VANDERSTEENS vs. THIELS

I owned a pair of Thiel CS.5 for a while and also heard the 2.3's (they were not quite broken in yet). I have not heard Vandersteen. I will say that the theil was a nice speaker for the year and a half I had them and hated to see them go because they are a status speaker of sorts. If the Vandy's are where your heart is heading go with'em, If you've owned one pair of speakers for 25 years you don't seem to picky like alot of us. In complete opinion free from the speakers you listed above I think the Biro L/1's by avahifi.com would provide more musical sound and you would save money and space. And with the money you save you might even want to upgrade something else. The L/1 is a very special speaker.

Hi Bennett; I've owned 2 pairs of Vand. 2ces, and have Vand. 3Asigs now in my main system. The Vandersteens are all excellent. I've driven the 2Ces with everything from inexpensive receivers, good integrateds, and presently with an excellent quality McCormack DNA.5. Well, the 2Ces sounded very good with all of these different systems. As I upgraded electronics, the speakers sounded better too, ie they are sensitive to what is driving them. So if you go with Vandersteens, you can upgrade your electronics as desired and speaker quality will seem to improve too. Vandersteens are quite forgivig in this regard, and very musical. I recommend them highly. I have never heard Thiels, but have read that they are much more demanding of source, and tend to be somewhat analytical.

Either pair of speakers would be a great choice; however, after owning two generations of models 2's and now the proud owner of the 3A Signatures, I prefer the sound of the Vandersteens over thiels. They are so musical and right, you can listen to them for hours on end without fatigue. The are detailed in a natural way that makes other speakers sound like, well, speakers. Being a former musician, I know what musical instruments sound like, and Vandersteen has got it right. The are not designed to WOW you in a stereo store like most will, they simply do one thing very well; repoduce music faithfully. Live with them, and you'll never live without them. Try them and you'll see why their repeat customer base is the highest in the industry. I'm not a salesman, just an educated long-time audiophile who's listened to hundreds of different pieces of equipment. The 2CE Signatures are fantastic and the 3A Signatures are undervalued by about $5,000.00. Buy Vandersteens and enjoy listening to music!

Is your room treated correctly with acoustic traps? If you haven't damped first reflection points, you won't be hearing what your speakers sound like, NO MATTER WHAT SPEAKER YOU CHOOSE. As for Thiels/Vandersteens, audition each in your home before you buy. And get a couple of ASC "Frescoes" before you do that...

I have lived with the Vandersteen 10 years from 1988-1998 and I loved them until I moved and I could never get them to sound right in my new room. I have heard the Thiels and they are certainly less forgiving than the Vandy's.Great detail 3-D imaging. The Steens reproduce music accurately but really don't provide all the detail that the Thiels reveal. Another excellent speaker in this price range that in my estimation is a MUST audition is the NHT 2.5i. These speakers will reveal what is on the recording and with excellent electronics is a competitor with any of the 3 on your list. I currently own these speakers (2 years now) and I am absolutely thrilled with their sound. They are accurate, they have excellent base response and most importantly for me is that they are balanced across the board as are the Vandy's. I hate to through you this curve but add them to the list otherwise if you want to stick with your 3 choices I would go with the VANDERSTEEN. I ultimately picked the Vandy's over Magnapan 2.6 speakers after long deliberation and was never sorry for the choice.