I haven't heard the Vandersteen Model 5s. I've have owned the 3s and the 2CEs. I now own the Total Eclipse. I can agree with the above comment about room placement to a degree. They are not hard to place, but need to be out into the room about 3 feet due to a large rear port. Wifey may not like the placement, but they are beautiful speakers. Mine loves them. You could place them on her head, and she would still love them. They just look great and sound great. Once placed appropriately, these things absolutely disappear. They have great detail, soundstaging, and a perfect midrange that works with about any amp. The deciding factor may be more complicated than just "which is the better speaker", in absolute terms. Cost would be one thing to consider. You can ocassionally find the Total Eclipse speakers used. Not very often, though. I've only seen two pairs in a couple of years of watching. One was from a reviewer, and the second I bought. I've never seen the Vandersteens used. That may say something for the owner satisfaction level of both of these fine speakers. The Totals usually sell for around $5000 used. Don't know about the Vandersteens.
But what really swings it for me is the sensitivity of the Total Eclipse, and their ability to sound good with ANYTHING! They are 94db at 14 ohms. What ever you want to use with them, you can. That can be from a 10 watt SET to 500 watts of solid state. I am waiting for my Wyetech Topaz to arrive. In the interim, I was driving the Totals with an Audion 12w Stering with Seimans NOS EL34s. They were absolutely stunning! The only cavaet was that the low bass response was a bit shelved because of the Sterling's roll off. But this 12w amp could drive me out of the room. I then used a Jolida 1501 RC. Again, great results. Now I have more bass from the hybrid 100w Jolida, but the SET midrange magic was gone, and the mids were dryer, less detailed. It was easy to hear the difference between the two amps, as it should be with a great speaker. The Totals give you versatility in spades. As I change out equipment to satisfy my audiophile insanity, the Totals will always be compatible with just about anything I want to try. Good thing, because speakers are a pain to sell and ship. I can deal with changing out everything else in the system. That's just one of the reasons they were one of Absolute Sound's Golden Ear Award winners.
But what really swings it for me is the sensitivity of the Total Eclipse, and their ability to sound good with ANYTHING! They are 94db at 14 ohms. What ever you want to use with them, you can. That can be from a 10 watt SET to 500 watts of solid state. I am waiting for my Wyetech Topaz to arrive. In the interim, I was driving the Totals with an Audion 12w Stering with Seimans NOS EL34s. They were absolutely stunning! The only cavaet was that the low bass response was a bit shelved because of the Sterling's roll off. But this 12w amp could drive me out of the room. I then used a Jolida 1501 RC. Again, great results. Now I have more bass from the hybrid 100w Jolida, but the SET midrange magic was gone, and the mids were dryer, less detailed. It was easy to hear the difference between the two amps, as it should be with a great speaker. The Totals give you versatility in spades. As I change out equipment to satisfy my audiophile insanity, the Totals will always be compatible with just about anything I want to try. Good thing, because speakers are a pain to sell and ship. I can deal with changing out everything else in the system. That's just one of the reasons they were one of Absolute Sound's Golden Ear Award winners.