Vandersteen 1C to 3A Signature


I currently own the 1Cs, paired with a Naim Nait 5i. I like the sound, have had these speakers for the better part of 15 years and I still love their presentation, the openness and sense of space they provide. They are fabulous to my ears.

Which isn’t to say they are perfect, they don’t like being played too loud (seem fragile, break up at higher volumes), and the bass isn’t as deep or (more importantly) as defined as it could be. Also I sometimes hear some lack of refinement in the tweeter (although at other times it sounds positively glorious, especially with horns and flutes).  So after refinishing the basement and adding a big TV with prewired surround sound I found a used Vandersteen center speaker, so I’m thinking of moving the 1C to the basement and getting a different (hopefully better) speaker for upstairs. I did a bit of research and it appears Spendor is supposed to be a good match for Naim, so I was able to borrow a pair of S8E to try out. You can tell the speaker can handle much more power and can play cleanly at those high levels, and the sound is nicely balanced throughout the frequency range, but they sound like boxes. The Vandy’s don’t. I think I’ve written off Spendor, Proac, Totem and the like, as the design looks similar.

I should probably stick with Vandersteen or similar sounding speakers. I have an opportunity to buy some 3A Signatures, but am afraid I will lose the lithe nature of the 1’s which I like, so I’m looking for opinions on this, and maybe for suggestions of other models that would sort of fit into the sound I’ve tried to describe. Thanks
128x128phaco

Showing 3 responses by bkeske

Excellent advice thus far. I moved from my 1C’s to 2CE Sigs in a matter of a month (got very lucky with someone selling his 2’s for a very very fair price), seriously, as I fell in love with the 1’s sound and wanted more. You would not loose anything moving up, IMO, only gain more of what you already like about the 1’s.

The 3’s should work nicely for you if the price is right, but as Jim @tomic601 stated, the new 2 model III’s sound to be an incredible solution as well, as would be the Treo’s, but I would assume a larger investment.

I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. BTW, I still have the 1’s as ‘rear’ speakers in my HT set-up, and comforted in that they are solid back-up speakers as well. I had to do that while getting one of my acoustic couplers repaired. Was nice to have them at the time, but could not wait to get the 2CE Sigs back in operation. Big difference.
@patrickdowns

Thanks for your opinion of the new III’s. Since they came out, and have received so many glowing reviews, I am really thinking about the new 2’s as a replacement for my older Sig’s. 

The 2CE Sigs do fit my space/room nicely, and I’m not sure I could do a lot better than the III’s for the money.
@mnski

+1 on Belles. I drive my Vandy 2CE Sigs from an old Belles 400A, which I was lucky to find, and as it turns out, just today put a downpayment on the newest Belles Aries Signature preamp with JonnyR. A little wait, but looking forward to that.