Vandersteens, PSB or something else?


I’m looking to upgrade my speakers and would appreciate some input. My system includes ayre amp, aesthetix calypso preamp, and vandy 2c sig IIs. The room is relatively large at 23’ wide (speakers on this side) by 27’. I would like speakers that are good at both music and home theatre. I plan to run HT pass through and 5.1 overall. For music, I listen to a lot of classic rock, blues and jazz. Not too much classical. I do enjoy live Dead and Allman Brothers. I’d like the speakers to image well and present a nice soundstage but also really draw me in emotionally to the music. For home theater, I’d like to be able to include a center channel and get a decent theater experience. The vandies, really no complaints, they have served me very well. But I have budget to take the next step and was thinking maybe the Treos. But once I make this next step, I would not be making any moves for a while, so wanted to explore other alternatives as well. The PSB Imagine T3’s seem to have been reviewed well and may be worth a test. My budget would allow for these, and I guess I could possibly go up to the quatro for the right deal. Any other ideas that, given my musical preference, room, budget could be worth a shot? I have to admit, sometimes I do wonder if the live recordings that I’m listening too would really benefit from a big upgrade to the speakers.

sb_caribou
Great post and thanks.  I agree on pistonic motion and also lack of smearing.  That album is awesome.  Very well recorded stuff.  A test I"m running going forward is using Diana KRall live from Paris.  Just a great jazz album if you love Jazz and man is her voice haunting on my system.  If a speaker can't get that one right, then good luck producing anything.  It's going to reveal the cracks in your speaker's ability to playback realistic voices, that's for sure.  My Quatro's are nailing it. I went to hear it in a local shop recently and even the owner couldn't defend his more expensive speakers non ability to deliver the goods.  

I like MQA too, but I also like true DSD.  I don't own any yet, but will get getting some soon.  

Very interesting about efficiency and how it may relate to distortion. Maybe that's why I find horn loaded systems to be difficult to listen to for long periods of time.  have no idea if they are related, but just a thought in my head, lol.
I owned three pairs of 2s, then went to Revel Studio 2s, then went to Magnepan 3.7s.  For the size space that you have, I don't think 3.7s would suffice, but 20.7s would.....  I would not pair Magnepans with subs....

Vandersteen represents good value, but frankly if you listened to the likes of Magnepan for a week or so and then went back to the 2's.....you would think they were an absolute trainwreck sonically.......

If realism is top on your list (instruments in acoustic space, rendered realistically) then you cannot do better than 3.7s or 20.7s

If you need more low end, then Quatros will probably be mandatory, but those are in the same range as 20.7s which you do have the space for.....

One speaker way out of left field that is what I would describe as the best of both would be the Marten Django XL.  I heard a pair at my dealer Reference Analog in Oklahoma, and then when he took them to the Rocky Mountain show and it is probably the only dynamic speaker I've heard that I could live with after having Magnepans and they are not really that expensive......


Realism? Magnepans? More like pleasant, euphonic colorations. Realistic presentation? Hardly.....A sub IS exactly what a Maggie needs.
+1 mr_m.
In fact Vandy subs are considered an excellent pairing with Maggies.
B
Have you actually heard Vandy subs with Magnepans?    Where?     Ive heard them    along with JLs and Rythmik

If you want more bass from a rbbon    you get a bigger ribbon

As to euphonic coloration, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about, you obviously have heard a different loudspeaker than I