Vandersteen 5a's - an upgrade from Vienna mahlers?

We used the 5As at CES 2004. You can see photos in the current Audiogon CES coverage, room 1756 and read impressions of the speakers/room from the pros in TAS, Positive Feedback, Bound For Sound, Sound StageAV and other coverages of the event. I’m sure the Mahlers are terrific speakers. With a bit of TLC the 5As will give you the ability to tune your room out of the equation. Room 1756 is located on the 2nd floor of the Alexis Park and the old wooden floor bounces like a trampoline. It sets up a resonating field that distorts the signal on its way to your ears from the speakers. It's discouraging when you're trying to accomplish excellence.

Richard Vandersteen, who is a peach of a guy, set the speakers up using a simple radio shack sound level meter and dialed the floor out of the equation. By the end of the event, we were tuning the speakers to our taste by ear. This is one case, but it elucidates the flexibility of the speakers and inherent added value.

And, as you said, the inboard sub-amp gives you a wider range of choices for tube gear. The 220 watt Joule-Electra Rites of Passage were more than the speakers needed. We could have used the 160 watt Grand Marquis easily; maybe the 100 watt Marquis (not sure).

We all have different listening environments and there are many terrific speakers to choose from. I hope passing along our experience with the Vandersteens and the man himself, help you make a more informed buying decision.

Thanks

Critical Mass Systems

Sorry for any confusion, I should have written, CES 2005.

Critical Mass Systems

Vandy's, Vandy's, Vandy's. One of the best speakers I have ever heard. I put them up with the Quad 989's, Magnepan 20.1's, SoundLab Ultimates, and Wilson's (just about all). There is so much good stuff out there now, isn't there?

The Vandy's sound amazing, but at $14.5k you better be pretty excited about them. I just picked up a pair of mint Mahlers from an Audiogon member for $3,900. He has more gear than he knows what to do with. He also lives in a small apartment and the Mahlers obviously don't work there.

I have a large listening room and am upgrading from a pair of VA Beethovens that have been delightful.

I will be driving the Mahlers with the new Mcintosh MC207 and the MX119 processor.

Setup is tommorrow.. I can't wait!

I'm compelled to say, be very careful to demo any Vanderstein before purchase. For an hour or two, put the engineering and technical erotica away from sight in a drawer, and listen to your music. Obviously the thing to do with any speaker, but good to keep in mind particularly when considering a product line like this with such a devoted following.

Sincerely,

-Bill.