I'm considering used Vandersteen Quatro

yage: Thanks for the heads up on the cable terminations if I go that route. I think that’s a good idea. It’s less expensive, leaving room for upgrades, and I see what you mean graphically on the impedance curves.

I have two concern with the signature models. My concern with the Signature Vandersteen models is that they have rear facing subs. The speakers front will be about 30" from the wall.

See the attached picture of my Totem’s with the Micron Carats on top. Aside from the loveseat issue, you’ll note that I have a radiator convector behind the left speaker.

The other concern I have is that they’re 16" wide and 10" deep as compared to 10" wide and 16" or 19" deep. I don't know if they'll fit as well and i expect my wife will be less pleased. Although, after putting up with me since 1988, she still lets me have my way - sometimes.

I like the PL except for the power issue.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5/jamestwilson/Living%20Room1.jpg

I am also going to audition the Rega RS-7.

Vandy 2CE speakers are incredible sounding bargains…seem to always be available used with stands for peanuts. 

I ran the Quatro's for over 4 years in a 15' x 11.25' x 8' room and they worked really well once I spent the considerable time to dial them in for room placement and then adjust the bass equilizer for finishing touches.

They worked very well with an EAR 890 that pushes 70W class A tube power with a lot of oomph.  I liked them even better with a 100W VAC Phi 200 driving them.  I actually used my Primaluna Dialogue One for a short interim fill, and they sounded nice and musical, but were not powerful enough for loud rock, big orchestra, electronica, etc.  It is a EL34 based amp with 35W, and I would bet that KT88 might work a smidge better.  More power was better, though.

I would seriously think of a more powerful amp if you like concert levels of louder music.

@jetson - I think your wife will probably have an issue. The Vandersteens are bigger and will look more physically imposing than the Totems. My wife doesn't care too much because the stereo is down in the basement. Is there no other room you can use? If you've got the land, perhaps you can build a listening shed out back. (I believe Michael Lavorgna of AudioStream has a barn on his property for this purpose.)

In any case, my room is about 22' x 13.6' x 8' and I have the speakers firing down the long wall and about 24.25" from the back wall - measured from 'acoustic center' with the distance calculated using Vandersteen's 'odd dimensions' method. It's what sounds best so far to my ears while also accounting for room layout limitations.

You might get just as good (or better) results with a two-way standmount speaker and subwoofer.