Vandersteen Mod 5 vs Coincident Tech Total Eclipse

I owned the van 5's for about six months. I found I simply could not get them to sound 'awesome' in my then 13x16 L shaped listening room without bringing them 6 feet into the room which gave them an ungainly placement. Henceforth I sold them. The back wall has wall to ceiling bookcases to absorb the sound. I think those speakers really need a big 20 foot+ room to sound good. I also found:

- They need to be turned up a bit to liven up.

- In close low level listening is not their forte. At the
time I sat about 7 feet from them & I listen at low to
medium levels, so this was a problem for me.

- For a reference grade speaker I would like to hear more
detail. I realize this is part of their voicing.

- They are far and away the most difficult speaker I've set
up. I think this is directly related to my room size and
their overpowering bass/low detail. I spent months of
experimentation with an spl meter and found they
only 'locked in' at a very specific place in my room. The
big problem was that if you moved them 1-2 feet you
would need to recalibrate the crossover settings to
flatten them out again. I don't think this would happen
in a larger room. By comparison I set up my full range
eidolons in 2-3 hours and found they sounded excellent in
almost any reasonable placement. Note that I'm now
using a 20 foot room.

- I found I could only get them to sound good by throwing
ultra high resolution gear and cables at them to
compensate. I didn't get them to sound GREAT until i
put an $8000 vk-50SE preamp and 20K in quattro fil and
double run spm speaker cables on them. Great they did
sound, but I've achieved great sound with far lessor
components.

- Their amazingly powerful bass was a problem in that
pictures and my fireplace grill would shake at virtually
any volume. Perhaps a good thing. I did have the bass
dialed down a bit.

- The highpass filter that goes between the preamp and amp
was a problem for me. I had the balanced version. I
coudn't use my cd player as a direct source. I also
could not use my pass labs gear because pass labs have
differentially balanced circuitry. Audio research
balanced worked well.

For components I found the audio research vt100m2 to be the best amplifier and the bat-vk50se the best preamp match. The vk30se and ref1 were also good. Because the amplifier is only driving the midrange and tweeters you don't need that much power.

I realize I've outlines some negative aspects of this design. These speakers did not work FOR ME in MY ROOM. I still think they are one of the best speakers made at any price. Very natural presentation, and wonderful instrument weight. Best bass I've heard. A must listen for anyone shopping.

Joe owns Digital Master's I own Super Conquest's. Both very very good speaker's By Coincident.
I have also heard the Van 5's. Very very Good speaker.
Its like beer we all have different taste's. This is not about which is better they are both State of The Art.
It really depends on what your personal taste's are.

Trelja, one of the best posts that I have even read!!! I, too, am considering the Coincident Tech speakers sometime down the road. But for my needs, I am eyeballing the Super Eclipse. Do the Super's have the same acoustic signature as the Total's (other than not as deep bass). Amplification is Atma-sphere amps. Ralph Karsten (Atma-sphere) is very enthusiastic about Coincident speakers mated with his amps! Also, I have always been somewhat hesitant to use a speaker with a powered woofer, due to amp matching problems. Or is this concern just not a valid one, with the Vandies? Happy Tunes!

I have owned the Vandy Fives for over 3 years and agree with all of the above comments. They work great in my 14.5x22x11 sound-room, I would not want to go much smaller, and I have done a lot of experimentation with accoustic room treatment. I power them with Rowland Model Twelves. Tried the Model 10, but it lacked a certain degree of control over the 8' woofer, so the above comments regarding power seem right on.

I would not trade the Fives for anything. I don't ever bother to listen to other speakers. Assuming that you are willing to mate them with a quality system and spend a fair amount of tweeking, they are unbelievable. I grow more attached to them as time goes on.

Having said all that, I have never heard the Coincident speakers, so I can offer no comparison. I strongly concur with the above advice regarding the need for extensive auditioning before you buy.

Oh, one other thing. Don't even consider the Fives if you are not willing to bi-wire. That additional cost should be taken into account.

Joe, great post and I'm glad someone finally said it with the authority you did. NOTHING is more important in a speaker purchase than room interaction and personal taste. With 2 systems of this caliper there really is no best. This "best" argument really wears thin after a while since anyone who has been at this hobby long enough knows that a good room and synergy of components is the key to long term listening satisfaction. Thanks for driving the point home.