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Anybody Heard the Vandersteen 5A'S

MY SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A PAIR OF QUAD 988'S, A AUDIO PHYSICS
MINOS SUBWOOFER, THOR AUDIO TA-2000 PREAMP, THOR AUDIO 60
WATT MONOBLOCKS SHORTLY TO BE UPGRADED TO THE NEW THOR AUDIO 150 WATT MONOBLOCKS, CARY 306/200 TRANSPORT ALONG WITH THE THOR DAC & RICHARD GRAY 12 OUTLET 1200S.
THE PART OF THE SYSTEM THAT IS NOT TO MY LIKING IS THE MINOS SUBWOOFER WHICH HAS LIMITED OUTPUT. I HAD A TECH PERSON FROM STAR SOUND TECHNOLOGIES (THE OUTFIT THAT SOLD ME MY SISTRUM STANDS) PLACE A REAL TIME ANALYZER ON MY SYSTEM AND WE CONCLUDED THAT THE MINOS WAS DEFECTIVE. IT'S ONLY 2 MONTHS OLD. I WILL BE SENDING THE UNIT FOR REPAIR
OR REPLACEMENT. STILL, I FEEL THAT A BETTER PAIR OF LOUDSPEAKERS WOULD MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I JUST FINISHED READING THE REVIEW OF THE VANDERSTEEN 5A'S IN THE ABSOLUTE SOUND. I AM TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE HABIT OF BUYING ON A REVIEW, AND TRYING TO AUDITION THE PRODUCT, HAS ANYONE HEARD THE VANDERSTEEN 5A? ANY COMMENTS OWULD BE APPRECIATED, AND DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A NEW YORK DEALER THAT
CARRIES THIS LINE. THANK YOU
kjl
paullb
129 posts
 
Hello,

I bought my Vandersteen 5A's in June, so I've had them for about five months and I am naturally biased. They are great speakers. Their greatest strength is that they have a tremendous amount of resolution but are not edgy or analytical. I think they need a pretty big room to sound their best. Mine is about 17 x 21.

That said, they are quite different than Quad's. The Quad's also have tremendous resolution with an entirely different presentation. I think it comes down to your preferences and the type of music you like to listen to. I listen to lots of different kind of music and I think the Vandersteen's are great all-arounders. The Quad's will sound best with smaller scale music and probably cannot be beat for listening at lower volumes.

Best of luck with your audiophile anxiety. No speaker is perfect, but you are considering two of the finest.
dkuriloff075f
3 posts
 
Yes the TAS review seems almost too good to be true. I have auditioned lately the Wilson's (Sophia and WP 7's), and the Focal JMlabs Alto Utopia and I liked the WP 7's the best. Now with this new review I can't wait to hear the Vandersteen 5A's. Are there any
dealers in the Westchester/Northern NJ area or NYC for that matter? If I could find one dealer to audition the Wilsons, Vandersteens and Cremoras I would be a happy camper. I am willing to spend the 15K-22K on the best speaker in this class.
oneprof
147 posts
 
dkuriloff, I don't know if Verona qualifies as northern NJ, but Audio Connections in Verona had a pair of 5A's on display at the beginning of the summer, in a room with Audio REsearch, Cary, and Rogue.
kjl OP
31 posts
 
Dear Dkuriloff@aol.com

I also have heard that the Vandersteen 5A is at the dealer in Verona, N.J. I am looking forward to auditioning same.
I did hear the Wilson Watt Puppy 7 and though my Quad 988
put them to shame. The only area that the Watt was better
was in the bass. Otherwise the speaker was not as clear as the Quad and it also seemed congested.
kkursula
95 posts
 
I am sorry KJL, but either you didn't audition W/P 7, or whoever demonstrated them to you screwed something! What kind of amplification was driving the W/P's? THE REAL Watt/puppies DOES many other things better than just BASS! Which is not saying much copmaring it to the Quad 988. If W/P sounds "congested", Vandersteen certainly wont sound any better in that regard.
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