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Avalon, Vandersteen... which to move to?

Hello-

I am considering a speaker upgrade, and am considering either Vandersteens (2CE w/2Wq sub, or alternately the 3Asig) or Avalon Ascendants... or I could keep my ProAc R2.5s. I won't be able to audition these together for a long time (and auditions at different dealers w/different equipment are hard to compare), so I'd appreciate any comments you may have, particularly:

- Are these Vandersteens competitive sound-wise w/the Avalons?
- Would the 2CEs be enough better than the ProAcs to make the shift worth it?
- 3Asig vs 2CE w/sub?
- Other advice (about these brands)?

Many thanks!

PS: I currently have a Chord DAC64 - Rowland Synergy IIi - Rowland Model 10 - ProAc R2.5, and the speakers would be the final change in the system for years. Listen at moderate/loud-ish levels in rooms of various sizes (move a fair amount) and to Grateful Dead/Bela Fleck type stuff.
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Showing 1 response by 9rw

9rw's avatar
9rw
318 posts
 
The Avalons require megawatts of power -- and they are way overpriced compared to other speakers that are just flat out better. The Avalons also don't have the best dynamics. I think a lot of people buy them for their cabinet work and their looks in general.

If you're after cost-effective performance, the Vandersteens are hard to beat. And while they may be forgiving, they're also highly capable of revealing differences in upstream components. Also, the Vandersteens are phase- and time-coherent. The Avalons (and ProAcs) are not. This may not be a big deal to some people, but it's been my experience that phase- and time-coherent speakers do a better job of imaging and recreating the illusion of a live event. They just sound more natural.

But, hey, there are lots of great speakers out there. Listen to as many as you can. IMHO.
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