I haven't heard the vandersteen's, but I've owned Snell C/V's for about 3 years now, and have no plans of trading up soon. I've had the same experience as someone who mentioned above, that they need to be put at a decent distance from back (up to 3 feet) and side (at least a foot and a half) walls. I've been continually suprised - just upgraded my source and the system sounds better than I thought it ever could. I'm also using a Bryston 4B-NRB amp, which actually helped considerably over the lower-powered 3B. If you get the snells, use an amp that has very controlled bass, as the bryston does. BTW, I've never heard the C/IV's, just the C/V's.
