So my wife and I went to Bradford's Hi-Fi in Eugene, Oregon today. After having my DefTechs for a year and a half, I've grown tired of their brassy top end.
We listened to:
- Vandersteen 3A Signature ($3,500)
- Magnepan 1.6 QR ($1,800)
- Paradigm Studio 100 ($2,000+ IIRC)
I didn't have any music with me, so we only listened to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" Track 1 = "Breathe". A good CD with some side to side effects and a decent recording. We listened to the same track across all speakers, although they were set up in different rooms, with different electronics. We listened to them in the order listed above.
Quick review -- Vandersteens sounded open, effortless, uncongested and full. Bass was complete, tight and present. Very nice. Very nice. Van didn't think they were "too ugly", althought that was definitely my concern coming in. Downside = probably too expensive, at least at their list price.
Magnepans were more harsh and bright -- the kind of thing I'm trying to get away from in the DefTechs. Van noticed it immediately, and we probably made it through only half the track before we knew the Vandersteens were better for us. They might image wonderfully, and I'd give them another shot. On the other hand, the Vandersteens also image wonderfully.
The Paradigms were disappointing. I would describe them as very boxy and somewhat congested at medium-high volumes. I'm not sure we made it half way through the track this time. I don't know if it was setup, room or electronics (Rotel), but the Paradigms downright sucked compared to the other two.
We went back to the Vandersteens and again agreed that they were the preferred speaker of the three.
So, we were kind of time crunched, and we didn't have a variety of material. As noted above, all associated electronics were different, but I'm going to assume that there isn't a ton of variation there (it was all nice stuff - Rotel, Rogue, not sure what was driving the Maggies). The absolute best part of it was that my wife really and truly heard a difference. She was done with the Maggies and Paradigms right away, and came back to the Vandersteens and said "yeah!"
Now, the Vandersteens cost roughly 2x of the others, but they are definitely findable for ~<50% off list when used. Also the 3A Sigs are the big brothers of the 2Ce, and I'd definitely give those a serious listen at their $1,435 (IIRC) list price (easy to find for <$1K used). If it's to do with 10 or 20 Hz of bass extension, all else being equal, I can live with the 2Ce. I guess I can also live with "ugly" if I have to.
For what it's worth, I believe that the Maggies have methods to tame the high end (inserting resistors in series), and the Vandersteens have potentiometers on the back, that will tweak tweeters and mids by +/- 3 dB (we were listening at +/-0). I really like this option. I'll also throw in that I owned the Magnepan MMG for a few years, about six years ago. I always liked them, but they didn't have enough dynamism for me. I figured I could get that dynamism by going to the bigger brothers, but I didn't like the top end.
I look forward to going speaker shopping when I get back to Colorado. I'm definitely going to get new speakers -- hopefully before xmas.
Here's a short list of speakers to audition:
- Triangle
- Usher
- Sonus Faber
- B&W 700 Series (if I can find them! Seems like it's always 600 and 800 series that are on display)
- Thiel (spendy for the center/rears?)
I'm also looking for further suggestions. Per my other thread, I've recently listened to Vienna Acoustics (will probably get too expensive for what I like -- their $2,800/pair model didn't cut it at volume) and the Martin Logan Clarity (nice, will have to listen again). So suggest away! Looking for smooth, detailed and laid back. I'm definitely into the music side of it, and I believe that the movie side of it will follow.
Have a good day!