When a Harbeth lover starts to like B&W this means something (for the B&W installation) 
Yes, I did. Though not any sort of remotely full on evaluation/comparison, it was no contest - PS. And not sure what you mean by them sharing features (really - please elucidate).
But I would say that these Vandersteens are an experiment, an attempt at brewing an amalgam of the 5 and 7.
And - have to say that the AN3âs surprised the hell out of me by not only Not Sucking, but doing lots of Great Stuff. But it is still Early Days with regard to them.
Thanks. I think the new speaker fills the wide gap between the Quatro Ct and the Seven. I think that the shared features would be the self contained powered subs, price range, physical size, and DSP. -Just rumors. So, Iâm not sure. You think the AN3 is that much better? Iâm surprised but encouraged. I owned Vandersteen 4âs back in the day and always regretted trading them in on electrostats.
AdmittedlyâŚjust not any sort of comparison I would be willing to make, or based on what I heard, or be willing to âpublishâ.
I heard the Vandersteens playing a Classical record I am familiar with - but thatâs all. Heard all kinds of stuff on the ANâs over two days. I wouldâve totally given the Vâs the Benefit of the Doubt.
And this gets into the whole Room at a Show, System vs. Speaker Thing.
Another thing I have to emphasize is that, the more I listen to different systems, and change SINGLE COMPONENTS out of familiar systemsâŚ
SYSTEM SYNERGY, as lame as that may sound, is a much bigger deal than iâd ever imagined.
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I concur with the surprising benefit / detractor of system synergy. Working through my system over the last few years I have a couple times determined that something needed upgrading / replacing and in the mix changed another component and boom, now the questioned component is highly preforming due to a better overall match.
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While we donât know the final price of the AN3, I donât think they are close in price. The Vandersteenâs have an âintroductoryâ price of $37,500, the AN3 are supposed to be $15k-$20k, thatâs a big gap. I really like Vandersteenâs, but the prices are rising much faster than inflation and perceived technological improvements. Iâm not saying they arenât justified, but my spending power is not keeping up!
I agree the prices are outrageous. Remember that some âaudiophilesâ arenât interested unless the price is too much, and Richard Vandersteen has obliged them. Actually, he has been criticized in the past for not charging enough for his products.
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kinda reminds me of shopping for engagement ringsâŚ
I was astonished by how great the newly released ELAC DBR62 monitor speakers sounded when factoring in its $500 price point. Best sub-$1K speaker at the show and would have easily batted down several others at 2-4X its price.
Was it in my top three, no. But it sounded awesome and is an incredible value at $500. I am sorry but I did not snap a picture of the speakers. The cabinets looked really nice with a light, washed wood side panel and white painted face, or a darker finished wood on the side/top panels and a black painted face. Iâm sure pics will surface soon. They are so new, they are not even on the ELAC website yet.
EDIT: Here is a crappy photo I was able to pull off the webâŚ
Beef, why are you embarrassed that you like the B&Wâs? I, personally, have the 804 D3s and love them. I drive them with M700âs and pair with a pair of JL Audio f110âs. Youâre not hurting my feelings at all of you criticize. Everyone has their own preference. Just curious. Love your reports on the show, btw. Well done!!
Adam
Because I recently said Iâd never heard any I liked much. Well, with the exception of my WM4 outdoor speakers ; ) This setup at the show was great.
Pretty sure that was the room I couldnât get into for the crowdâŚ
I did not get to hear everything at the show as well, so I probably missed some great sound. Those that impressed were:
Boenicke W8 with the CAD DAc/Server/Streamer and Aesthetics Pre-amp
Vandersteen Kento with M5 mono-blocks
Wilson Sasha DAW Best Iâve heard from a Wilson
The Vandersteen at $37.5k while sounding great just seemed over priced. Great sound though. It has resulted in me revisting the Quattro CTs once again.
Best value - Wharfedale floor standers with a ribbon tweeter. $2k for the pair. Unfortunately I did not get the model. Newly introduced to the US market at RMAF.
I was surprised to see Harbeth 40.2 speakers in such a small room. Great potential , but they just needed more space. Powered by a pair of MacIntosh mono amps from 1962. Also, the Harbeth SHL 5 in the Lumin demo room - poor set-up. Harbeth can sound fantastic, but the demos that I heard just didnât do the speakers justice.
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I didnât catch the model number either, but I was also really impressed with the new wharfdales. I would have definitely been happy taking those home at that price point. They had them hooked up to $7k speaker cables btw. Ha.
Yeah, wish I had caught the model number. Canât seem to track them down on the internet either. Probably as they are just released for the US Market.
Were they these?
Thanks for the thought, they were towers, not stand mounts, The speakers have a ribbon tweeter, 4 inch midrange and two 6 inch mid-bass/woofers. I donât recall a side firing woofer. Driver diameters are my best guess. I was/am seriously considering them as a gift for my daughterâs system. I found them to be clean and natural sounding top to bottom with no smearing, overhang or overemphasized highs/lows. For the price not too bad. They were Chinese manufactured per the rep. I was supposedly going to get an email from the rep on the demo details. Have not received anything yet.
Cannot believe I actually forgot one of my favorite speakers I heard at the show. Now I have to figure out which of my top three to replace ; )
Dali Epicon 8
Fudge it and go for four. I missed the Dali completely. What did you like about them?