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Stereophile Review of Quatro Wood

Anyone read the review of the Vandy Quatro Wood in the latest Stereophile? With this effort, Wes Phillips has moved the bar a full notch lower, further diminishing the relevance of the major audiophile rags.

After a (too) lengthy treatment of the design specifics, he touches on a fairly narrow range of performance characteristics and then spends the rest of the review on a useless (and superficial) comparison of the Quatro Wood and the Wilson WATT/Puppy 8--which is way more than double the price. What was he thinking? Why not compare the Quatro to several other similarly priced floorstanding models? How about a comparison with the sock version Quatro or the 5A? At least the consumer could get some sense of where the Quatro Wood falls within the Vandersteen line and whether the wood or the larger 5A is worth the extra bucks.

It's not that I am disappointed--the only reason I keep my subscription to these mags is because they are dirt cheap (a consequence of the inflated subscription figures that the low rate provides) and the record reviews are somewhat helpful. It's just that this particular review has demonstrated just how useless these reviews have become.
dodgealum

Showing 1 response by martykl

martykl
3,578 posts
 
I always find Stereophile's reviews of interesting/exotic gear a fun read - but I'm more interested in learning about design rather than the reviewer's opinion. It's rare to learn anything useful from the conclusions.

As to the Quatro Wood, I've heard all three powered bass Vandies on several ocassions - and they always impress (although set-up clearly impacts just how much they impress). Despite the Vandy set-up protocol (designed, I thought, to provide consistent in-room bass response), I've heard large differences in bass response from these speakers at different auditions. I find it hard to believe that room specific issues made it impossible to find more consistent overall bass levels from one set-up to the next. Go figure.

Marty

BTW - Robert Baird's music reviews alone justify the subscription price IMHO.
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