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Anybody Heard the Vandersteen 5A'S

MY SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A PAIR OF QUAD 988'S, A AUDIO PHYSICS
MINOS SUBWOOFER, THOR AUDIO TA-2000 PREAMP, THOR AUDIO 60
WATT MONOBLOCKS SHORTLY TO BE UPGRADED TO THE NEW THOR AUDIO 150 WATT MONOBLOCKS, CARY 306/200 TRANSPORT ALONG WITH THE THOR DAC & RICHARD GRAY 12 OUTLET 1200S.
THE PART OF THE SYSTEM THAT IS NOT TO MY LIKING IS THE MINOS SUBWOOFER WHICH HAS LIMITED OUTPUT. I HAD A TECH PERSON FROM STAR SOUND TECHNOLOGIES (THE OUTFIT THAT SOLD ME MY SISTRUM STANDS) PLACE A REAL TIME ANALYZER ON MY SYSTEM AND WE CONCLUDED THAT THE MINOS WAS DEFECTIVE. IT'S ONLY 2 MONTHS OLD. I WILL BE SENDING THE UNIT FOR REPAIR
OR REPLACEMENT. STILL, I FEEL THAT A BETTER PAIR OF LOUDSPEAKERS WOULD MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I JUST FINISHED READING THE REVIEW OF THE VANDERSTEEN 5A'S IN THE ABSOLUTE SOUND. I AM TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE HABIT OF BUYING ON A REVIEW, AND TRYING TO AUDITION THE PRODUCT, HAS ANYONE HEARD THE VANDERSTEEN 5A? ANY COMMENTS OWULD BE APPRECIATED, AND DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A NEW YORK DEALER THAT
CARRIES THIS LINE. THANK YOU
kjl

Showing 1 response by paullb

paullb
110 posts
 
Hello,

I bought my Vandersteen 5A's in June, so I've had them for about five months and I am naturally biased. They are great speakers. Their greatest strength is that they have a tremendous amount of resolution but are not edgy or analytical. I think they need a pretty big room to sound their best. Mine is about 17 x 21.

That said, they are quite different than Quad's. The Quad's also have tremendous resolution with an entirely different presentation. I think it comes down to your preferences and the type of music you like to listen to. I listen to lots of different kind of music and I think the Vandersteen's are great all-arounders. The Quad's will sound best with smaller scale music and probably cannot be beat for listening at lower volumes.

Best of luck with your audiophile anxiety. No speaker is perfect, but you are considering two of the finest.
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