Any WARM, MUSICAL speakers out there?

Don't know about current Vandy 5's, but from what i saw of them in 1999 and talked to Richard about, they are directly driven off of the amplifier inputs feeding the rest of the speaker system. I questioned Richard about this quite a bit as i saw major problems with doing something like this, but he insisted that it was both safe and a good way to do things. If they had line level inputs for the powered woofers back then, i was not made aware of that fact. Could be a newer feature though, i don't know. Sean
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Ok here is how it works on the Vandy 5's Stenho,

You are right about the crossover box between the amp and preamp. HOWEVER, that box is merely a crossover that starts the roll off at 100hz. This rolled off signal is then sent to the amplifier which in turn amplifies it and sends it to the Vandersteen 5's.

The Vandersteen 5's reconstitute the bass signal from the high level signal sent by the amp. Basically, if your amp's bass is rolled off naturally the Vanderstein's 5 bass will also be rolled off.

The Vandersteen 5's are NOT directly connected via low level input to the preamp for the bass. Theoretically, if the Vandersteens WERE connected via low level input to your PREAMP, your amps bass would NOT affect the speaker's bass. This is NOT the case though. Vandersteen 5 bass is derived through the reconstitution of the rolled off high level signal which is sent to the speaker by the amp. Thus, if your amp's bass sucks for whatever reason, the reconstituted signal will reflect these problems in SPADES.

This is not a new feature. Vanderstein thinks this is the best way to do a crossover AND integrate bass.

My friend has the original Vandy 5's.
I have heard them and the 5A's.

KF

I do think the Vandersteen 5 is an excellent recommendation. It is hard to falut this speaker in any parameter. I think it is competitive to speakers in the crazy money categories.

It's positives: A true full range speaker (and very reasonable sized); Best bass of any resonably sized speaker, period (goes to 15 Hz in my room, rattles your fillings out); Phase and Time coherent (something you can't live without if you begin to hear it); Natural laidback sound a tiny bit on the warm side; World-class midrange (maybe the Amati Homage are a bit better, or the JM Reynauds); Highs are natural and extended, aren't pushed out in front of the music, but live with the music; Easy to drive; Very attractive in exotic wood finish (mines Ebony); Very good soundstaging, mid-hall perspective.

It's only weaknesses in my experience are:

It lacks the last amount of air and shimmer that some ribbon/electrostatic/plasma tweeter speakers can have.

It can play very loud, but is not the be all and end all of kickass speakers. If you regularly play music with an average SPL of 100 db, the Vandees won't be for you (and neither would the Sonus Fabers).

Other more efficient speakers can play micro and macro dynamics better (like AvantGarde), but the Vandees are very respectable in that manner too.

OK, other speakers.

Sonus Fabers Amati Homage I have heard in depth about ten times in a great system. They are similar to the Cremoras in construction etc. Warm natural speaker, magical midrange. Can't play real loud, they fall apart. Natural bass, but only goes down to 40 Hz or so, and drops off steeply.

JM Reynaud (Offrandes, Twins, others): Wow, I love the sound of these speakers, naturally warm and beautiful sound. One day I will have to try these at home. Efficient. The Bob Neil reviews in Positive Feedback are spot on. The Offrandes for I think 5K are a steal and would keep you happy for a long time!

Peak Audio Consulting:
world-class midrange, warm, fairly full-range for a stand-mounted speaker. A joy to listen to.

Spendor: Warm, perhaps a bit too warm, engaging, euphonic. I haven't heard these in detail in at least ten years.

A comment (just my opinion): the big review magazines seem to like 'neutral' speakers. What they would call neutral, I most often would call cold. Yes, the Wilsons Watts, even in the 7 models are a bit cold sounding. That's the sound Stereophile likes basically, and a lot of audiophiles. Same for a lot of their recommended systems. Also consider that most of those reviewers then put in a lot of room treatments to counter the coolness. Put a Vandee or a JM Reynaud speaker in those rooms and they will sound dull. Put them in your average home, and they will come alive.

Warm and musical exactly describes the Soliloquy 6.5s. I'm going to disagree with most of you on the Vandy 5s. I've heard the Vandy 5s driven by ARC gear and they were cool sounding compared to my Soliloquy/Rowland combination. The Vandies threw a decent soundstage but sounded a little lean in the midrange. The Vandy 3,IMHO, is a warmer sounding speaker than the 5. They sound quite nice. The Vienna Mahler is also warm and musical, as Tok2000 said, if you can control the bass.

I bought the Sonus Faber Cremonas. Nothing else can compare with their gorgeous, sweet, warm, detailed, musical midrange. Everything else sounds deficient, once you've heard them....Truly magical!!