Questions for Vandersteen 5A owners...


I finally got to audition 5A's yesterday. Involved 9 hours of driving, but it was worth it. :-)

I realize no speaker is perfect and it's a matter of tradeoffs. I am attracted to Vandersteen because of a strong reputation and the fact that it includes a powered bass module with 11 bands of EQ per speaker. I have a troublesome room. Currently have Aerial model 9s - a great speaker but not ideal for my room.

Anyway, I wanted to post my impressions and see what owners have to say.

1) Larger than life sound. Holy big imagery. High hats sounded like they were 3 feet in diameter.

2) Wide dispersion of sound (i.e. large sweetspot). Vocals stretched from speaker to speaker. Panning of instruments off center was hard to pinpoint.

3) Bass seemed EQd well (couldn't hear any notes being louder than others) but all in all it wasn't as articulate as I expected. Bass was very fat sounding.

4) Problem at loud volumes? It might have been the 200 watt amp, but when the volume was cranked it was very distorted. I notice that Stereophile recommends the speaker but says "won't play as loud as other speakers". I have never experienced a speaker that had a volume limitation per se, so I'm not sure what to expect - distortion or were they simply meaning it wasn't very sensitive? I don't listen to music at crazy volumes, but these would also be used for home theater - where speakers should be able to handle loud peaks. Have any of you noticed this?

5) A lot brighter than I expected and very revealing. Highs sounded less smooth/laid back than I expected (or was used to for that matter). Almost harsh at times. Could have been the recordings, but I played stuff I was very familiar with so I'm puzzled here.

6) Midrange was very nice.

Anyhow, I'm interested in others' perceptions here as I can't audition these in my own home. I do believe that the dealer could set up the bass well in my room, but am generally worried about some of the points above.

Thanks in advance.
madfloyd
Piero
Vandersteen makes a special internal power supply for export with 220 volt application Powered subs.
Otherwise you would need a Step down if you purchased them in USA.
Best John
Piero, you may want to check the Vandersteen web site. There is a long Q&A section. You could send them an email as well. Vandy has a lot of dealers outside the US so you may be right.
Terry
It seems evident that you came down to Audio Connection to hear Richard speak and to audition the 5A's. It should be noted that after the show, John, the owner of Audio Connection moved the speakers more toward the rear of that room. I have listened to the 5A's in that room a number of times, and each time I came away wanting more. After hearing the sound after the position change, I am sold! They sound great. I have the REF3 and the PH7 coupled with a big Krell FPB700cx AMP. I had considered moving to an all Audio Research stack and after hearing that with the 5A's, I must say I was impressed and pleased. I am headed to CES and will make my decision on a new set of speakers after the show, but I would be surprised if anything at the 20K pricepoint comes close to the 5A's.
Many thanks to Guido and John for their quick replies.
I already asked to factory. I hope internal power supply is cheap and they agree to ship to Italy.
Best Regards
Piero