what speaker new or used for 5k?

Local dealer does not carry Vandersteen's, but is expecting to get a pair on trade not sure what model but I'll ask.

Can you decipher vocals clearly?

if not, some might call that a common form of "Congestion".

2-way designs with crossover points in the midrange where most vocals and music occurs are a commonly cited cause.

I tend to levitate to 2 way designs where the crossover is simple and occurs at higher frequencies.

The OHMs and Triangles that I use are good examples. Another I know of that follows a similar design approach on paper that I know of and many like is Reference 3a. I'm sure there are others.

Mapman, yes you can decipher vocals they are not clear as bell and the rest of the music just sounds muddy. bloated bass and not great separation of instruments.

Try listening without the subs. Also, check your speaker cables and make sure they are not wired out of phase.

I used to own vienna acoustics mozart grand. And then moved to Verity Audio Parsifal Encore (runs into slightly more 5K) which lost the decongestion and better bass and topend.

Then I moved to Devore Orangutan (wanting to move to SET amps).

Dunno if that helps, but just that I was in the same place as you few months ago.