Vandersteen 5?

So where are these Vandys you say? And definitely don't buy them! Just give me the address and I'll handle everything.... :-)

But seriously, these are amazing speakers. I used to have a 7-channel Vandersteen system and can attest to how wonderful a designer Richard Vandersteen is; as a person, OTOH, he's a complete dick, which is why I am a FORMER owner (sold all seven). My main concern would be that if you do run into trouble and have to deal with him you can expect him to get pissy if he feels you are abusing 'his' speakers; shenanigans like that. However, despite my personal dislike for the man, his equipment is top notch and I've even considered buying another used pair. I think that's a testament to how good the equipment is, so I don't think you'll go wrong with the 5's.

Stringreen, as always, YMMV. Actually, I'd met him twice before that episode for a Vandersteen audio event at a local retailer and actually found him to be brusque then as well. Interestingly, before he arrived the first time I asked some of the Vandy-veteran folks what he was like and, to paraphrase, the opinions I got were basically that he was an genius, but a real ass. So far, both meetings and every phone call has borne that out. However, as you noted, the dude may just not like me.

Still, I'd argue that ANY customer calling for service should never be verbally attacked. He did this to me multiple times (I wrote about it here recently with somewhat greater detail HERE ). Apparently having burned out a tweeter on one of his precious model 3's was enough to earn this sort of ire.

As I've said, wonderful product, lousy human being; but I'm glad that your experiences are better than mine. And the 5's are wonderful speakers.