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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
rower30
211 posts
 
I had a pair of 801's and just moved to Quatros. Could not be happier with the added soundstage that the Quatro's provide. The 802' did not sound neutral in the base, too fat, like my old 801's.

802's were plenty listenable, but after I listened to broken in Quatros, and their magnificent imaging, it is hard to leave that behind for the 802's (about the same price, too).

I use McCormack MAP-1 and DNA-225 and it sounds great. Not sure where you heard it isn't a good match. Dead quiet and great sound for solid state electronics at good prices.
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
766 posts
 
Given the size of your room, and the proposed set-up of your speakers, perhaps you should consider a slightly different Vandersteen option:

2ce Sig II speakers + a pair of 2wq subs.

Although your seating is a bit far back (given the distance between your speakers), your real challenge will be to load the room with bass. A pair of 2wq subs will do the trick. Plus, with the first-order roll-off 3 dB down at 120 hz, your main amps and speakers won't have to deal with sub-bass frequencies.

Personally, I think this would be a better option than either the Quatros or the 3a Sigs in your space. YMMV.
theunderlyingtheme
90 posts
 
Stringreen,

You mentioned, "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."

I just looked in the 3A Signature manual, and it says nothing about this.

It does say, "Bare wires should never come into contact with the aluminum dress plate while the amplifier is on. Amplifier damage may result."

That I understand for sure, but why wouldn't Mr. Vandersteen mention the large spade thing in the manual if it was a big risk?

I'm using pretty large Blue Jeans spades on my 2Ce Signatures, fwiw.
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
Just use common sense and look that a Plus is not near a minus
girls and boys
Thanks Johnnyr
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
Folks, thanx for all your responses, thoughts and impressions. I nearly bought the Vandies, however teh guy who sold 'em could not deliver them for a few days and that gave me time to make a final comparison. Different dealers', different rigs but still. B&W 802D blew away the Vandies on hard rock material and that sealed the deal. No matter how much I like the Vandersteen smoothness, there will be always something missing for me while B&W seems to make everything right. I'm goin' for B&W 802D (which I also found used localy for a great price).
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