What first attracted you to the Vandersteen?

[DogsPart2]

I believe Richard's speakers,  each at their respective price points, reproduce strings and solo piano better than any other speaker at similar price points.

 

I was so impressed with the 2CE Sig II I auditioned in2010, I purchased them.  Sold them a few years later, due to a momentary lapse of reason.

Now, as I approach my 7th decade, want one final pair of really great speakers. Was impressed with Treos when I first heard them years ago.  I am looking forward to listening to the CT version at my local dealer,  Plan to take A LOT of music and a fine bottle of wine, which I will share, for the event.

Edited September 8, 2023 by DogsPart2

[Glen]

What first attracted me to Vandersteen? I would have to say my first encounter with the Vandersteen model 5s back in the very early 2000s. It was at a dealer called Audio Atlanta and the owner gave me a grand tour of the Model 5s. He (Peter I think was his name) explained the build quality and uniqueness of the speakers and I believe that day I became an audiophile. Don’t get me wrong, I loved audio way before my visit, but now I had an aural image in my head of what a two channel system should sound like. I look back on that visit as a very young adult with very fond memories. I am, and will always be a fan of the model 5s.  I’m not sure what ever happened to the owner after the store closed, but he made a Vandersteen fan that day.

[ctsooner]

Great story Glen.  Thanks for the share.

[GdnrBob]

23 hours ago, Glen said:

but now I had an aural image in my head of what a two channel system should sound like.

Yup, that is what stuck with me for 30 years after I heard the Model 2's, in a dealership on Madison Ave and 64th st. who's name I can't remember. 

When I finally had some money to put into stereo again, I remembered how good those speakers sounded, and was glad that Vandersteen was still in business. I was amazed that the Model 2's were still being sold! Talk about a well designed product.

Bob

[Chuckster]

On 7/31/2023 at 10:59 AM, ctsooner said:

Great stories and all different. Keep them coming, especially the newer posters. 

 

...Having just joined this forum after recently acquiring my 5th pair of Vandys (6th, actually, but that pair of 2Cis were a totally unintentional purchase and didn't stay with me very long and another story, lol) and reading and relating to many of responses of this topic, guess you could say I qualify to be here...

Like stratocaster (and the others w/ the same model) my first ever Vandys were a pair of 1Cs in the waning days of the last millennium, right around this time of the year actually, in 1999. I ordered them sound unheard  as either "Demos" or "previously owned" from--guess who?--good ol' Johnny Rutan /Audio Connection! And at a very attractive discounted price, even though it still was the most I'd ever spent on any audio component (if I only knew what was to follow in subsequent years, lol).

Sound familiar/anyone sensing a commonality of experience here?

Had just, with the help of the burgeoning world wide web, (re-) discovered the world of high end audio a year or two prior and was seeking my first pair of high end speakers to go along with my NAD C340 and Rega-made NAD 533 turntable (believe the CD player was a non-descript single-disc sub-$100 Sony).

Can't tell you what specifically led me to the 1Cs other than they were mentioned/included among numerous both commercial & individual consumer recommendation lists re: entry-level (& even beyond really) gear. I'll never forget the sense of anticipation waiting for their arrival in upstate NY from what I could only imagine  was an audio candy store someplace in northern NJ, lol. I knew as I was unpacking them from their boxes they were unlike anything I'd ever owned before, and pride of ownership kicked-in right then and there, before I even had them in place and knew if they were actually going to *work* without any problems (if they were used  they were the most unused/newest--looking things I'd ever seen! John Rutan didn't know this of course but (he) earned himself a repeat customer also right then & there.

I'll save my first (& surprising) encounter with the designer and whose name this company bears when later that afternoon I placed a call out to Hanford, California to confirm if I was following the set-up  instructions in the very detailed manual (and to possibly affirm if the entry level Tara Labs cables I bought would be "good enough" for these exceptional speakers, and if not then what would be acceptable to use with them, lol--again, sound familiar to anyone?), only to receive a call back (to think!!!) 20 minutes later with the greeting, "Hi, this is Richard Vandersteen!" . Huh? Really???

True to his form, (Mr.) Richard Vandersteen neither endorsed nor rejected the Tara Labs (nor provided any specific cable recommendations, IIRC), only that I try what I had ("Well, go ahead and give them a shot" or words to that effect), and that I "trust my ears".

That was 24 years and 5 pairs ago, folks, lol and what's helping me compose this admittedly lengthy but fond anecdote is the fact that I'm spinning record after record (via a Rega tt as fate would have it!) into what's becoming the wee-small hours here on the East Coast, and once again and maybe even more than ever enjoying the true music making ability, the dimensional purity, as conveyed by (yet another pair of) where-have-they-dissapeared-to?  Vandersteens, the 2Ce Signature II.

Thank you for the indulgence, fellow forum members & Vandersteen owners (& also to the admins here as well, lol).

And thank you again, Richard Vandersteen.

✌️

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Chuckster

[Tomstruck]

The Beard 

Oh! you meant the speaker not the man 

First pair were 2s and I have to say it's the ease of listening to them or that they are not fatiguing 

Some brands just drill in to your ears