for me, personally, i've never liked any of the vandy's - they always sounded kinda lifeless, veiled, no soundstage to speak of. perhaps poor setup? dunno, i heard 'em in many different places, & they always struck me the same way.
proacs, on the other hand - well, i've never heard a proac i didn't like! ;~) great soundstage & very transparent. they never struck me as bright, yust accurate & musical. thiels are wery similar in these regards, to me, also. some folks say they're bright, i've never found that to be the case, & for a while, my system consisted of a pair of thiel 3.5's driven by an adcom gfa555, which *also* had a reputation of having a crispy hi-end.
don't purchase new, unless ya *know* it's what ya like,or yule risk losing a lot of money, having to sell & getting something else. that said, i'm saving for a new pair of newform research r645's - based solely upon what i've read of others' experiences! :>) i honestly believe that they will be nicer than anything i can get for their delivered-price of $2265, even if i buy used. *but*, they have a 30-day in-home trial, & if i don't like 'em, i'm only out shipping.
regards, doug