Vandersteen Treo vs 3A Sig as upgrade


I had my local dealer hook up a pair of Treos to demo them and left with a very mixed impression. I like the overall sound. They have a smoother, more refined and sophisticated midrange that the 3A Sigs can't match. I want that. But the bass was less defined and the top end was bright. The sibilance was very exaggerated - this was with CD. Is this the character of the Treo? Thanks!
wlutke
Wlutke, honestly, your response didn't bother me at all and that was even before I read the tongue in cheek part. You made the assumption that it would I guess, lol. I never take criticism on boards personally as I only know a few folks here personally. Here is the only think I posted about the Nordost brand:
Not saying Nordost doesn't at all, but I'm saying that AQ or even Basis cables will get you where you want to be.

I've heard all the Nordost cable including the series two from Odin to Heimdall. Mostly on Wilson speakers and I am not a Wilson fan at all, so that's part of it. I've had series two in my system (the Valhalla 2). It took a bit of the emotion away for my ear. That said, it was a very detailed set of cables and sounded good. I just prefer the AQ cables with Ayre and Vandy's. My system right now is ruthlessly revealing while still being totally non fatiguing. Your Nordost cables will never be fatiguing on the Vandys, that's a given. We all like different sound and that's why we keep all these brands in business. I have friends who use all types of cables with Vandy's and one of them is a close friend. He was using a brand other than AQ in his system and he complained that he didn't love the upper midrange. He brought two separate (true bi wire) pair of AQ Oak in 8' runs. He immediately switched over to all AQ and said he loves the system. I know people who don't like AQ cables and swear by MIT or Transparent. I've heard the Transparent on those same Wilsons and not liked them at all. Again, it may be the speakers, but I felt exhausted after an hour of listening.

In the end they are all great in your system as long as you love them. I just tend to try new things when I make a change in the system. That's how I switch from Proac's to Vandersteen. I wasn't even going to listen to them until Johnny asked me to after I auditioned some Proac's....

Jafant, we'd all like to hear your examples.....What didn't impress you enough that you make this same statement on any Vandersteen thread? I'm sure that you can just make a list of speakers and post, but at least that would be better than a hit and run, lol. j/k
Wlutke,
Serious questions. Forget everything else in either of our systems. This probably isn't about the components, but the set up of them. First off did you bring your own music to listen to? If so, do you know the recordings really well? Some recordings are loved by all, but sometimes not recorded the best. That's probably not it, but I thought I'd thow it out there.

After speaking with someone who knows Vandy's as good as anyone, there is a possibility that the tilt wasn't enough. If the high energy hits before the mids and bass, then you will experience exactly what you said you did. That would also go for the bass problems. I have a feeling that the speaker was knocked out of whack somehow. If not that, then I need to ask, were you standing up listening? I should have thought of that right away and I'm sorry I didn't. That too will make the speaker sound tilted up a bit.

I hope you come back to this thread to let me know. The bottom line is that no cable or component will be so dramatic as to make the speakers sound so different than they should sound. Some components are just better than others. When talking about cables in my system or even other components, they are usually shade subtle differences unless I'm upgrading from an Ayre AX7e to the AX5 Twenty. The cost better give me that type of upgrade and oomph....
"That would also go for the bass problems. I have a feeling that the speaker was knocked out of whack somehow."

There's a really good chance that the dealer wired the bass speaker cables out of phase with each other. They do it all the time.
Z, that could easily be it also. Just so many reasons many speakers don't sound the way they should and that's for many brands. Funny as folks talk about how difficult setting up a set of speakers can be, but if you have a great dealer, they'll come over to do it or be able to walk you through it. I"m actually going to purchase a laser so that I can easily set up the tilt of my Treo's in case they get moved. It's just so easy to do by lining up the dot's on the back wall and using a tape measure to measure the tweeters from your ears If I recall correctly. Johnny set mine up and it only took about ten minutes and most of that was putting the spikes on, lol. If he can do it in ten, then I bet I can learn to do it in 20 ;)......I do hope that the OP comes back to the thread as I didn't like how I answered him originally and I'm sorry for that. This thread is a good one and I tend to keep it that way. He taught me a great lesson about jumping to conclusions that most of us do about cables. I was taught a great lesson last night ;).
"I do hope that the OP comes back to the thread as I didn't like how I answered him originally and I'm sorry for that. This thread is a good one and I tend to keep it that way. He taught me a great lesson about jumping to conclusions that most of us do about cables. I was taught a great lesson last night ;).

Even if you did misread the post, you still have nothing to apologize for. Your intent was to give good advice and you shouldn't be made to feel like you did something wrong. The OP will just have to get over it.