Vandersteen 5A or Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage


I am trying to decide between the Vandersteen 5A and the SF Stradivari. I have been into this CRAZY hobby for about 25 years and have owned speakers such as the Revel Studio V1, SF Cremona M and currently own Magnepan 3.7s with Vandersteen 2WQ subs. I listen to a variety of music, but mostly Rock and Pop music. I love a warmer sound to handle the poorly recorded Rock and I enjoy being able to listen fairly loud at times. Of the above I have owned, the SF Cremona were the best all rounders. The maggies although very good bloat at higher volumes. I should mention I use Levinson Mono blocks and Bryston processor. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
troyseaward
When you get your 5A's, post your feelings. If you need setup question, etc...we're here to help.
I've had my Vandy 5A Carbons for about 18 months now; they replaced my beloved Maggie IIs which were coupled with an ancient Vandy 2W powered subwoof. Given the right source material, the 5s just seem to disappear from the room, leaving only the music. Setting up the high-pass filters to match your amp's input impedance is a matter of setting a few DIP switches and takes about a minute to figure out and do. You can spend as much or as little time as you wish emplacing and angling the speaks for a single sweet spot to take advantage of Richard's efforts to provide perfect imaging, or just muscle the things around till they sound right in your room. Mine are toed-outward about 30 degrees and about 18-inches from the long wall they're on, and from my off-center listening chair the imaging is perfect - and nearly as perfect at the other end of a 7-foot couch.
As for power, I run a pair of Vacuum Tube Audio M-125 monoblocks (each with four KT-88- 6550-type tubes in push-pull configuration) and Roy Mottram tube preamps. In triode mode the monoblocks step down to about 65 watts per side and I am able to rattle the dishes three houses down the street with cannon-fire on 1812 Overture; however the true joy is hearing the difference between the "tink" of a cymbal most speakers give you to the "ding" the Vandies deliver.
Agreed with all above posters, it's GIGO. Feed the Vandersteen 5A Carbons fresh lobster and they'll serve you fresh lobster. Feed 'em canned tuna and that's what'll come out. They neither add nor subtract anything from your playback media. Therein their beauty.
Not mentioned by others here, but IMO vital, is that these wonderful speakers be discreetly bi-wired as the manual recommends. I was bi-wiring through a single four-conductor Canares cable and was quite content. One bored afternoon I doubled-up with some extra cable, nothing fancy, for true bi-wiring and "WHOMP!!" the backside of the soundstage just fell away. An unbelievable improvement over what I already thought was perfection. Don't ask my why; it makes no sense electrically. (I've since upgraded the speaker cabling and connections a bit, none of that $1,000 a foot crap, but nothing made the improvement of the magnitude that discrete bi-wiring does, even if you have to use lamp cord.)
One caution if you're going to spend Lamborghini money on custom cables: Be sure the speaker ends are spades that will fit the rather smallish connectors on the back of the speaks. For DIY cables, Audioquest makes a silver spade that fits just right for 10-12 gauge wire; otherwise you'll likely spend a few hours on a grinding wheel.
Bottom line is: the 5A Carbons have eliminated one baffling and very expensive variable in the hi-fi equation. They are, to my ear, invisible.
Thanks again for all the responses. I unpacked and wired the 5A's last night, but did not have time to do any adjusting. I will say, without the necessary setting up, I was not impressed. I sure hope the set up and fine tuning is that important, or I will be extremely disappointed. i did not touch the pots, but did move the control knobs at the back around a bit. I am sure a speaker with many great reviews will be great once dialled in.