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For Vandersteen owners & lovers: Which other brands do you like?

If you didn’t own Vandersteens, what would you own instead and why? Or, if you switched to another brand what did you choose?

First, let me say that I am a Vandersteen owner for 20+ years, now on my 2nd pair of the 2CE, the Signature III. I have owned other brands, and heard many others and even liked some. 😀 I don’t change gear frequently once I settle on something. Lazy & frugal = me.

I am on the verge of being on the verge of getting the Vandy Treo CT. I have auditioned them at length. I have also heard the Quatro CT and if budget allowed (including upgrading my front end) I would get them for sure. I’m not a fanboy—there is a reason why Vandersteen has sold something like 100K pairs of the 2CE. They sound very good and all of their models are a real bargain/value in their category, imo.

I have heard and liked, for different reasons, Maggies, Magicos, Harbeths, Focals, Linkwitz-Riley, and other brands. Others that I have not heard intrigue me too. I keep circling back to Vandys—maybe it’s what I have known the longest. I have flirted with the Larsen 8 or 9, which is a totally different design (AbSound has reviewed them well), and also the MBL 120 and 126 (omnidirectionals).

I know I could be happy for life with Vandersteens (Treo, Quatro, or dreaming—the Kento or 7). I am interested in detailed opinions of alternatives in the $10K range though. Thanks!

128x128patrickdowns
gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 

another vote for the teflon high pass filters ;-) I call them the Kento filters

 

Dang it, I should have bought a set when they came up for sale a year of two ago.

In any case, I am in the process of literally reinstalling the Treo’s. I found some inexpensive granite Surface Plates on Amazon. So, I will start from the beginning and set them up using the Vandersteen manual. (I need to call John Rutan to order the Vandy pucks and felt, but things have to be running for T’day).

Wish me luck...

@patrickdowns , thanks for the kind words. As you know, the price was very, very good, and the seller is a really nice guy. All I can say is to do what I did, keep searching HifiShark daily.

Bob

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

another vote for the teflon high pass filters ;-) I call them the Kento filters but they are as @raindog911 pointed out a great low cost upgrade.

Ah JIm - I see my problem now, the exponent on “my low cost” differs.
(The mantissa is ok though.)

 

I run them on my Treo CT / sub3 system, the 7 high pass amps in my reference system have a built in high pass.

Enjoy the music !

I am assuming that those amps are balanced them, as the HPFs appear to be balanced/XLR.

And I am looking to use some balanced amps to replace the single ended tube amp/amp(s)… 

Was it Bryson or Belles that builds in the XO ?
Maybe that is something I should consider?? 

gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 

Was it Bryson or Belles that builds in the XO ?

Possibly Belles, but I do know Ayre can install the high pass crossover into their equipment.

B

raindog911
8 posts
 

@tomic601 I too called them mKento-hp filters but Vandersteen’s website currently calls them M5-HP TEF filters. I went with the website nomenclature in case someone was motivated to look into them further. My ***-HP TEF XLR filters have the Audioquest Fire pigtail on them which is great since I have 27’ Fire XLR interconnects between my pre amp and the filters.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

I keeping getting a “verify you a human” when trying to send a message, and in a never ending cycle…
(We might need to try a forum that specific to the brand.)

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