Vandersteen 3A Sigs vs Klipsch Forte III

The Vandy's are 10 or 15 years old and won't have Vandersteen's most recent upgrades. I have read that he tweaks without changing the name of the speaker. Are any of those changes significant, like a woven composte midrange cone?

Yes, the overall design had been around that long, but there have been unpublished upgrades along the way. I almost bought a used pair a few months ago and confirmed with Vandersteen that they've made both minor and significant revisions over the years. I was told the most significant upgrade was the move to the woven midrange cone. The older cones have a smooth surface. This should be easy to detect by shining a light through the fabric. 

The new woven come midrange is a large improvement. It is the same mid used in the Quattro Ct and Treo Ct.

yes Vandersteen works continually to upgrade and improve the product sometimes without official designation, just look at the evolution from model 2 all the way to 2ce signature II.......and those are the major changes......they have sold ( still in production) about a quarter million model 2..... just imagine a small company with an improvement obsessed owner, recording every change by serial #....

i had occasion to chat with Richard this AM, he was out in the shop finishing the build on a set of power amps, not overseeing it - doing the work.....

the big change in the 3 was to 3a sig which put in the 5a tweeter and midrange....the 5a was world class, the 3a gets you close in many dimensions....

flashlight trick is good.

heardthat.....where are you located ?

Tomic601, I'm in the San Francisco south bay area. That's cool u chatted with the Man this am. Flashlight trick is smart helomech. So the woven mid cone is a big improvement mr_m. I'd hate to leave technology on the table with sight unseen speakers. Almost like u have to buy new if u can't get full disclosure and inspection. I can imagine that if Mr V is doing unpublished "tweaks" over the years, a later 3a sig could sonically be better than the same model a few years earlier. That would suck to discover that after the fact. 

You owe it to yourself to at least search out a demo of the Forte III. I think you will be surprised at how much improvement has been made over the original versions.

Oz