Just got ruined by a pair of Treo CTs

I had the Treo's and upgraded to Quatro which is still better than Treo CT with the pair of sub 3's ;)....

Yes, they are awesome in most ways.  Mine found a great home and that makes me sooo happy (yes, I'm a fool as I love it when others enjoy my gear like I did).  

As for driving them, they are very very easy to drive. Not a difficult load at all.  You can actually run them on NAD or Rotel integrates if you need to and then save for something else.  

Johnny Rutan in NJ is running some of his using Belles integrated or the separates.  He swears by them adn says they are world beaters.  I have heard the integrated a few times and loved it on the Vandy's.  That's only a 2k integrated so that's definitely not $$$$ dollars at all.  Not sure why so many feel that way, but it is a misconception in the online world for some reason.  

Richard is a frugal Dutch man, who may have even held back his own company a bit by giving folks bang for their buck from his 7's down to the 1's. It was very difficult for them to move from the d2 adn 3 to the 5 and the higher end line.  I'm really glad he did as there would be no way I could afford to get this type of high end sound in my room for the price this price of admission.  

Which dealer do you work with?  All who I have met are great guys (I have personally purchased gear from 5 of them at one point or another, lol).

Wow, what a great system Tomic.  I love that Belles integrated. Would drive the heck out of the Treo CT's and it's less than 2k, lol.  Talk about making them more affordable.  That's teh cool thing about Vandersteen, they really are an easy load. As long as you feed it good power, they will perform. They just scale better than many speakers, so you will get full enjoyment the better amps you hook them up to.  Not all companies can say that about their speakers.  

Heck, go all out and have them painted in any auto color you want, lol.  I paid a big upcharge for Audi Havana Black and have not looked back.. I then spend 100 extra and installed a 4" down light can above each speaker, lol.

I will then install a separate 30amp power line, grounded separately behind each speaker using the brand new Furetech nano carbon outlets, lol behind each speaker so you can't see the power cords, lol....  I had to make them look their best of course.  Wife is happy about the set up.  

I now am saving for the Vandersteen mono blocks to go with them.  I don't have a choice......;).  

If they sounded sterile and glaring, I can almost promise something was wrong in the room or set up.  Often times it's the room for any speaker to sound totally different than most people hear them.  

I had the Treo non CT and LOVED them. Coherent, musical, engaging and warm when the recording was warm is one way to describe them. When I moved to teh Quatro CT, it was another ball game. The CT version makes a huge difference of course, but freeing up the amp from reproducing 100hz down makes a huge difference on dynamics and other things.  

Richard does make some wonderful speakers for many of us.  I like the bigger Harbeth's, but there is no detail. Syrupy and sweet.  Everything sounds good on them, which is fine if you want that sound.  I would personally rather have a true audiophile speaker that still gives a warm presentation without glare or harshness in a coherent package.  That's just me though.

yes tastes do change.  I know mine have as I've grown older and heard better and better quality equipment.  I had Johnny Rutan come in and set them up properly.  I was amazed at how he set them up, but they are really sounding great.  It's amazing as to how great things can get with just a small adjustment here or there.

Taking the time to set up the rake of the Quatro and then getting teh bass right, should give you bliss.

I just got a new laser level and Bosch laser measuring tool.  Tomic, where should I have the tweeters pointing on a rear wall?  I have a long room and sit about 8' or so from the speakers.  Johnny set it up and I'm wanting to dial it in a spec.  I will say that after owning Treo's (non CT) and now Quatro's, the bass in my room is outstanding.  I have a lot with too many open walls so bass is brutal for me to get right. I may even get the new Vandy subs or just change out to Richard's new amps when they come out.  I may just not be getting the dynamic drive I want from teh Ayre AX5/20, but I think I probably do.  Hmmm.....choices..

Those 1's are sick good for the price.  I love the Belles Aria and have heard that the new Belles separates are SICK good.  Very cool for them. Will need to get down to Johnny's soon to hear all of them.  Will figure out getting a ride there, lol...