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My profile is out of date, but my current speakers are QLN 3's, which I very much enjoy.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.
I remembered this review of the QLN 3, and it made me very curious about them. Reviewer Dave McNair is a pro music rescoring engineer, iirc, and really liked them. He knows his stuff. FWIW |
Many helpful and enjoyable to read perspectives. One of the few things I have learned is that equipment and room will change how we percieve a speaker. Tired various speakers in the house (over the years) and recently ended with Treo CT's. Initally heard these at an audio store and was not impressed. Then on another visit when they were connected to a differnet amp (well respected names and more expensive) they peaked my interest. Then another time when powered by Prima Luna EVO 400 tubes - I was sold (and my wife when she saw the natural cherry finish). Are they the best? No, however with difficult living room acoustics, close walls, limited size, and needing to blend with furniture - they are wonderful. |
@willow7 - Congratulations! Sounds like our thought process was similar. There is no "perfect" speaker that is best, for a budget most of us mere mortals have. I have heard from trusted sources who have heard $500K to 1 million dollar systems in custom listening rooms, and they said the experience was nearly life-altering. Truly extraordinary. I don’t doubt it, but doubt I could ever afford it. I fantasize more about having $100K to spend, but with 68 year old ears, that's probably not wise! Oy. Meanwhile, I am very content with what I have, and I will try to keep refining it. Cheers. |
Thanks for the additional perspective @amtprod, I appreciate it. @patrickdowns Yes, that is a great review for the QLN’s, maybe I should be content. Part Time Audiophile is a great resource. |
