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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
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Showing 3 responses by douglas_schroeder

douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
I had a Naim Nait 5i, and imo with the 1C, which I also owned but never paired, I suggest you have a LOT of room to go up in terms of sound quality with that pairing. I didn't keep the Nait 5i for too long; it simply wasn't that good. Thin, lacking body and not terribly captivating, classic Brit, flat earth sound and on the whole sterile. The 1C is ok, but certainly not all that. It's a starter speaker, very nice, but compromised, as would be expected for a budget model. At the time I thought they were super-great, but much more experience shifts that perception. 

Do have any idea of how much of the performance spectrum lies beyond that combo? I suggest you get moving - either up the Vandersteen line if that's your thing, or onto something else -  before you spend another 15 years not hearing that much of what is possible in HiFi.  :) 

My guess is you might be convinced that there is not much better performance than Vandersteen for the money. So, you may as well do the 3. "Lithe"? You mean, constrained, less adept, less generous, less dynamically easeful, less tonally ripe, etc. You're afraid of what you'll lose, but you seem to not realize that there is far more to be gained moving up from your level. You are relatively low on the performance level of audio systems. Your issue is not what you will lose, it's not realizing all there is to gain.  :(

douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
You made the right move for superior long term performance.  Kudos!
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Well, taking into consideration the unique tonality of any given amp, if you want perceptual waste about 20-25% of your upgrade, put under 100wpc on  them. Nice way to underperform. It's about quality for me, not the misnomer of playing loud, or good enough amp.  It will run w. 75 Watts, but it won't be great. Could actually sound worse than Nait 5i and 1C in terms of quality.   :(  I wouldn't want to hear Vandy 1-3 with anything less than 200wpc. 

Be ause of novelty you'll think it's ultimate. Not  close when underpowered.  
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