Non fatigueing speaker under 1500

Of your choices the Vandersteens are very good indeed. If after you purchase them, there is any residual hardness, look elsewhere in your setup! ( like Spendors also.)

I'd suggest a used pair of original Quad ESL's (the "57's") as among the most non-fatiguing speakers at any price, and if not Quads then Maggies.

Boxiness is a subtle but persistent source of listening fatigue, and it's fairly expensive to build boxes that don't sound like boxes. So in your price range, if non-fatiguing is the primary criteria, I enthusiastically recommend dipoles such as the Quads or Maggies.

The Maggies are more much forgiving of listening position, while the Quads are a bit more forgiving of speaker position. The Quads like low-power (usually tubes), and the Maggies like fairly high power. The Maggies don't really come to life at low volume levels like the Quads do.

On the other hand, if you gotta have boxes, the Vandies would be a good choice.

I agree with the many who have already stated the Vandersteen is a great choice. I am of the opinion that it is the best value in a full range speaker. It is a steal at its price point.

The Magnepan 1.6QR is a great speaker as well, but it presents many potential problems. It requires quite a bit of current as is extremely sensitive to placement. In the right situation it could outperform the Vandersteen 2CE Signature. I would say that 90 percent of the time the Vandersteen will be the better choice because the speaker is not at all picky about what is being used to drive it and it is not anywhere near as placement sensitive as the Magnepan is.

Good Luck.

Disclaimer: I am a Meadowlark dealer.

Duke makes some very good points concerning listener fatigue in relation to cabinet resonance. This is often overlooked and many times fatigue is caused by this effect, and NOT the drivers.

Gooddomino...As far as my recommendation, all of the suggestions mentioned so far are good ones, however, I have a hunch that the reason more folks didn't recommend the Meadowlark Swifts (which you brought up) is that they haven't heard them (I could certainly be wrong). Anyway, we finally received our store demo pair last week and as impressed as I was with them before, after spending more time with them, they are INCREDIBLE speakers for $995. For a speaker to have the holographic imaging, soundstage, and bass that these do for their asking price and size is VERY rare (I am sure there might be others, just haven't heard them yet). They completely disappear and have zero box resonance (that my ears can perceive anyway). Congrats definitely go to Pat McGinty for a wonderfull (and affordable) design.

Best Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio

I'd say your on the right path for a non fatigueing speaker. I will say that there is simply no way the Maggies can be considered non fatigueing. I've had Maggies in the $1000-$1500 range in and out for at least 12 yrs. and I've never found them to be non fatigueing. Pretty darn good speaker for the money but, definately fatigueing after a couple hours.

Sorry, just my opinion. But, the recordings I listen to are pretty crappy quality, which will bring on fatigue much sooner.But, then again I listen to what's available commercially, not some damn audiophile crap.