Speakers: $3,000-$4,000 on Audiogon

Vandersteen's are among my favourite speakers, but I don't think they would be described as detailed - which I don't think too much of is such a great thing anyway - they are certainly full range, especially the Quattro. I'm not sure Cardas cabling would be best though - they don't need the relative filtering that "bright" speakers would need. As much as I loved my Vandersteens, the Merlins in my view are significantly more resolved, coherent, detailed, musical, and dynamic. The only area where they may fall short, is in ultimate deep bass slam (32Hz-22Khz +/- 2db) - never a problem for me however in my 12x19 room listening to acoustic music. Oh, and they are practically designed for and with Cardas cabling. While Merlins are typically a tube amp speaker, they are known to work well with Mac, especially with the units with autoformers or whatever ever that MAC transformer is called.

I tried to ignore this thread untill now.
Some very good recommendations....however statements in regards to Vandersteen Quatro locking detail and lower bass extention need to be clarify.....Owning Quatros for some time now doesn't make me an expert but I have to disagree with that statement. Besides, I have not seen Quatros on sell for less then $4500. Actualy - I have not seen any in the past few months. Would I recommend them if they were in your budget?........maybe. I would only recommended them to someone who is serious about building system around them.
Otherwise why batter.

Dpac,

The S5.4's are a huge step up over the S3.4 in terms of extension and detail. Plus, you get the Confidence tweeter in the S5.4.

Personally, I feel the S5.4 and maybe the Aerial Model 9 are the best speakers under $10K for full-range floorstanders. The S3.4 is also very special, but it's no match for the S5.4.

We all love what we sell Tony.

You're no different.

Bill,
I know Tony sells Dynaudio. I was asking for his professional opinion. No big deal.
Dave