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Vandersteen-like "In-between" speakers

I have a pair of Vandersteen 3A signature speakers that came on loan from my brother and I have to give them up in about a month. I am using them with a McCormack DNA-225 and they sound great. I have heard from others that Vandersteen works well with McCormack.

I don't want to spend more money than I have to, but I have about $6K set aside to buy my own speakers. This amount is much more than the 3A signatures. There is no way that I can stretch to buy the Vandersteen 5 or 5A's. A friend of mine has them and they are fantastic.

Can anyone suggest a speaker in my price range, which falls between 3A and 5A, that will give me the same "flavor" as the Vandersteens and will mate well with McCormack? I listen to all kinds of music except very little classical - mostly rock, jazz, bluegrass, vocals.
motdathird
vedric
46 posts
 
New Vandersteen Quatro. Worth waiting for to atleast audition before making a move. I think Stereophile mentioned a spring release.

http://www.shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/ces2004/standout_vandersteen.shtml
mikej
172 posts
 
Simple, you have three choices...
1. Brand new 3A Sigs. This allows you to spend the rest on the front end where it's better spent.
2. 3A Sigs with Subs. A significant improvement, but maybe not to your taste.
3. Vandersteen Quatros for $6500. They're essentially 3A Sigs with the 2WQ subs integrated into the speakers. It's as close to a 5A as you can get without spending the $10K extra to get the actual 5As. You should see them in the stores this year.

Good Luck!
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Wow..I wish I had your problem...not sure what model...but the THIEL range would be something to look into...phasecorrect design as well...Meadowlark also comes to mind...
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Have to plug Green Mountain Audio as well...I have there Europas($900 monitors)...can only dream about there higher end models...good luck...
vedric
46 posts
 
Mikej do you have insider information on the new Vandersteens? I've read nothing that indicates the Quatro is a 3ASig with integrated 2WQ subs. In fact considering it's 4 driver design and enclosure size my best guess is that it's a standalone 4 way full range passive design. This seems a logical progression from the Reference Monitor which was never released. Rumor was Richard was never satisfied with the low frequency response of the Ref Mon.

I'm hoping this new Quatro has more in common with the 5A than the 3ASig. It looks to be a 5A without the wood veneered enclosure, slightly smaller midbass driver, and with a single 8" driver in place of the active 12" +EQ system in the 5A. Will be interesting to hear more.

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