You ask a surprisingly difficult question here Joeaaudio.
First, over the decades you've, no doubt I've, although checked a couple years back, I was still 18 year old perfect, (blush, seriously) hearing--lost a bit on the top, necessitating a speaker with highs in greater abundance than Vandersteens.
Herein lies the THIEL vs. Vandersteen battles of the '80's.
All the fans of both camps would scream, 'But Vandersteens'...and THIEL fans would scream, 'But THIEL's'...
You're probably ready to at least try the THIEL, which is much more forward sounding in the last 3 octaves, (2.5K to 20K)
As a designer,it's tough to sometimes quantify the differences that exist when speakers measure flatly in that region, yet sound so different than one another.
Well, what's at work here is dynamic contrasting and transfer, a different but not widely accepted or even quantified to my knowledge, measurement.
The static, 1W1M sweeps only show, here's that word again, 'static' measurements, from 20 to 20K...and don't represent what they sound like.
Sort of like trying to pick a car from a 0-60mph speed time, as opposed to driving.
The Vandersteen has always measured flat TOO, but didn't sound the same for the reasons I just pointed out. You, with a 'AHEM' couple of more years on your golden ears, may have lost a bit on the top, and need that extra...
Please don't be offended by the suggestion...almost everyone loses this HF hearing to varying degrees.
Good luck and listening,
Larry
First, over the decades you've, no doubt I've, although checked a couple years back, I was still 18 year old perfect, (blush, seriously) hearing--lost a bit on the top, necessitating a speaker with highs in greater abundance than Vandersteens.
Herein lies the THIEL vs. Vandersteen battles of the '80's.
All the fans of both camps would scream, 'But Vandersteens'...and THIEL fans would scream, 'But THIEL's'...
You're probably ready to at least try the THIEL, which is much more forward sounding in the last 3 octaves, (2.5K to 20K)
As a designer,it's tough to sometimes quantify the differences that exist when speakers measure flatly in that region, yet sound so different than one another.
Well, what's at work here is dynamic contrasting and transfer, a different but not widely accepted or even quantified to my knowledge, measurement.
The static, 1W1M sweeps only show, here's that word again, 'static' measurements, from 20 to 20K...and don't represent what they sound like.
Sort of like trying to pick a car from a 0-60mph speed time, as opposed to driving.
The Vandersteen has always measured flat TOO, but didn't sound the same for the reasons I just pointed out. You, with a 'AHEM' couple of more years on your golden ears, may have lost a bit on the top, and need that extra...
Please don't be offended by the suggestion...almost everyone loses this HF hearing to varying degrees.
Good luck and listening,
Larry