B&W vs Vandersteen?


After a long search and lots of auditions I narrowed my options down to 2 very different yet excellent brands. I know they sound very different but still. For my 50 sq.meter living room with 5 meters between the wall and the sofa (something like 3,7 meters between the speakers and my ears) and approx. 2,4 meters distance between the centers of the speakers I'm choosing between B&W and Vandersteen at the moment. Each option has something going for and against it.

Vandersteen 3A Signature is

much cheaper than even 802, not to mention 801 and 800 and is not as difficult to drive. I can buy it right now.

It has glorious musical midrange and highs and sounds big.

Since Vandies are not as deep as B&W I can give them more space between the speakers and the wall - up to 1 meter (maximum 60 - 70 cm in case of B&W)

But I'm not sure if it can be as open and dyamic or as fast and tight with heavy metal and other modern rock music. Also I'm not sure it's perfect for movies because of the same PRAT issues.

And most likely I'll have to move away from the well known McIntosh line (I'm a Mac guy for many years now) since Mac and Vandersteen is not a perfect match and get back on audiophile treadmill of choosing amps etc.

The weird small-spades connections make any audition of cables almost impossible since I can only use cables specially made for Vandies.

B&W 800 or 801 or 802?

sound absolutely neutral and equally great with Carpenters and Celtic Frost.

The can be cranked up as high as possible without becoming shouty. Their speed must be perfect for HT use.

I can stay with Macs since they are a classic combo.

Demand huge and highly expensive amps.

Are much more expensive themselves. The only model from the old 800D line still available is 802 so unless I can find a good deal on used 801 and 802 I'll have to settle for 802s or start saving for new 800 Diamonds which I'll be able to afford by the end of this year with good luck...

What do you guys think? I know some would say - audition both at home and choose for yourself. Not possible at the moment and anyway I'm interested in your opinions!
__________________
antonkk
Vandersteen uses barrier strips for connectors, so you want to look for "barrier spades". Mr. Vandersteen recommends #10 O-rings (#10 is the size of the terminator, not the gauge they accept). I use these spades.
Stringreen, you said you dumped 802's for Vandies - which ones? With what amps and why? In what way the Vandies were better?
Antonkk.... I now am enjoying Vandersteen 5A's with all Ayre electronics. The B&W's are airless, lifeless, and burn out tweeers (although easily replaced ....I had to replace them twice and got new tweeters under the warranty. )
Anton
Contrary to what Dylanhenry says there are people like me who have heard both and choose Vandersteen. I don't know why people put that kind of personal opinion in these threads. How does he know that people who say they don't like B&W probably haven't heard them and don't like them because B&W is a successful company. That's rubbish. Vandersteen is a pretty successful company also.
But I digress. I compared Vandersteen 3As and B&W 802s at length. Not in a showroom either. There is always the issue of upstream equipment, which is in my opinion much more important than room size, given that your room is large enough. My friend Jay, who had bought both sets of speakers to compare them, was pushing them with MFA 200 tube mono blocks, an MFA Magus tube preamp, and premium wire. And MFAs are pretty sweet sounding amps. After extended listening over multiple visits we both agreed that the B&Ws didn't have it. All the usual complaints about B&W seemed to apply. That they were too bright, hard, and forward. That they didn't have a balanced presentation and the bass wasn't crisp enough. I found these all to be valid. And they hurt my ears.Jay's also. Way too much ear fatigue. If I can't listen to speakers for an extended period I'm notinterested, and the B&Ws hurt my ears. The Vandersteens on the other hand lived up to their reputation. A balanced harmonious presentation, big soundstage, great imaging, deep tight fast bass, and a much better emotional connection with the music, particularly the vocals. I've been hooked on Vandersteens since I got my first pair, a pair of 2Cis. People who hear Vandersteen for the first time often say they are too laid back, but I think that is because they, like me, had been used to speakers that were forward and shouted at you. Two days after I got my 2Cis I went back to the guy I had sold my Infinity Kappas to and begged him to sell the Kappas back to me, which he did. But after taking them home and hooking them up again I realized after a while the Vandys were better. In every way. It takes a while to get used to the balanced presentation the Vandersteens make, to realize they don't exaggerate anything, and if you are used to speakers that do, initially it seems like some thing is missing, but it's not. It's all there, in harmony and balance. And they are so rewarding to listen to, they give me a wonderful music thrill.
And I don't think there is any problem using McIntosh equipment to push Vanderateens. Brooks Berdan uses McIntosh almost exclusively in his showroom. He's in Monrovia, Ca., and sells Vandersteen, Wilson, and Quad speakers among others. He says he likes McIntosh and thinks they compliment each other. If you are in So. Cal. go talk to Brooks, he's a real sweetheart. And yes you can put banana plugs in Vandersteen speaker inputs. Just take the bolts out and the banana plugs fit right in. Well, Anton, you asked and there you are. There is a reason why the 2C is the largest selling speaker in the world, and there is a reason why there are so many B&Ws for sale on Audiogon, eBay, etc. I think Vandersteen is a much more harmonious, rewarding, and involving speaker than B&W