midground btwn Dynaudio X38 and Vandersteen Treo


I live in a town where one has to drive considerable distances to audition quality speakers in person.

I'm looking for a full-range floor-stander. Definitely no sub-woofer. Probably a 3-way.

In recent weeks I've heard B&W CM10, Dynaudio Excite X38, Vandersteen Treo and Sonus Faber Venere 3.0.

My impressions in a nutshell: the B&W and Dynaudio were both very musical, though perhaps ultimately slightly polite. Neither quite did it for me in the bass, though the X38 probably went a little lower.

The Treo had tremendous bass. Overall, it sounded like a little too much of a good thing; not brash, but the opposite of polite (lively?). The Venere was even more so. I described it as Technicolor. Incredible height, room-filling sound, but ultimately not very convincing. Deep bass, but boomy not tight.

So basically, if this makes any sense, I'm looking for something that might split the difference between the sonic signatures of the Dynaudio and the Vandersteen.

I have the PSB Synchrony I and the new Revel F208 pegged for audition, if I can get to a store that carries them. I'm a bit worried that the PSB appears to be being discontinued, and I wonder if they might soon introduce a new model line at their top end.

So two questions: will either of these contenders fit the bill? And is there another that I should add to the shortlist. I've read reviews, but they don't always match with my own listening impressions (e.g. people commenting on excellent bass from the X38s).
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Hi. I just came across your post while doing research on my upcoming purchase. Curious if you settled on a speaker as you have listened to many in the price range I am comfortable with. Right now the Vandersteen Treo are at the top of my list.
Well, strictly speaking none of these speakers are full range and most only go down to the low or mid 30s. That said, given your impressions I think a pair of Joseph Audio RM25XLs might be in that sweet spot you're looking for. Nicely detailed but neither overly lively or polite, and they completely disappear and image like crazy. I think they were recently discontinued so you'll likely have to buy used unless a dealer has some left over. My other thought was to explore speakers with a ribbon tweeter as they also tend to be very nicely detailed but very smooth sounding, at least in my experience. The GoldenEar Triton Ones may very well be worth looking at and may actually be almost full range to boot. Used Silverline Sonata or Sonatina might also be worth exploring if they're available. Best of luck.