Vandersteen 5A or Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage

I have heard both of these speakers. To me, the Strad's are in a different league than the Vandy 5's. BUT and this is a Biggie....they need a fairly powerful tube amp upstream. Feed them with ss and you won't hear what they can do. OTOH, the Vandy's are quite happy with ss gear. Since the OP owns ML gear, i would suggest that the Vandy's may be a better match.

I've heard the 5A's driven with 125 Ayre watts and they sang. The nice thing is that you are only using the amp to power the mids and above as they have self powered subs. That's why you use the crossover. I totally agree with you on the SF's....they must have powerful tube amps. Davey, most don't get it, you certainly do. Vandy's just sound so right and aren't fatiguing. I have heard them kick on Quicksilver, rogue, Ayre, AR, Krell, ML, Classe and Aesthetix and they always sound awesome, but you can always tell the difference of the upline components. If you feed it crap, it will sound like better crap, but feed it great amplification and you'll be rewarded and want to listen all day and night.

Thanks again for the responses. My 5A's are on their way. I should have them in a couple of days. I can't wait!! My dedicated room is 17.5 x 26 long. I have high hopes on what they can do. I just recently sold SF Cremona m's and Maggie 3.7's, and I felt they were good. They just didn't do enough for me.

Troy. congrats. I'm sure you're very excited. Who's your dealer?

When you get your 5A's, post your feelings. If you need setup question, etc...we're here to help.