Funny. The two speakers that I thought of as I was reading the title to this thread were Platinum Solos and Green Mountain Europas.
My personal preference would be for the Solos, but considering the room placement constraint and your preference for the Vandies, the GMA Europas are a MUST audition.
The hype surrounding these speakers is justified. They are absolutely amazing - especially considering their modest asking price.
As stated earlier, they are (like Vandies) a first-order time and phase coherent design and, consequently, possses much of the natural coherence of the Vandies.
In addition their port is front firing making them more suitable for placement near the back wall.
The only thing that I'm not so fond of with respect to the Europas is their appearance. They DO look better in person than in the photos, but they're still not the best looking speakers I've ever seen. They only come in black and are very utilitarian looking. The good news is that they are reportedly coming out with a newer version of the Europa that is said to be more attractive. The bad news is that a considerable price increase comes with the new cosmetics.
It's obvious, based on your selection of Vandersteens, that sound is more important to you than appearance. (You've gotta' admit the 2CEs aren't exactly pretty.) If that's the case, I say run don't walk to your nearest GMA dealer and grab a pair of Europas before the price goes up.
My personal preference would be for the Solos, but considering the room placement constraint and your preference for the Vandies, the GMA Europas are a MUST audition.
The hype surrounding these speakers is justified. They are absolutely amazing - especially considering their modest asking price.
As stated earlier, they are (like Vandies) a first-order time and phase coherent design and, consequently, possses much of the natural coherence of the Vandies.
In addition their port is front firing making them more suitable for placement near the back wall.
The only thing that I'm not so fond of with respect to the Europas is their appearance. They DO look better in person than in the photos, but they're still not the best looking speakers I've ever seen. They only come in black and are very utilitarian looking. The good news is that they are reportedly coming out with a newer version of the Europa that is said to be more attractive. The bad news is that a considerable price increase comes with the new cosmetics.
It's obvious, based on your selection of Vandersteens, that sound is more important to you than appearance. (You've gotta' admit the 2CEs aren't exactly pretty.) If that's the case, I say run don't walk to your nearest GMA dealer and grab a pair of Europas before the price goes up.