Vandersteen 7 Flagship at CES

They were sublime. But as stated, they had all state of the art equipment around them, and Vandersteen had the only room that actually had acoustic treatment, and carefully done at that. Still, the 7's were world class, as good as anything that I have ever heard.

The only thing in the same league as far as striking, was the Magnepan demo of thier small speakers system. That was pretty amazing too, and they didn't have a stated $300k system around it. It was all Bryston gear, including discs instead of vinyl. Pretty impressive.

I own 5A's and have been very interested in the Vandy 7 sound as well. I wasn't at CES, but in case you have not seen these, here are a couple of links to the impressions of Robert Harley and Jonathan Valin from TAS. It does appear from the written reports from the various trade magazines that have surfaced so far, that the Vandy 7's are something special and as good as Macdadtexas stated. My dealer was there as well and said that Robert Harley's description of the sound is very accurate as to what he heard as well.

http://www.avguide.com/blog/vandersteen-model-7-preview

http://www.avguide.com/blog/best-intros-ces-vandersteen-model-seven-and-wilson-maxx-series-3-loudspeakers

The Vandersteen 7s were very special indeed. When I heard them at CES, the room was full and not one person coughed, whispered, rustled paper, or left--let alone speak loudly to anyone. Folks were spellbound while listening to two tracks of a live Diana Krall LP--"I've Got You Under My Skin" and another I can't recall--but she certainly got under my skin. And, being mainly a classical listener and be-bop jazz enthusiast, I've never been so captivated by her recordings before. Granted, the associated gear was worldclass--Clearaudio's topline, jukebox-looking table and topclass Aesthetix preamp, phono, and Atlas monos.

The sound was different to my ear than the 5As, which were also grand last year--a great sense of space and separation with lovely detail presented with finesse.

In a way, the 7s seemed to me more coherent, presenting a more lifelike presence. But it wouldn't be quite fair to say with complete authority as I listened to different kinds of music (Mozart choral on the 5As), with different electronics (Joule/Electra monos with Aesthetix preamps) and a full year apart at that.

My 3 cents...

The Vandersteen 7 were very good at CES with a more open treble than I am used to hearing, and better bottom end control. They were vivid and dimensional. But at the price point there is a lot of competition. Would I buy them if I had the money.....tough call, a lot of good stuff near 50K.
I am a ribbon fan....

This demo would have been worth the trip to CES to me. The only speaker I'd like to hear more right now is the 5A upgraded with the full compliment of carbon fiber/balsa drivers to see how close it comes to that level of performance. It will be a while before I can hear (let alone afford)either one. Lucky thing the standard 5A is as good as it is. I envy those of you who got to experience these.