vandersteen 5 to 5a

Hi,

I have not upgraded my Vandersteen 5's, but did compare the 5's with the 5A's before purchasing the 5A's. I cannot tell you if it's worth $5,000 to you, but the 5A's are definitely better speakers. They have a better total balance and more resolution, without sounding bright or analytical. FYI, I have compared my Vandersteens side-by-side with Audio Physic Avanti III's and the Vandersteens have greater resolution and pass more information, they just don't sound as bright.

I don't know how difficult it is to swap out the midrange, tweeter and bass module. I think it just takes simple soldering skills... but for $5,000 make your dealer do it! If something did go wrong (highly unlikely), at least he would be responsible.

Hi, I've had mine upgraded and it's worth it. This is not a field upgrade. Vandersteen will not send out kits at this time. Call the factory for details.

mikej:what increase in performance did you notice,and what components do you use to drive these?also is this a 2 channel music only system and if so what do you listen to?thanks for your in-put.bill.

My understanding is that Vandersteen originally planned to offer the upgrade as a field kit, but found that the process was too difficult to do in the field.

Apparently some of the replacement drivers have different mounting geometry, so new mounting holes must be precision-drilled in the head, and the old holes must be filled and sealed. The consequences of mis-drilling the holes would be catastrophic (ruined head), so apparently Vandersteen decided to make the upgrade factory-only.

As to whether it's worth the money - only you can decide that. I made my purchase after the 5A had been introduced. I auditioned the 5 back-to-back with the 5A, and chose the 5A. The 5 is a great speaker, the 5A is substantially improved. Quite substantially improved.

I do suggest that if you don't already have pretty much the best-of-the-best in electronics, the upgrade probably won't be worth it to you. If you do have great electronics, it probably will be worth it to you.

I have owned both- I upgraded my 5's to 5A.
The first thing that struck me when I got the 5A's from the factory was- they retrieve more low level detail- that, for me, was the most signifigant improvement. They do everything slightly better though, but low level details is what I noticed most.
For the record, I use for gear:

Linn LP12 /Ekos/Arkiv/Lingo/Cirkus
AudioQuest LeoPard tonearm cable
Aesthetix IO, dual volume control
AusioQuest Cheetah interconnect
Theta Citadels
AudioQuest Volcano speaker cable

Will