@mammothguy54
Good points all Joel. The Comets were already terminated for the Vandersteen Treo’s, so no problem there at the speaker side, as they were owned by the previous Treo owner. I was going to buy the 1000’s, but really didn’t want to spend that much if I was going to turn and sell them. I just really wanted to listen to them first, so for $50+/- got the 300’s to check them out. Gotta tell you though, taking off the stock BFA banana’s (which was very easy), there were very similar to the 300 in terms of the cold weld set screws size and setup. The new 500 and 1000’s seem updated and different than the originals I removed, and have much smaller screws as I understand. As I say, my originals look like the new 1000 series from the outside ‘body’ except function more similar to the 300 in the screw connection. I contacted AQ, and they wanted about $250 to terminate them. With a 1000 series cold weld connection? I can do that myself, it’s very easy. Seriously, I didn’t really pay anything for the Comets given what I paid for the Treo’s. So to me, they were essentially free.
So yea, unexpectedly, now that I’ve heard them, (which was my goal out of pure curiosity), I will probably keep them. They are really that good. Honestly, I’m quite surprised. I can always get a set of 500 or 1000 spades, but to be honest, I’m not sure it’s necessary right now.
Brian, I highly recommend that you send the new AQ speaker cables to Audioquest for terminations. They have the proper spade connector for Vanderstein speakers. And for those cables you really should get the 1000 series spades. Also, the method for termination is far beyond a solder joint. They do a process that "co-mingles" the metals of the speaker wire and the termination. Bill Low, owner of Audioquest, told me about this many years ago. You can contact them to inquire on the cost and any other questions about the terminations. Again, highly recommended. Your new speakers deserve it.
Good points all Joel. The Comets were already terminated for the Vandersteen Treo’s, so no problem there at the speaker side, as they were owned by the previous Treo owner. I was going to buy the 1000’s, but really didn’t want to spend that much if I was going to turn and sell them. I just really wanted to listen to them first, so for $50+/- got the 300’s to check them out. Gotta tell you though, taking off the stock BFA banana’s (which was very easy), there were very similar to the 300 in terms of the cold weld set screws size and setup. The new 500 and 1000’s seem updated and different than the originals I removed, and have much smaller screws as I understand. As I say, my originals look like the new 1000 series from the outside ‘body’ except function more similar to the 300 in the screw connection. I contacted AQ, and they wanted about $250 to terminate them. With a 1000 series cold weld connection? I can do that myself, it’s very easy. Seriously, I didn’t really pay anything for the Comets given what I paid for the Treo’s. So to me, they were essentially free.
So yea, unexpectedly, now that I’ve heard them, (which was my goal out of pure curiosity), I will probably keep them. They are really that good. Honestly, I’m quite surprised. I can always get a set of 500 or 1000 spades, but to be honest, I’m not sure it’s necessary right now.