Vandersteen 5?

The 5's are very nice indeed. To check to hear if the sub amp is working, plug it in and you should hear a low pitched "Woomp". There are batteries in the attached silver boxes, and in the crossovers themselves, but are inexpensive (though a pain in the behind) to replace. You should really send the components back to Vandersteen, and I think its about 40 or 50 dollars to replace all the batteries. Download the instructions from Vandersteens Website.

Ask the owner if you can open up one of the M5-HP cross-overs (just 4 screws on the side with the label). If they have the Duracell battery in them, it will have a date on it in Sharpie when they need to be sent back in and replaced. If you have the serial numbers of the Speakers, this will tell you how old the speakers are. If they are in good condition and at a reasonable price, I don't think you can go wrong with them. The sub amps just don't go bad unless they have been abused. One nice thing about the Model 5, they can be upgraded or repaired for as long as you own them. Vandersteen doesn't come out with a new model ever 6 months because of what a marketing department tells them to do. The line has been stable since forever and parts are and will be available. The tweeter in the B&W seems harsh to me and I personally would prefer the Model 5 to them. Plus most of the money in the B&Ws goes into the cabinet where most of the money in the Vandersteen goes into the drivers. Which in my minds means more of my hard earned dollars are going into the sound then into the cabinet department at B&W.

The 5's are a great speaker, and would mate well with your Krell.

If you did buy them, the first thing you should do is to replace all the batteries.
There are three inside each speaker and one inside the M5-HP, all 9 volts. Don't
just take the seller's words for it unless he has prove that batteries are still fresh.
If they aren't fresh, the 5 sounds like crap. Also, replace them with lithium
batteries. They last a lot longer.