Vandersteen Quatros or B&W 803D's

His situation may warrant a speaker other than Vandersteen or B&W given his need for close placement to a rear wall (though we still don't know how close) - I think that is CLEAR - and it is an issue to consider, at least with VS, can't say anything about B&W in that regard. He may choose to go with either speaker anyway, he may be happy with either, but he should also know that close placement is not ideal IMO for the VS; which I think is highly relevant to this thread. Better yet, Ken, why don't you ask Richard, he is a straight shooter and I'm fairly confident he'll give you an honest opinion.

Mrjstark, I am glad you are happy with your system, very nice pieces and I do love VS - your room treatment may be helping alot, and in the photos, your speakers don't really look that close to the rear wall; which is why I asked Ken in affect, "how close" are we talking.

Pubu57, my set-up is (i am guessing) totally different then Kens'. WAF is not an issue (it is a dedicated "L" room) & it was (still is) optimise to get the best possible results. And your are right - Quatros are pulled out from the rear wall just a bit (actually, it is 58inch to be exact). Room treatment was always a part of my set-up (past or preset). My room isn't finished yet, and I am still trying to fine tune the room/speakers response. But I can tell you this, Vandersteen Quatro made my job a lot easier. Yes they need a lot of fine tuning to get it perfect or at least close to it. But at least you have some control over it ( placement and active EQ ).
And I am not arguing the fact that the sound stage is important and a BIG factor in any set up but getting the bass right is also CRUCIAL. And with vast majority of speakers you are basically restricted to fight the room acoustic anomalies with spks. placement and some room treatment like bass traps etc. Don't forget Pubu that frequencies of 500Hz and higher are a lot easier to control then mid/lower bass ( especially between 20-150Hz region). Most speakers manufacturers have an idea how their speakers are going to interact with the room between 500Hz -20Khz. They even got better in mastering cabinet resonance & vibrations.....but controlling the bass is another story. ASK RICHARD VANDERSTEEN what gives him the biggest headaches, getting the sound stage right or the bass. I might be wrong, but my money is on bass.

I think it doesn't matter if Ken will be placing speakers 12" from the rear wall or 24". It is to small of a difference to make a significant changes in sound stage. If he will get the smooth and balanced bass, great. Sound stage can be tune with proper toe-in few absorbers and diffusers at the first reflection points, between the speakers and the ceiling (If one chooses to pursue perfection, have a dedication & no WAF).

Mjstark, I think I agree with you and I think Richard has certainly found a very clever way to get bass right in almost any setting.

In the perfect World we shouldn't have this problems but You as well as I know that it is not the case.
We may have differences of opinion on some issues but we all try to achieve the same goal........one way or the other. That's what is it all about.
I think we have a great community and I am very proud to be a part of it. If the neutral ground can be found and honesty is intact......great.

One more thing.
When I said:

I think it doesn't matter if Ken will be placing speakers 12" from the rear wall or 24". It is to small of a difference to make a significant changes in sound stage.

I think I should take that back since everything change the sound....even 12". What I wanted to say is that Ken (unfortunately absent from this conversation to make it easier on both of us) is most likely forced to placed them against the wall or very close to it. So, performance is already compromise (sound stage you mentioned earlier & bass could be a problem also) but what Quatros can give him back is a better, smoother and more balanced bass. Using few tricks can also improve sound stage but WAF might be a problem.......we don't know.
I hope that he won't have to decide based on this thread alone, and will have a chance to hear both in his own place. This would ultimately answer all his questions and remove any doubts.

Cheers
M.Stark

Cheers.