I have heard both. The Vandersteens will give you a bigger soundstage and are more laid back. The Alons have a much more airy high and are much more forward with deeper, but more boomy bass (this could have been due to the room I heard them in). I would liken the Alons to a first 3-5 row performance at a concert while the Vandersteens are more like the 10th to 15th row. The amps and cables that sound good on the Vandersteens are probably very different than those you would want to use on the Alons. My friend has the Alons and they sound much better on on a tube amp. The Vandersteens are not as efficient and I like them more on solid state gear. The Vandersteen are also very picky about room placement. In any case, both are great speakers. I happen to some Vandersteen 2Ce Signature speakers and am planning on upgrading to the 3A Signatures within the next year.
