I had the 5a years ago. Nice speaker, but very polite unless it received a lot of watts. Downward firing subs are not to everyone's liking. Very limited sweetspot. Dynamic limitations due to those small drivers. Lack of punch in the lower midbass. Is the 7 so radically different?
Incredible review of Vandersteen 7 mkII in...
Audio Beat. Just read this review and wanted to share with those of us who LOVE our Vandersteen's as well as other's who just love reading reviews. I've followed this writer for awhile and appreciate their style and feel it's an fair review. They go into a lot of great detail that is a must read for any audiophile as it makes you think about speaker design in general. He has nice things to say about Wilson also and talks about the differing engineering views of each company. To me this was one of the better reviews I've read in a while as they did a ton of research and it's shows in the writing. Hope you all enjoy:
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/vandersteen_model_seven_mk_ii.htm
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/vandersteen_model_seven_mk_ii.htm