Vandersteen 3A Sigs vs Klipsch Forte III

The problem with this thread is you’ll get a lot of opinions based on older Fortes. I’m sure few here have heard the IIIs, which have revised drivers and crossovers. I have Heresy IIIs. Many describe the Heresys as "bright," "fatiguing," or "brittle," but I don’t find that to be the case at all with the H-IIIs, and I’m used to the warmth of Spendor classics.

I owned a pair of Vandy 1Cis for about a month and they were the brighter speakers when their treble trim was set to neutral. This was in the same room, with the same gear. The Vandys did have a wider sweet spot and dug deeper, but as with all mid-efficiency speakers, they required some volume before they’d open up. For low volume listening, it’s no contest, the Klipsch speakers will produce greater bass at low levels.

@tomic601 

I get that Vandys have a trim pot. As I mentioned, when my pair was set to flat or "0db," they were brighter than my Heresys. This was quite surprising, because I had always read that Vandys are warm and Klipsch is bright. 

The Vandy's are 10 or 15 years old and won't have Vandersteen's most recent upgrades. I have read that he tweaks without changing the name of the speaker. Are any of those changes significant, like a woven composte midrange cone?

Yes, the overall design had been around that long, but there have been unpublished upgrades along the way. I almost bought a used pair a few months ago and confirmed with Vandersteen that they've made both minor and significant revisions over the years. I was told the most significant upgrade was the move to the woven midrange cone. The older cones have a smooth surface. This should be easy to detect by shining a light through the fabric. 

The Forte III can be ordered through Amazon, and the 3A Sigs can be bought through Music Direct. Both have liberal return policies, though MD does require buyers to pay return shipping. Nothing better than an in-home audition. I believe most Vandy dealers will throw in the stands for free. ;-)

If you buy the Forte through Amazon, try to verify consecutive serial numbers. Some online buyers have received non-matching pairs of Klipsch heritage speakers but the box labels state which speakers are to be sold together. Their drivers and veneers are matched from the factory so it does matter.

I have fairly large baffle, monkey coffin speakers and to my ears, they absolutely trounce most of the narrow baffle towers I've owned/auditioned. They also image better than the Maggie's I had for a time.

@tomic601 

No math required. In my particular experience, it's very easy to hear. I'm not saying wide baffles are inherently better at imaging. I'm sure the opposite is often true, but my experience tells me it's not a universal rule. Some of the best speakers I've heard, regardless of price, have massive baffles. Anyway, I agree that in the case of Klipsch Heritage speakers, great imaging isn't exactly their forte.