Von Schweikert DB99 or Vandersteen 5A ??

Much has been said about the virtues of the 5As. One thing that sold me on them is that I could not "hear" any artifacts of the cabinet, drivers, or crossovers. These speakers are very natural - and the music is incredibly suspended in space with total tranparency and absolute coherence. Many who are used to artifacts like cabinet resonance, cone distortion, crossover nonlinearities, phase reversals, etc., believe something is missing when they don't hear them in the 5As. Many report their first reaction to the 5As as "too layed back". However, once you are acclimated to the 5As, you will start to really notice these objectionable artifacts in other speakers and wonder how anyone could tolerate them. The end result is you are better able to be with the music, since you are less aware of the system. I do appreciate a variety of speakers and can enjoy them for their strengths, however, the only one I want to listen to for any extended period is the 5A.

I want to thank all you folks for such a fine array of answers !!

Not to intentionally hijack this thread but there are some similarities--price/ quality/ easy to drive/--Wilson 7's---How do these compare??

AlbertPorter & Programmergeek: As Bornie points out the DB99 is very similar to the Vandy 5a in regard to the powered and adjustable woofer. You might have been talking about some other speaker in the Von Schweikert line like the VR4jr.

I think both speakers are great values and although I do not sell Vandersteen speakers, I have a great deal of respect for Richard. Solid designer, solid product.

Even though the 5a's have a powered woofer, they do actually require a bit of power. They are only 87 db efficient. I know for Albert that seems like "high efficiency" coming from those Ultimates :)

As a VSA dealer I am also extremely familiar with the DB99's. Being as objective as I can, I would say the the extension in the highs with the Vandy's is better than the standard DB99, but when you add the "super tweeter", the edge goes to the Von Schweikert. Midrange clarity, transparency and detail is better in the DB99, with the 5a's having slightly more warmth and forgiveness.

Bass is exceptional with both speakers, but the Vandy's are a little tougher to get right. Setup is tough. When they are properly dialed in, the bass is terrific. Both kick like a mule.

Again, both speakers are fantastic values. It is a real matter of taste and I would think if you have 20 people listen to both, you would have a split right down the middle. It really depends on what you value most in a speaker.

I agree the set up on the vandies is tuff. I get it's the price you pay to adapt it to different envirnments. It is a laid back speaker more so than the other 2 above. Depends if you like that. As for efficiency maybe I should reword that. They do suck some power you are not going to run them off a 100W tube amp but the amount of sound you got per whatt is much better than 80% of the speakers out there. The watts puppies I also like. I think they are a bit bassy and not nearly as a refined sound as the vandies but if I had to buy a pair of speakers to rock a house I would pick the whatts easy set up and good sound. Depends on what you like to listen to.