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Considering Vandersteen Treo

My profile is out of date, but my current speakers are QLN 3's, which I very much enjoy. The soundstage is wonderful, and they play nice in my smallish room at 12.5x11. However, they seem to lack some fullness, and not just in the bass category, I can't quite put my finger on what is missing. 

To date I have demo'ed Spendor D series, Wilson Sabrina, Audiovector R3 Arrete, Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II and the Vandersteen Treo. Each of them had their merits, but the Treo was the standout among these choices. 

Along with good sound, my requirements, and concerns, surround:

- How well they play in smaller rooms without overpowering the room.

- How well they play at lower listening levels, 65-75 dB. I am not a believer that this is entirely a function of speaker sensitivity. Some speakers 'wake up' at certain levels, and can be quite dull at low volume.

- Soundstage, and the ability to disappear. I like a broad soundstage and phase aligned speakers. All of the speakers did pretty well in this category, but the Treo's were better, presumable due to their phase aligned design.

- One concern and actually an annoyance with the Treo's is the speaker connections. I have significant investment in time and money finding speaker cables and I would not be able to use them on the antiquated screw terminal connections forced on owners of these speakers. Anyway...

Just tossing this out there to solicit opinions from those who have heard or own Treo's or QLN's. Let me know your thoughts.

 

 

zlone
elliottbnewcombjr
7,770 posts
 

don’t overthink, 18 ga for 3" length is like the Holland Tunnel to electrons.

When you take Vintage speakers apart (the other side of that Vandersteen screw), (the ones great reputations were made with) and see the small wires inside, you can’t believe it. Newer speakers might have name brand designer wires inside, but it’s not for need, it’s specmanship/marketing IMO.

......................

I always want the option of tubes, and thus I made my comment, and I want to keep the heat down, thus I go for efficient horns and big woofer. Easy for me because I inherited mine. That’s when I got hooked.

My speakers, I have a 6’ long run to a junction that I keep hung on a hook so I can reach it without bending.

I used to play 3 alternate amps: 30wpc tube monoblocks; 35wpc tube receiver; 305 wpc solid state. Change wires in seconds.

Simply switch speaker wires, tightening bananas

https://www.parts-express.com/Stacking-Banana-Plug-with-Dual-Set-Screws-Poly-Carbonate-Sh-091-3608?quantity=1

I’m about to re-test the tubes of one of my Fisher 500C’s, hook it up (just piggyback into the speaker wires, and play/demo it for sale/local pickup. 

 

elliottbnewcombjr
7,770 posts
 

here it is

zlone OP
1,348 posts
 

@elliottbnewcombjr Ah yes, good point. I neglected to consider the length. A similar situation with fuses, small wire, but very short length.

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,602 posts
 

Good choice. Love the Vandersteens. May I suggest consideration of the new Totem Tribe Thunderbirds in same class that impressed me greatly at recent Capital Audiofest. 

Goldenear another fantastic option to consider. 

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,984 posts
 

you may want to check out the legacy signatures they offer much of what you are looking for:

they are warm ,with incredibly deep full bass, and a huge sound stage

they are extremely easy to drive and very efficient

you can get the speakers with a wavelet a dac/preamp/ and full room correction the wavelet also allows for personal eq so you can tune them to taste.

 

Dave and Troy

Audio  Intellect NJ

legacy dealers

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