[Rob Babcock]

That's the problem with this type of thread- one mans meat is another mans poison.  What I may like, you may find fatally flawed.  And vice versa.  The Vandersteen's are revered by many, many people and considered a bargain.  Naturally not everyone will agree, but I doubt that everyone who thinks so is deaf.  I know a lot of knowledgeable guys that love the Vandy's.

Not that you will, of course!   That's what's meant my YMMV.

[srclose]

There is a long-time Vandersteen dealer in Oklahoma City who had the model 2 setup with ~$20,000 in Audio Research equipment when I was visiting once.  The sound was very detailed, lifelike, and placed in 3 dimensions.  A very natural sound, terrific really, but somewhat behind the plane of the speakers.  But heard the model 3 in Dallas poorly setup, and it was ridiculously bad.

[gongos]

I looked at the Vandersteens, but have heard from a good number of people that they're just alright so I decided to give them a pass. I listened to a pair of Meadowlark Osprey, but they sounded pretty flat, lacked dynamics, seemed a little shrill, and were missing low-end bass. This might have been due to the setup, but it might not. I had my modded 999es, running through a Dodd tube amp, and obtained these results. I've heard great things about these speakers, but I feel like they're more suited for classical/jazz playback.

My musical tastes include electronic to rock music like autechre, coil, kraftwerk, the cure, rolling stones, roxy music, wire, brian eno, john cale, omd and the Osprey's didn't fully pick up the detailed and/or live sound of these recordings. I went ahead and bought a pair of VMPS 626R's with soundcoat, auricaps, and FST tweeter along with a VMPS 215 sub. The only way I could hear these speakers was to order them so we'll see how they work when they get here. I'm pretty excited to hear what they sound like. They get pretty much rave reviews and seem like they'll be a great match for my musical tastes, but you never know until you hear them.

[MaxCast]

Pez wins !      

[Dan Driscoll]

Or it might have been the fault of poor set-up, bad positioning, etc.

i have heard vandersteens on numerous occasions - at stores, audio shows, etc...  perhaps they were *all* set up poorly, had bad positioning, etc...  but, regardless of model or location, they all struck me w/the same sonic signature - as i described above.  

my opinion, of course...

doug s.

Of course. No one speaker will make everyone happy, not even Vandy's, as much as I like them myself. But they should be on the listening list for anyone looking for a speaker in that price range. They may not be the speaker for the OP, but the only way to know is to listen.

[doug s.]

Of course. No one speaker will make everyone happy, not even Vandy's, as much as I like them myself. But they should be on the listening list for anyone looking for a speaker in that price range. They may not be the speaker for the OP, but the only way to know is to listen.

i certainly agree here.  some speakers i like - thiels, proacs, focal tweeters - lotsa folk don't like these either.  ya gotta try yerself...

doug s.

[satfrat]

Pez wins !      

unless gongos sends them BACK after listening to them. Hopefully we'll hear the end of this story and it'll have a happy ending. If not,,, he can always give the Odyssey Lorelei a listen.   Regards, Robin

[StevenACNJ]

Here is a beautiful used pair of Tyler Reference Monitors for $1150

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1084482223

[davejcb]

Just bought Reference 3A Royal Masters for 1600$...