Vandersteen Treo vs Harbeth 30.1

"Take what I just wrote with a grain of salt. Vandy fanatics will blame my hearing, the amp, the front end, the cabling, the speaker rake angle, flat head and low brow, and so forth."

I'm a Vandy fanatic myself. You left out one possibility, and that is you just may not have liked the Treo's. That's the way it goes. Except for Bose, I can't name 1 speaker brand that all audiophiles agree that they like.

You're very kind Zd .... I think speakers are the hardest part of our hobby to get right -- a personal and subjective choice at best. Flipping an amp or pre or a TT can be challenging, but heck, the stuff comes in a box. Most of the time 50 pounds or less. In with the new ... out with the old.

Speakers are balky beasts. Aahhh. I would love to audition 3 or 4 other brands that are on my bucket list. I'm just not inclined to run around to different B&M stores to audition speakers. Also, I think it's really bad form to take up a salesperson's time if I intend to buy preowned anyway.

The vandersteen is better

Have not heard the vandersteens but have heard the harbeths, and depending on
your listening preferences (hard rock, jazz, classical?) the harbeths are outstanding, but if loud and punchy is something you require, I would avoid them. However if a quad electrostatic is the type of speaker you appreciate, the Harbeths are the best choice. I think they are an incredible speaker and would satisfy most music lovers.