Vandy or Maggy?

You have answered yourself a few times in your posts I think. Sounds like you have had Maggies and are sick of it's drawbacks. No way you can make a Maggie be more dynamic in your price range. I'd get a pair of Vandy's in your room if you have a local dealer. When set up properly (the latest gen) the vandy's will sing. I'm a Proac guy and am now selling everything I own off just to get the Vandy Treo's. That's how much I fell in love with the musical Vandy's and what else it give me. That's just me. I've heard the 2's sound great with Quicksilver tubes as well as Ayre SS or Rogue. Can't go wrong with either, but if you want Dynamics and listen to Classical, then it's Vandy I would think

"Tuneful Bass" is how I described the base I heard on the Vandy's at Audio connection. He always has them set up properly right down to the cables that are realistic in whatever the price range of the speaker, so it's realistic.

I guess to me that meant that I heard bass the way it sounds when I hit my drums. It's got the proper speed, pitch and tonality. Sorry that my description didn't make sense. I have MS and often times don't make sense when I post on message boards, sorry.

As for the question, you will get everyone elses ears pointing you in one direction or the other. Go listen, especially if you have both speakers at the dealer. I was blown away by the Treo's as well as the rest of the updated Vandy line. I have been Proac for years. I got them over Maggies ironically as well as the ET's (my friend carried all three). I loved the Maggies and always have, however my ex didn't like panels in her house. I've been happy with the Proacs and they really sound incredible since I got my Ayre and Music Hall DAC 25.3 from Johnny.

For me, I've never heard subs integrate as well as when they are built into the speaker itself. That's just me. I think that for orchestral music (I don't listen to much of it), I need REAL bass and that means going deeper than 50hz. Vandy 2 sigs will give you real bass much lower I believe. I sure seems like it. If you are spending this kind of money on audio, why would you consider how difficult it is to set up? I never understood that part. Just take an extra hour of your time and set things up the way they should be set up. (not trying to be snide at all, so please don't take it that way). It's the least expensive and best tweek you can make in any system.

Whenever I go to someone's home I always notice how messed up the speakers placement is, don't most of you? If they just set them up properly, they would sound so much better. Aren't we the same way? Sorry, enough of that talk, lol.

I think Vandy's used to be a bit congested and I never could hear an unveiled sound with a soundstage. It may have been the way they were set up, but they just never sounded as great as my Proacs did. That was me then, but after going to Johnny's in NJ, I was blown away and I went in to buy the Proac D series.

As for the new Maggies, I've heard the new ones and liked them, but for me, I like that each speaker is time and phase correct full-range loudspeaker.

I've recently heard all the higher end Dynaudio, Vandy, Aerial, Totem, Maggie, Focal, B&W's, Proacs, Legacy, Wilson, PSB and Paradigm.

Each and everyone sound so different. In the price range you are in, you have to figure out what you can go without. Bass is expensive when done correctly, but it's also the foundation of music. Size really does matter. When I think of Timber, I think of Vandy right now, but that's just me.

I look forward to your thoughts after you A/B both. Make sure you listen with the amps, cables and source that you'll use with either. That's the most important thing obviously. I really do look forward to reading what your own ears like and not ours.

Good luck and have a ball with it.

You won't go wrong with most of the suggestions. I only worry about having to integrate a sub with a speaker. You have to use other tools etc... and at that point, I would think getting a full range speaker (or close to it) would be the best choice for you. Less complicated usually works best and that includes more cables etc... i have liked teh Totems I've heard also, but my ear just keeps taking me back to the 'feeling' I get listening to the Vandys. Richard has his tradeoffs when he designs a speaker as all do. For me it's about listening to music and not always critically. I need piano and voice to be natural, while others need bass to be there and dont' care about how controlled it is etc... I also have to have soundstaging as I'm spoiled by my Proacs over the years. Vandy at the various price points will hit these marks (for me) as long as they are with proper amplification (not difficultto drive) and set up correctly (like any system).

Maggies are beautiful, but for me they just don't go low enough, but that's me. If you need fuller range, i'd stick to one that will deliver. List in order the 5 most important traits in a speaker and then go listen and mark down your notes. What speaker has the fewest trade offs. You can listen to us all espouse OUR favorites, but most of us are just telling you how great our ears are and how awesome OUR systems are.

That's not what you should go by. It's your ear and a lot of money. This year is the first time in over 30 years that I"ve sold my systems (three of them) off as I finally wanted new stuff (needed to leave the tube realm and go to remotes too). I have always listened and chosen wisely (for my ear). I listen to others, but make my own decisions and that includes listening to John at Audio Connections, but NOT getting something only because HE likes it. That's why stores have a few lines in each category....I will admit that so far John has been DEAD ON in hearing what I wanted and putting it together. That's rare for me as my old friend in RI, who's store is closed was the only other one who could do that for me. Go to a few places and listen and take notes. IN the end, it's fun and you'll be happy you did. Sorry to go on....