Vandersteen 7 mark ll or big Kef blades

@mr_m 

It's simply, because no matter what thread Atroy gets in, he finds some way to spin how what he sells is better or a better value.

Like you, I actually do like some of the Legacy line-up, the Focus SE in particular is a good speaker, and a lot of fun as a rock and roll speaker.  Killer deals out there on them used, or barely used also.  Even new, if you talk to Legacy at a show you can usually score a nice price.

One of the things I like about Legacy - not afraid to let his speakers thump on the bottom end still.  No substitute for displacement sometimes... or I suppose powered woofers!

The Signature se is a nice speaker, but a properly set-up Quattro CT is simply going to be a lot more open, uncolored and articulate.  Even vs the Treo CT the Treo is likely better to most in the midrange and top end.  The Signature SE can probably out "thump" the Treo CT, though the Treo does a nice job.  

The Focus SE, or the Focus XD, allowing the amp to drive the low end, and tailor your top end with another amp would be a better comparison to the Quatto CT.

Room size would also be a consideration between those.  The Legacy's can move a lot of air and fill a big room quite nicely.

I really do like the Focus SE, I've almost purchased them a few times.  But given the choice I would take the Quattro CT all day long.  That said, deals on Vandersteen are hard to find, and the Quattro CT rarely shows up used.

see you in Munich with the Legacy

I suspect the Blade will be there without your help.

and you forget, Vandersteen makes a concident driver speaker, with first order slopes because it strikes me ( and others ) odd to physically align the wave launch and then @#$& it all away with a steep slope crossover that screws up phase...

there are lots of better than good choices on the market, as I said the Blade is a great choice for many people. As mentioned for competitive reasons, you struggle to use the word great for anything but what you sell.

back to the music. Dialing in a pair of Thiel’s today.....

I think some sales people think they have better ears than all the lesser people in the audio world, the consumers. If I wanted to listen to Legacy speakers, and I have, I would visit a dealer and listen to them. If I wanted to listen to Vandersteen speakers, I would go to a dealer and listen to a pair, which again I have. I would not go a a dealer and have him/her tell me what sound better..... never have, never will.

2psyop, we never said any of the loudspeakers lines in this thread are 
"better" then another, We have said that both the Blades and the Legacy's products are very competitive loudspeaker lines that challange much more expensive ones.

In the case of the Blades vs the Vandy 7 they are $30k difference between them. 

In the case of the Vandy Quattro CT vs a pair of Legacy Signatures again you are at a $7k difference in price for a loudspeaker which plays louder and is more efficient, no you don't get tunable bass but for that you can get a Wavelet and do full room correction.

The point is that we have said is not to glorify any brand, the Vandy guys here are much more in the "only our product is the correct one because it is time and phase aligned camp" and only Vandy produces purely pistonic drivers therefore everyone else produces intrinsicly flawed products.

To which we have replied there are many fantastic loudspeakers that are beloved by those listeners, Wilson, Rockport, Magico, KEF, B&W, Focal, etc that are not time and phase aligned, 

If Wilson's midrange driver is not purly pistonic and the listener likes it better who cares it is the persons money. 

Our philosophy at our store is to find very high value for the dollar lines from class leading companies. Legacy represents a fantastic amount of performance for the dollar are they perfect no but they are great if you like what they do. 

The Kef line is also a fantastic overall line of loudspeakers we think they are less of a value then the Legacys, but there is no denying how realistic a set of Kef Ref 3 or 5 or Blades can sound. 

Yes the Vandy 1C are a fantastic loudspeaker in that price range, so it the 2Ce, you just have to like what they do vs the competition and what they do differently, we have found the Quad S and Z series to be unbelievable in this price range with  a totally different set of atttributes.

Long story short, go and listen to comparably set up products and decide which product is for you. They are all great in their own way.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Legacy, Quad, Kef dealers

Jim and James
current owner / operator of the following non-vandersteen speakers....

Klipsch Cornwall, Apogee Stage, Real Quad ESL 63, Thiel CS 2.3, and Dynaco A-25......

got to go flip the LP.....