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My profile is out of date, but my current speakers are QLN 3's, which I very much enjoy.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.
@parkergetdean Point taken. The demo of the Treo’s was great, but I do wonder if they are that good under less ideal conditions. The QLN’s sound good almost anywhere in the room. Sitting behind the QLN’s in my room is a pair of Raidho D2.1’s, they are indeed very good, but not a fit for my space unfortunately. They are for sale on a site nearby. 😊 |
you have some great speakers. From your responses I gathered you like the Scandinavian sound. I would have suggested Martens - if I had ever heard any. I have heard Borresens and Raidhos. I think it’s easier to find good speakers for a small space. But also, the lack of fullness IS the feature of the room size. (No one will agree with me on this one) So you may be chasing unicorns. I recently went from Vandersteens to smaller monitors and I am very happy. Definitely less room filling sound but more connection with the music, more dynamics and separation and presence/soundstage. I could suggest other brands, "away" from the Qlns, just geographically - UK, Italy... but it would be superficial. |
@parkergetdean Marten Oscar Trio's are certainly on my list to hear. I read some pretty conflicting opinions on Marten, so I would definitely have to spend some time with them. And yes, I am always chasing unicorns with this hobby, it is part of the fun. On the digital side of things, I have even captured a few. |
I had Dynaudios, and i think they are a great Dane too. I don’t have good arguments for British speakers but that’s what I always end up with. Speakers for smaller spaces will come from countries with limited space. Not the US, not Canada, etc. Have you considered Harbeth? I am not sure if anyone mentioned a sub if you are missing the bass? |
