Vandersteen 5Aa Carbon--any 5a owner's opinions?

I heard the 5A Carbon this weekend at THE SHOW NEWPORT. Driven by Audio Research with a the new Basis TT and arm the sound was very transparent and natural as one would expect from Vandersteen. I would say that the sound lands about halfway between the 5A and the Model 7. The midrange was stunning and the bass was very tight and deep in sharp contrast to most of what I heard at the show. The 5A Carbon also has a new midrange driver. Show conditions are difficult, but the 5A Carbon managed to overcome the limitations of the room.The Music Matters records played sounded fantastic.
The 5A sells for about 24K. These are the next best thing to the Model 7 which I have. It was interesting to talk to people in the business who have ordered the Model 7.

I had the Vandersteen 5a speaker system in my listening room for about 6 years.
Peter Roth (Ultra Audio) is a member of the LA?Orange County Audio Society where I am also a member. At the time his reference speaker was the 5a. He told me about the new Model 7s that had just had an excellent debut at CES. He had heard them at the show and was impressed. OK, so I called Randy Cooley at
Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica and set up an audition. Because I had the 5as I asked if they had been set up using the Vandersteen jig/laser plus DVD in order to optimize bass response and speaker placement. Yes, he had
done that. Simply put, what I heard that day blew me away. I had made sure that I had just played some of those same recordings at home with the 5as.
Hearing those same recordings at the dealers store on the Model 7 revealed
aspects of those recordings that I had never heard. And the difference was not
subtle. In all aspects this was a major breakthrough in speaker technology.
Now I have had these speakers for almost three years and my opinion has
not changed one bit. Most of the posts from those who have auditioned
the Model 7s have said the same thing. As I have mentioned in a previous
post, the 5a Carbons perform about half way between the 5a and 7. It;s not
just the driver upgrade that makes this so. It is also the carbon fiber cabinet
that makes it superior to the 5a as great a speaker as the 5a is.
I'm just telling you what I have heard in my own listening room. Friends of
mine in the Society who heard the 5a and then heard the 7 in my room all
said the same thing. To them it was obvious.

I should also mention that the electronics that I have are Aesthetix Io Eclipse
phono preamp with two power supplies plus Aesthetix Atlas Signature mono
bloc amps. I had this set up with both the 5a and 7 speaker systems.

Don't forget there is always the possibility that you could sell your 5as. I traded mine in when I bought the 7s. This helped put me in the ball park of the
kind of price you are talking about. I'm a retired teacher in California, not exactly
Donald Trump. I listen to alot of live music. When I heard the 7s I was hearing
the kind of sound that I hear at the live event. Yes, the price of the 7s is quite
a bit more than the 5a, but the carbon and driver technology used in the 5a carbon and 7 cost much more as did the research and development that went
into the creation of that speaker. Even without the trade in, I would have found some way to purchase the 7 or the 5a Carbon. It was worth that much to me. Just a thought.