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Vandersteen 5a, 15 years old vs. new Vandersteen Quatro Wood (upgrade or downgrade)

I currently have a Vandersteen 5A purchased about 15 years ago in great condition. My  equipment  is Thor 150 watt  tube EL-34 monoblocks with a Thor linestage, Sony SACD player and a middle of the road VPI turntable. Was reading about the Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT which I believe retails for $15,000.00. The wood has the carbon tweeter, my 5A's do not. The Quatro also has a 250 watt amplifier for the built in sub while my 5A's have a 400 watt amp.  If I purchased a new Quatro Wood and sold my 5a's would the resulting sound be better overall in my 8 1/2 by 15 foot room?
 My rationale for considering this upgrade, is that I would be getting a speaker with all new parts and would obtain a new warranty.  Any thoughts would be helpful.  In short is todays' Quatro Wood CT a better sounding speaker than my old 5A?  Would this change be an upgrade and would it yield an improvement in sound to justify the cost?

Thank you. 

M

128x128kjl1065
erik_squires
16,114 posts
 
Vandersteen has mastered how to make a speaker play deeply, loudly and in many different rooms. The bi-amplified, EQ compensated set up is amazing.
intermediatic's avatar
intermediatic
72 posts
 
So I had regular Quatros and I did my best to hear the difference between those and the Quatro Carbons. I upgraded to a used set of 5As and whoa boy, what a difference.

Mind you, I have a room that’s 38’ in the long dimension. I’d be interested in the 5A Carbons, but they’d be worth a few thousand to me, not $15,000 more or whatever extra I’d need to shell out for them. As for the Kentos at their price point, I just don’t get that either. I know, hi-fi costs a lot more than a few years ago, but that’s not making that much sense to me. Maybe I’ll upgrade my turntable or something.

Also, yeah, the OP and anybody else should listen to Johnny R. He knows what he's doing and he's a good guy. There's a reason Richard Vandersteen does seminars there every year. 
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
@intermediatic you might consider the model 7 high pass filters on your 5a, not a megabuck upgrade, gets you WEL signature pigtails and better sound - Johnny R can help. In your big room that 5a push pull must sing ! I had my 5a in a massive room and they were eye watering with Ayre power.

have fun, enjoy the music.
gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 
@tomic601 ,
I was wondering what the model 7 high pass would do to affect the sound vs the M5HP?
Bob
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
@gdnrbob I made the change when I changed from SE amplifier to balanced so I cannot make an exact comparison for you. I sold my filters when I got the M7 amplifier which has built in high pass. I think Johnny R could comment on a direct comparison between the 5 and 7 filters or give RV a call. I chatted briefly with him today - he picks up the phone!!!

new builds of the 7 filter include Fire Audioquest wire.
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