For Vandersteen owners & lovers: Which other brands do you like?

@patrickdowns
I started out with a PSE Studio1 pre driving a PSE Studio-II amp.

Switched out the PSA S1 for An Audible Illusions Modulus pre, then a Nagra Jazz.

Switched it the PSA S2 for VTL Monoblock compact 100s, then Primaluna Dialogue HP Premium. And used an old NAD and some class-D on them at times..

They seem to sound pretty good no matter what is driving them…

I have not tried Bryson, Ayre or the other usual suspects.

I know I could be happy for life with Vandersteens (Treo, Quatro, or dreaming—the Kento or 7). I am interested in detailed opinions of alternatives in the $10K range though. Thanks!

The March Audio “Sonituva” are pretty good.
I could not close a deal on them, or we were in agreement but it all went south. They are not time/phase correct, but I was going to bi-amp them and maybe use a DEXQ.

But they are about the vest I have heard in the <5k range… so one still needs a sub below for <40Hz… 

If I was you I’d be on the lookout for two used 2wq subs as there are really good deals out there on those subs now, and two very good subs is almost always better than one great one.  And IMHO the 2wq was and still is a damn good sub, and two of’em?  End game stuff to me. 

Hard to argue against @soix logic ^here^.

…

I was thinking about the switch to Treo’s and went and listened to them ( New Jersey dealer, well thought of) and after my audition I went to look at some finishes in another building with him ( basically deciding on what I was going to buy)  and he had some Harbeth SLH 5 Anniversary speakers set up that he had on commission. I had never heard Harbeths so I asked for a listen. 
I ended up buying a pair of the Harbeth SLH 5 Anniversary about two years ago.

…

The Treos, I believe, are more tolerant to being shoved against a wall than the model 2 or 3… I unsure about the Harbeths, but if you like em, then that is great.

In my younger years i spent a bit of time surf fishing Steelhead on the wild sides of your Island… Paradise….

@tomic601 have you tried NZ?
A coworker (Brown) went there and did a bunch of stream work.

His guide told him to bait the hook behind a tree. When he asked why, the guide told him that the fish will jump out of the stream to take the bait right out of your hand.

I was not quite as hooked when I went shopping back in the day, and they were only up to the model 2 then. But eventually I was hooked, and not a lot lured me in.

But that was ages ago… it is easier to stumble upon good speakers these days.

I’d try DeVore Fidelity - a little more open than Vandys and with low order crossovers.

@keithr funny you should mention them. I only heard them at the beginning of this year, but I was pretty impressed at the soundstage width.
(Some place in downtown Los Angeles)

They seems like they had a lot of distortion, but in a pleasing way, and it might have been the Jadis stuff that powered them causing that “fullness”.

They were impressive.

Top tip for the Vandy lovers with external subs (2WQ or Sub3), I recently upgraded my M5-HP filters to M5-HP TEF filters.

@raindog911 are you moving your older (non TEF) crossovers on?

another vote for the teflon high pass filters ;-) I call them the Kento filters but they are as @raindog911 pointed out a great low cost upgrade.

Ah JIm - I see my problem now, the exponent on “my low cost” differs.
(The mantissa is ok though.)

I run them on my Treo CT / sub3 system, the 7 high pass amps in my reference system have a built in high pass.

Enjoy the music !

I am assuming that those amps are balanced them, as the HPFs appear to be balanced/XLR.

And I am looking to use some balanced amps to replace the single ended tube amp/amp(s)… 

Was it Bryson or Belles that builds in the XO ?
Maybe that is something I should consider?? 

I keeping getting a “verify you a human” when trying to send a message, and in a never ending cycle…
(We might need to try a forum that specific to the brand.)

Yeah thanks Jim.

I already have the old SE version and 2W… but if I switch to XLR amps then the M5/M7 XO maybe makes sense.

I am still rubbing my pate on whether to do that.
… and whether to update the sub.

Both lines of speakers (at least the better Vandersteens) use pistonic drivers and offer what I regard as exceptionally balanced and spacious sound with great timbral accuracy. The Vivids are exceptionally dynamic, the comparable Vandersteens a bit less so.

@aubullience there are a few pistonic cones. And Purifi has a slick surround which does not change effective area as the cone moves in and out… as well as a more linear motor
ideally we would get a blending of the tech… as all are attempts at a lower distortion driver, from the cone, surround, and motor aspects. Some of the Purifi based speakers were pretty darn nice too. I’d just like to see a Purifi with a sandwich vandy cone on it.

I have not seen distortion measurements that I recall for Vivids nor any recent Vandys, but a high distortion could possibly come across as dynamic… I’m Not sure…

I am also unsure what exactly what makes timbral accuracy. The Vandy time domain accuracy is stunning, but the FR on the older speakers was not ruler smooth. One cannot clean up time domain easily with a DSP… but FR is pretty easy. I suspect that the time domain is more important for my ears…?

I am also looking at the Quatros and Kentos… but the old 2C are still pretty nice.

kind of first world problems to have.

Since the thread is about what other speakers… I am not sure how many are using the Purifi motors, and most that are seem to be on LR2 or LR4 crossovers (XO).

i have been thinking about a DEQX active XO, as they are coming out soon. I am not sure there is a lot better on that front.

but as they say, there are a hundred ways to skin a cat.

as the advocate of devil… one could maybe add the Vandy sub to the Vivids if their XO alignment was amenable to it? Are they 1st order XOs?

101 cats now… or was that Dalmatians?