Vandersteen 7 mark ll or big Kef blades

Gee Tomic so a speaker lower then ear height with an agreesive rake angle is better than a wide dispersion true point source which may be higher than listening height based on what? 

Listening height is dependent on couch height, listener height and distance from the loudspeaker as well as the dispersion of the loudspeaker.

You miss one super valid point for $30k less money you can get an pretty darn good set of amplifiers and a preamp to boot.

A properly set up pair of Blades is pretty awesome which loudspeaker is "better" is up to personal interpretation. 

We also sell the Legay Aeris and they are a ridiculous value for $25k you get a speaker with full active bass, full room equilization, and 96db efficiency, these are an even better deal than the Kef Blades as all you now need is a set of amplifiers and a streamer, the Aeris comes with a Wavelet processor which is a pretty good dac, preamplifier and room correction processor.

Your love of Vandersteen is admirable, but they are just one good choice out of a sea of great loudspeakers, which include the brands we sell and those that we don't.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Kef Blade and Legacy Aeris dealer

The whole notion of the singer must be at ear height is absurd . Why does the performer , singer , guitar player , drummer have to be at the same height as ones ears ? Makes no sense to me and actually seems unrealistic . Would a singer be sitting on a couch as to have the sound of their voice be at the same height as me . Seems more realistic if they would be standing , which means a foot or two higher than my ears sitting . 

lets start with the basic...

the spatial info  ( what there is horizontal and vertical ) is already encoded in the source. 

the waveform is complex and includes both fundaments, harmonics and the time and phase information in the waveform.. IF you have not spent anytime in a studio, page thru your album LP gatefold covers and look for microphones, ten -15’ off the ground...Rudy Van Gelder of BlueNote fame, famous for this....or look at symphnony recording microphone placement, especially well done stuff with less than DG 30 microphone stuff.....

so to properly reproduce this complex waveform we need to simulate a point source wave launch, would be good IF we do that at ear height, unless you want different arrival times...which is audible. The more drivers ya add the more different arrival times ya get
a coincident driver solves part of this problem and introduces other wavelaunch issues like bouncing HF off a lower frequency moving surface....ponder that as you invest in cabinets and footers that dont move....

The Vandersteen setup and engineering depend on an accurate measure of listening ear height, most other speakers will benefit IF you know this dimension.

they are not just a good choice. I would not hesitate to put Quattro CT up against any KEF product and there would be MORE $$$$$ left over for electronics, etc

listen to any number of great recordings w spatial info encoded...Live in Paris is one such IMO......does Diana Krall really need to be another 2’ taller..

Keep selling the reflections OFF a big tall box....

your admiration Troy for the brands you carry is understandable, you have a Vandersteen dealer a few miles from you. The world thinks they are more than a good choice. Your competitive urges cloud your thinking....Let’s meet on neutral ground, say in Munich where we can listen to both..my guess is Helmut Brinkmann will get great sound there with his 7’s

and yes for some people the KEF are a great choice.

Let's keep in mind it's your choice how to configure the speakers and your listening position.

For traditional TMW layouts (twitter, mid, woofer), the desirable range is usually between the twitter and midirange drivers. You should experiment if you haven't.


Myself and a speaker designer I really admire have both discovered that sometimes we may design for on-tweeter axis listening, but the best sounds are below.


Only your ears can tell.

Best,
E

I may just go on "Tweeter" and post "Twits" about this thread.😝