Von Schweikert or Westlake Audio

Bebopman, I have heard both; the VS at a freind's home and the Westlake at a customer's studio. Between these two choices I would personally opt for the VS.

The Westlake is a good studio monitor but I don't find it very engaging or exciting. Lots of detail, yes. But not nearly as muscially involving as the VS; at least to my ears.

Thanks for the infomation.Have u any idea what amp n pream your friend was using to drive his VS.Do VS speakers required a lot of power to control the bass.

Von Schweickerts love good clean power - the Plinius SA Reference should work well. Many VSA owners end up monoblocking or bi-amping for best results.

Thanks for the info.Is one SA reference sufficient or I need 2 of those?Which monoblocks would work well other than SA Reference?

"sufficient" is a relative word. More power is always better. There have been excellent results obtained from Pass Labs and McIntosh (solid state) as well as VAC and VTL(tubes), among many others.

There is an excellent VSA thread on Audiocircle that you can easily access from the VSA website under "contacts" and then "meet VSA customers". It is the perfect place to get additional info re: what would work best. The guys there are very helpful and have lots of VSA experience - it is an excellent place to get the guidance you seek.