Audio Physic Scorpio or Vandersteen Signature 3A

I had the Scorpios and they lasted about a month in my system. I upgraded to Focal 1037's. I thought the Scorpios would really shine but they were very thin sounding, bright to the least. Their woofers look great but were NOT as good as they look when it comes to sound. My amp was a BATVK300x. I have owned a Musician II in the past and that is one good amp! I would look at others before deciding on Scorpios. Your amp can pretty much push anything .......That's my opinion ..........

All vandersteen speakers sound a bit rolled off in the highs until you get used to their design. Richard says it's because they are absolutely time aligned..never the less, listen for a while before you make any final decision.

Scorpios thin sounding! WOW! Mine were great and that was in a 23X28X14 room. If anything I thought they were a little bloated in the upper bass/low midrange freq. The Scorpios were one of those I speakers I sold that I truly regret. Very good speaker and the Vandys will never image like the Physics.

Philefreak, How did you fill a room 23x28x14 with Scorpios? I find that to be next to impossible ........ I must be missing something !!!

No secrets. Although I did have to use a sub to get the last little bit of bottom but, in my room I've not found a speaker that a sub didn't help. I was using a 2A3 P/P amp with all of 20 watts per channel on them as well. I got every bit of 96 db peaks. Plenty loud for me. They are a pain to set up though. They like to be away from any walls. In a friends room they were thinner in the low bass and more bloated in the upper bass because of having them too close to side walls. I think this is one problem with side firing woofers especially if you have woofers on both sides so you can't turn the woofers to the inside to eliminate or at least lesson the room interaction.

Scorpio's are nice, but in my room I have difficulties getting the bass right with speakers that carry bassunits on the side instead of the front. Bass was very boomy and transition between bass and midrange was lacking quite a bit. Maybe they just need more space, I don't know. I also tried the more expensive Virgo V, but had the same problems with the bass (albeit a bit less than with the Scorpio's). It wouldn't be my pick.

Yeah,
I'm really torn here and appreciate all of your inputs. I have the Virgo 3's but they are already sold. I listened to them again for the last time today and I really love the crisp open top end. When I listen to well recorded electronic music like Wendy Carlos or Kraftwerk the AP's are so fast and clean. Are the Vandersteens considered fast? That is more my concern than the bass. I live in a Manhattan apt so I can't have earth-shaking bass or I'll also have door-knocking neighbors! The Vandersteen had a very full sound that I really liked but it seemed rolled off or slightly veiled on the top. Has anyone found ways around this? I must decide soon because I have no speakers right now! I also heard the ProAcs. They sound great but are beyond my current budget. Thanks, J : )

Vandy 3A Sigs ARE NOT rolled off in the highs as claimed above. They produce a very natural timbre for acoustic instruments compared to many/most "high-end" speakers which are fatiguing to listen to because the treble is simply too hot. If you want a natural treble, the 3A Sigs will deliver it in spades. If you want artificial audiophile detail, then go elsewhere.

The reason the 3A Sigs sound rolled off up top is because time alignment of the drivers allows all of the drivers output to arrive at the ear together (at the same time.) Most of us have been conditioned to accept the early arriving sound of most speakers tweeters as detail or transparency.
If you run a frequency test of the about 10KHz to about 18-20KHz, you will find that the speakers are not rolled off. Their off axis response is also good.
Time and phase speakers take a bit of getting use to. A simple sit down with them will not do. Once you have extended exposure to time and phase speakers, you will find it hard to go back to non time and phase aligned speakers. They just want sound right any more.
The other condition is they really do need to be precisely set up. This includes tiltback and ear height adjustments. If the demonstrating dealer does not measure your ear height vs distance vs tiltback, then he has not done you or Vandersteen justice.
Unfortunately, Vandersteens are a speaker you just cannot plop down and listen to without proper setup. It makes all the difference in the world.
The latest incarnations of Vandersteen's do sound a touch brighter and more open. Same basic sound, just improvements with time and technology.
His new 2CE Sig II's are about as good a high end bargain as you will find and follow the philosophy of the Quatro's (which are Stereophile class "A" speakers.) He has done many refinements to the 3A Sigs over the years also. A new pair doesn't really sound like the older ones. I would choose the new 2Ce model over an older pair of 3A Sigs.
As for AP, they're a little too hot for my taste and I found their soundstage depth to be somewhat limited to the sides. I never made a direct comparison. They stood alone in my listening room and this was just my opinion for what it's worth.

Agree with Krisjan 100%. The 3A sigs are not rolled off at all. In fact, for me, they tended to reveal a bit more than I wanted to know about certain recordings, and I ultimately went with some Harbeths (which others would describe as being "rolled off" in comparison to the 3A's). Particularly on jazz recordings, the 3A's did an amazing job of giving you the illusion that the musicians were right in the room with you (at least in my room). Fine reproduction of cymbals, in particular.