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B&W vs Vandersteen?

After a long search and lots of auditions I narrowed my options down to 2 very different yet excellent brands. I know they sound very different but still. For my 50 sq.meter living room with 5 meters between the wall and the sofa (something like 3,7 meters between the speakers and my ears) and approx. 2,4 meters distance between the centers of the speakers I'm choosing between B&W and Vandersteen at the moment. Each option has something going for and against it.

Vandersteen 3A Signature is

much cheaper than even 802, not to mention 801 and 800 and is not as difficult to drive. I can buy it right now.

It has glorious musical midrange and highs and sounds big.

Since Vandies are not as deep as B&W I can give them more space between the speakers and the wall - up to 1 meter (maximum 60 - 70 cm in case of B&W)

But I'm not sure if it can be as open and dyamic or as fast and tight with heavy metal and other modern rock music. Also I'm not sure it's perfect for movies because of the same PRAT issues.

And most likely I'll have to move away from the well known McIntosh line (I'm a Mac guy for many years now) since Mac and Vandersteen is not a perfect match and get back on audiophile treadmill of choosing amps etc.

The weird small-spades connections make any audition of cables almost impossible since I can only use cables specially made for Vandies.

B&W 800 or 801 or 802?

sound absolutely neutral and equally great with Carpenters and Celtic Frost.

The can be cranked up as high as possible without becoming shouty. Their speed must be perfect for HT use.

I can stay with Macs since they are a classic combo.

Demand huge and highly expensive amps.

Are much more expensive themselves. The only model from the old 800D line still available is 802 so unless I can find a good deal on used 801 and 802 I'll have to settle for 802s or start saving for new 800 Diamonds which I'll be able to afford by the end of this year with good luck...

What do you guys think? I know some would say - audition both at home and choose for yourself. Not possible at the moment and anyway I'm interested in your opinions!
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antonkk
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
My main concern with Vandersteen is their speed and tightness of the bass. If that can be achieved than they could be the ticket for me...
jeffkad
211 posts
 
I will add that I've listened to both (802D vs V5) and find the B&W a better all-around speaker than the Vandy. Not at all harsh. Livelier than Vandy. Vandy very relaxed, great for small ensemble and acoustic stuff, but to my ears will not rock like B&W can, aqnd the B&W does small and acoustic stuff very nicely as well. Of course, trust your own ears. For my ears, much as I like the B&W though, my personal favorites in the price range are the big 20.1 maggies and the NOLA Micro, as both offer a different sound that I like very much. For the record, I own B&W N803. Good luck.
dylanhenry
52 posts
 
The B&W 802Ds for sure. The Vandersteen 3A Signature is good for its price, but comes nowhere close to the B&W 800 series, particular with the Diamond tweeter models.

You'll notice quickly on this board there are a lot of anti-B&W posters, which is fine. They are a well-known and successful speaker company, and no doubt you have those that resent them for that reason (sure, they might really not like their speakers, but most people don't like most speakers, and yet these people are mostly focused on B&W). So you should take with a grain of salt people saying, "easy choice, the "not B&W" is WAY better!". These people probably have never even heard either speaker, but are just criticizing B&W for whatever their reason is.

Anyway, I've heard both speakers and I think your doubts about the Vandersteen are correct. Not a bad speaker by any means, but the 802D is a rare speaker indeed. It's almost not fair to compare these two. For those that love its type of sound, it's nearly the perfect speaker (with perfection being unattainable).
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
One more final question, folks - which speakers produce BIGGER image, soundstage, particulary drums? After living with JBL 150 for quite a while with their 12 inch woofers I'm kinda used to the BIG drum sound....)))
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I dumped my 802's for Vandersteens. I got them at Audio Connection with John who will advise you soundly. He's a patient, and understands what you want. Give him a try...you can always walk out....I bet you put a check down first. Regarding the Vandersteen input posts. You need smaller (vintage) size spades. Yes you can use big one, but if you touch the metal mounting plate with a bit of left over spade, you will blow out the amp. Its best to use the smaller spades...easily installed by any wire manufacturer...probably a no cost request.
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