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Advice on replacing Vandersteen 2's

A close friend of mine needs to relace his old Vandy 2's (they are probably the original 2, dating from the late 80's). He needs something smaller and more decor-friendly. The rest of the system is modest: the small Eagle amplifier, a Bryston pre, Rega TT, JVC 1010 CDP. Nevertheless, this system really sings. It has tremedous drive, tons of bass, and never fails to sound musical on just about everything.

My friend is not an audiophile but he is very much a music lover. He doesn't sit in the sweet spot and listen critically to the system. He bounces around the room and the house when music is playing, and sometimes he plays along on his alto sax. He listens almost exclusively to jazz, mostly be-bop.

The Vandy 1C is his gut instinct, but I want him to explore some other possibilities. Let's say under $2500 new. I'm wondering about speakers from Totem, the Meadowlark Swift, Triangle? Any suggestions?
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pmi_guy
72 posts
 
I second KEF Reference for the wide sweet spot and wide dispersion.

I may be mistaken but 2-ways with 1st order cross-overs are known for their small sweet spot (but extremely nice imaging).
asa
626 posts
 
Totem Hawks and he'll be happy and never say another 'phile word.
suits_me
121 posts
 
I should have provided more explanation regarding the Vandersteens. One of the most enjoyable listening experiences ever was a modest pair of 2ce's with subs and Melos electronics at a NY S'phile show. I love their sound, and the music selections and low traffic in that unglorified room didn't exactly hurt, either.

But the time aligned speakers of the usual sort, which to me means first order crossovers and aligned acoustic centers (although I am now told there are other form factors and crossovers to achieve more or less the same thing), by their very nature, in theory, will not be optimal for off axis listening. Audiogon had an excellent thread on this topic. If you read down near the end, Jeff Joseph and the designer (?) from Green Mountain join in to explain their design choices.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1032037028.
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