Calling on Vandersteen 5a owners

I own 5's with the cherry finish (not glossy). Some of our other LR furniture is cherry, and the wood on the Vandy's works beautifully with the other pieces. The speakers finish darkens over time (about 6months), so they will look different out of the box compared to how they'll look after 6mo's. I don't know if this is true for the glossy finish, however. Talk to the people at Vandersteen about whether the finish will darken in the glossy finish. The wood on the speakers is very high grade and quite attractive, but the speakers themselves will never win any beauty contests. As much as I love the sound of the 5's, I'm probably going to have to switch them for a speaker with a better WAF and good sound/apperance combo. I'm thinking Avalon Opus in the quilted cherry right now. Any other suggestions for great looks/sound at under $20k?

Bruce J: honestly you would part with your 5s? To purchase ANY other speaker would be a step down. I don't own 5s but if I did and I had available funds, I would hightale these back to Richard V for 5a upgrade immediately. And for what they are, how could you get so much in such a small and relatively unassuming package?

Bruce, I'm sorry to see you have to do something different than Model 5s. I agree with Steve that you should keep them and upgrade to 5As. It's a stunning upgrade. If that won't work there may be one good option if you can get one. The only ...and I mean ONLY...speaker I've ever heard that was any better than 5s was a custom speaker. It didn't have the deep, deep bass, but was still great on Rock. If you're interested in this contact me off line and I'll fill you in on the details.
Cheers,
Michael

mikej:saw your comment on upgrade from 5 to 5a.i own 5's and am considering this,but the cost is very high,and not field avail.as is still being advertised.did you have this done?what made it a "stunning" upgrade?any input is appreciated.

I own(ed) both the 5 and the 5A.
The upgrade from 5 to 5A, in my system, provided a serious increase in low level detail and even clearer sound through the midrange. The bass improved as well, but I found the other improvements more important for my taste.
Looking back, I would say that getting the source component as good as it can be would be a slightly better investment and *then* move to the model 5A.
I think that the model 5A may even be too good for the gear I am currently using, which is quite good.
It depends on how you want to upgrade your system- the 5A reveals every little change made to the system clearer than any other Vandersteen.
Good luck!


Will