To Vandersteen or not to Vandersteen

BTW, I have De Capo's now! :-)

2ce seemed to me pedestrians compared to 1c in terms of speed nearly with any amp driven. More than decade ago I was spending quite a time to build up my decision on speakers with John Rutan at Audioconnection. Ever since I haven't found any better dealer than him!
de capo's would do much better job for small rooms since 1c i've realized isn't upgrade to them.
best value in high definition audio is always different from mind to mind don't get me wrong

^Your criticism is not without merit, and there are others to boot. Perhaps that's why I chose Thiels. But, still it wasn't an easy decision and dollar for dollar I still stand by my earlier declaration. Once again, YMMV.:-)

if I were in your shoes I would try to hear some of the GoldenEar products - per the recent raves in the mags...

Shakey,

Vandersteen has never been my cuppa either. I like something with more jump factor and the feeling of live musicians in the room. Their top of the line might do it (although the original Model 5 didn't overly impress when it first came out) but I have never heard the 2 or 3 sound more than average.

Funny I always felt the same way after hearing the model 5's at a dealer for many years. About a year ago I purchased a pair of 5's that needed some work. So I finally got around to finishing that task. Plopped then in my system and I was astonished how they sounded. The jump factor and the feeling of live musicians in the room was better than most speakers I had heard in my system or others. I was very taken back by what I was hearing and granted I did not set them up properly yet as instructed by the manual. Go figure, I have to change my opinion on them now. BTW, I build my own preamp and I think that what I am hearing is because of my preamp and how it mates with the Vandersteen 5's. I never heard a speaker with such a black background, detail, clarity and musicality like what I am hearing now. Anyone what to sell me some Vandersteen 5 carbons cheap?

So the point is that your speakers need to match your components to sound their best.

Happy Listening.