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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My profile is out of date, but my current speakers are QLN 3's, which I very much enjoy.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
patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns
557 posts
 
parkergetdean

I am, but I am not a "fanboy". I put my money where my mouth is, and I don’t change components often. Unlike some here, even $5K was a big investment for me, but the deal was too good. I happen to know and love the Vandersteen sound, for years. If I had big bucks, there are many other brands I would consider as an alternative. I have been to audio shows and dealers and heard some outstanding speakers, including Magico, TAD, Joseph, Wilson, Acora (I’d love to hear his new "budget" stand mount monitor), MBL (❤️), Magnepan, and others. I would drive myself insane trying to choose a system if money was no object. System synergy is important too, and when I had a McCormack DNA-1 amp (the designer is brilliant), it played especially well with Vandersteens so that’s where I got hooked. We all hear differently and have our own biases. There is a respected brand I won’t name that is way too hot for me on the top end...like fingernails on a blackboard. Others love them. 

The right answer is what is right for "YOU". You being anyone. But good component matching is so important. IMHO

PS: The choices are mind-numbing. I don’t know how I would build a new system from scratch if I could afford anything I want! 
Capital Audio Fest report:
https://www.stereophile.com/category/capital-audiofest-2025

patrickdowns's avatar
patrickdowns
557 posts
 

Capital Audio Fest room:

Mark Sossa of Well Pleased AV always puts together solid, good-sounding rooms, often featuring Merason DACs and Qln loudspeakers. At this show Sossa's system, fortified by Alma Music & Audio, reached new levels of transparency, quiet, and soundstaging, wowing and entrancing me.

Sossa presented the US debuts of the Merason DAC2 ($12,500) and Qln Prestige 3 G2 loudspeakers ($12,500/pair). Also in the system was an XACT S1 EVO Music Server ($18,600), an Audio Hungary Qualiton 300B Integrated Amplifier ($11,000), and a GigaWatt PC-4 power conditioner ($16,000). Cables from Kubala-Sosna and AB-Tech REN. A Finite Elemente Pagode Signature rack ($4750) and Nemesis acoustic panels ($799/ea.) rounded out the system.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/us-debuts-merason-dac2-qln-prestige-3-gen-2-alma-music-audiowell-pleased-av-system

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,693 posts
 

I suppose I might weigh in lightly since I’ve been discretely referenced twice…

noted Strad owner n player has a pair of 7’s… she must have copied an ancient Dynaco ( the A-25 obliquely referred to above ) the design approach behind Vandersteen is well understood, if it’s not your cup of tea… all good.

i did move on replacing Treo CT with TAD ME-1 / JL Sub. 
i did replace my 7 mk 2 and amps with Tidal Piano G2 and ARC Ref80S

im a year into the TAD and still wringing more out of them… lot of what I call gear changers here…

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,693 posts
 

Last I heard Neil has a pair ( 2 actually stacked )

of Vandy Coax on his board…. Hmmmmmm

carry on 

jafant's avatar
jafant
21,591 posts
 

zlone

Nice Virtual Systems page. The Audionet gear will sonically match QLN speakers nicely.  Are you still employing Acoustic Zen and WireWorld cables/cords?

If so, the WW Silver Electa 7 is a special Power Cord.

 

Happy Listening!

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