amp for vandersteen Quatro maybe vandersteen 5a


After listening to v. Quatro have decide to go with this speaker. Need help on choosing amp and pre amp.Thanks
conrads1

Showing 5 responses by ctsooner

Interesting that so many owners love so many different types of amps with them. I have found them very easy to drive. They seem so neutral that if you love a brand of electronics that is what you will hear. Not all high end loudspeakers seem to be like that from what I've listened to.
I have the Treos and am about to upgrade to Quatro CT's. I just got an Ayre AX5/20...

Like folks said,
Ayre
AR
Aesthetix

Most any great neutral amp will work wonderfully, but these are what he uses to show them at shows much of the time.
Yes he used to make a socked one and now he makes only wood ones. The original one was a ceramic coated tweeter. Now he used the carbon fiber technology he gathered from the Model 7 mark 2. I think the tweeter is the same one that's in the 5, but I'm not 100% on that. Regardless the newer Quatro is something very very special in audio.

I need to listen to it a bit more, but I am currently listenting to my Treo's with an Ayre AX7e as the dealer has borrowed my new Ayre AX5/20 and the sound is natural and the stage is very large. The past hour has been a variety of classical and rock, lol. All hi rez recordings. Yesterday I was listening to my AX5/20 with Wilson Alexandria's and the sound was outstanding as it should be for 50K speaker. That said I still like the Vandy 7's over the Wilsons.
Different approaches and both work very well, but the Vandy to me is a more believable speaker. When you run the his newest speakers with the best electronics you get what you paid for. That said, this AX7e (the newest model) just sounds right, espeically for the price. I think it's a bargin in high end audio. I hate to sell this one, but with the AX5 here it's playing in the majors and it's not even broken in yet.
I also like the fact that I'll be able to use the crossovers with my integrated based on what I was told.

Are you looking to purchase the Quatro or 5aCT's new or used?
Yes, I've heard the upper end Vandy's with all the gear you are listing and they all sound great. Heck, the AR Ref 75 with AR pre was about as good as it gets one of the times I heard the 5A CT. It just was musical, dynamic, detalied without anything getting in the way. I probably posted that above in this thread, but it's still that good in my head. All of us who were listening couldn't belive it was a 75 watt amp doing that.
Richard LOVES the sound of SE and tubes. Yes, they mate so well from 100 up and then their own built in amp takes over.