Wilson Audio Question compaired to Vandersteen

Shcipo makes some good points, however, I am not a Vandersteen fan, the Vandersteeners are zelots who have a rather fight than switch mentality, as far as I am concerned there should be zero brand loyalty only to creating musical realism, what brand is immaterial, sure I love my stuff, but if someone can show me something else that I like better out with the old and in with the new!

With that being said, I think both of these brands are way over rated. The build and materials quality of a Wilson are far superior to what Richard puts into a pair of 5As, that however that doesn't mean that the 5A's don't sound good.

Every time I listen to both of these speakers I can pick both of them apart and tell you what I hear they both do wrong, again that doesn't mean you can't build a good and satisfying system around either one.

I believe there are other speakers that do what Wilson does right with less of what Wilson does wrong, don't get me wrong Wilson's are superb speakers, so are Vandersteen's it all depends on what you believe is the better match for your personal tastes.

And forget the deal mentality, the best deal is finding what works for you, most people are dumping 7s as the new Sophia sounds better for about $5k more than a used pair of 7s! Get what works for you and don't be tempted just by price, I have had some of my components for close to 15 years, if I kept buying and selling I would have lost way more in both time and money than by finding an occasional stalwart component!

I didn't say get the Sophia 3, I was making a point about the deal buyer mentality, a great deal is only a great deal when you take into consideration a number of possible factors.

Take for example:

A Levinson 33H which was a $30k amp which probably sells now for $10k however, at least according to Mike Silverton of Soundstage, a pair of Nuforce Ref 9SE V3 smokes them! I am quite a fan of the REF 9 and I think if you hear a well setup pair they are amazing sounding! The Nuforce's are fantastic amplifiers for the money, however, as with anything else they must be used correctly.

I will take my very well set up KEF 207.2 to a pair of Sasha or Sophia's or Vandys thank you very much.

The KEF's are a total sleeper biggest problem nobody gets to hear them setup well, as most KEF dealers are custom installers while many others big dealers have jumped on the boutique manufacturer of the month club ie Magico or YG.

The problem with many audiophiles is they believe more what's in print and have to own the hot trophy product and are also swayed by marketing bull.

If you look at most of the magic midrange drivers which Wilson uses they are paper and reed seas drivers which cost $78.00 from Madison! Wilson makes a big deal saying they are proprietary however, having a basket which is stamped their name is hardly proprietary.

People need to go and listen to these products carefully setup in a good shop and then make up their mind, stop believing what you read in print as most of these magazines are more beholden to their advertisers than the truth.

When I look at a product I look at the driver technology, the engineering, the quality of design and if possible the measurements, just because a speaker is or isn't a particular type of crossover slope or uses x type of drivers doesn't mean it sounds better!