. Other speakers have a smaller area which overlaps so you get less interference. 
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