Vandersteen Mod 5 vs Coincident Tech Total Eclipse

I'm really pleased with the level of discussion on this thread -- it's the first one that has really grabbed me in some time. My personal opinion is that the discussion on the forum has become really superficial over the past year, and this thread is the first one I've seen in some time that resembles the interchange found on the forum 2 years ago. Kudos and thanks to everyone who took the time to provide some REAL input.

Tubegroover is proof that some people on this site REALLY know what they are talking about. I think you summed up high end audio in a most succinct manner.

I think sometimes we piddle around, and look too far into the minutiae, but anyone who doesn't talk about rooms, speakers, and tastes, has completely bypassed the fundamentals.

I guess the thing I really wanted to say through all of my blabber is that taste is a big, big thing. I did try to go out of my way to say how different the Coincident Total Eclipse and Vandersteen 5s are, but what I really should have said is that if you know how each of them sound(via a THOROUGH audition), where you will place them, and your amplification, you really don't need to come to anyone here to know which speaker will be the right one.

Me, I would never put down $7500+ on anything audio without having the utmost confidence in what I was buying.

I am not sure why we don't look at this whole game in much simpler terms. It's a lot like automobiles. If someone is asking whether they should buy the pickup or the sports car, I think you need to spend more time learning about their own needs first. Let's say I have settled on a sports sedan, and have narrowed it down to the Audi A4, BMW 3 series, or Jaguar X Type, it would be expected of me to give each a thorough test drive. Otherwise, people would see me as a fool. It would quickly be seen that the BMW would take the most effort to drive, be the most athletic, most spartan, and most harsh. The Jag would be at the other end of the spectrum. Soft, luxurious, more plush, and less tenacious on the road. The Audi would fall somewhere in the middle. Since they are all more or less the same price, the test drive would lead me to the one I ultimately purchase. It wouldn't take much thought. The feel would address all questions for me.

Scott, I agree 100%!

But, then look at who has gotten involved in this thread. When you bring in the heavy hitters like Tubegroover, Natalie, John_1, Fatparrot, and yourself, it just seems like old times. We are definitely getting into the class of Audiogon here, and I feel priveleged to be a part of it.
No, the discussion on the site over the past year plus has not reached the level it did previously, but this thread proves what is possible.

I hope that the trend I am starting to perceive in the site's discussion is actual. If so, Audiogon will be taking a big turn upward

Trelja:

Interesting comment on the 2001 New York show. Richard has told me he prefers Cary electronics, but primarily because they are hard wired and easy to tweek. Don't know if the NY room was that of a dealer or Richard's own room, but if it was his, the Cary units he was using may not have been stock units.

Despite the fact that I used solid state with my Fives (I have my own personal quirks that led me to abandon tubes a long time ago for reasons having nothing to do with sonics), it does seem that the Fives are usually mated with tube electronics. One of Richard Hartley's recommended systems a while back included the Fives with ARC 100s (although he did suggest that one of the higher power ARC models might be preferable).

One of the unique characteristics of the van 5 is that you run it with a highpass filter between the amp and preamp. The filter lowers the subwoofer handled frequencies by 6 db before handing to the amp.

The amps signal hits the van 5's crossover where the 6db is added back then handed to the 400w solid state amp.

When you use a tube amp, this gives the UNIQUE characteristic of a perfectly matched TUBE mid/top with a solid state lower end. I found this to be one of the van 5's greatest strengths.

Note: Don't use pass labs balanced amp/pre with the van 5 balanced hipass filter - you could destroy the speaker. It's a $50 mod at pass labs. Those guys are just SO GOOD to their customers.

I am currently using avalon eidolon's and finding that one of their weaknesses is that you need to have a monster amp on them. If you want tubes, this limits you to huge tube amps such as the premier 8, the bat vk-150SE, and the vt200. There are lots of drawbacks to these monsters - upfront and running costs, HEAT and physical size. I 've gone to solid state right now - an Ayre v-1x. My 100w pass labs alephs could not drive them.

As I said above, I've never heard the Coincident speakers. But as I reflect on the comments above, it occurs to me that while the Vandies and the Coincidents have different sonic signatures (I hope we all agree that every speaker made has a unique sonic signature and that there is no such thing as a perfectly neutral, accurate speaker), they do share at least two things in common.

First, they are both the results of designers who are passionately committed to constantly pushing the envelope with their respective design philosophies, while maintain price points that relate to the real world.

Secondly, both speakers share almost universal respect, even if some may choose other speakers that better suit their particular systems and tastes.