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Of course this is only my opinion...(very long)

but I have listened to both very carefully in very good listening setups. Though I am an owner of Vandersteens, I had been told several times that I should listen to these Joseph Audio speakers if I wanted to make a real step up. I did, and I was disappointed. From the center of the midrange and up the JA speakers sounded nice, but going down in frequency I found them to be increasing congested and lacking in resolution. Now I normally only listen to classical music and use solo instrumental music- cellos, viloins, pianos, etc. - as an important part of evaluating speakers, because I know what they sound like and that's the kind of music I listen to. The JAs just did not do well FOR ME on the any of these in the lower frequency ranges. However, some popular music was put on, and it sounded pretty good as near as I can tell. I have a hard time judging speakers with popular music. The place I listened to the JAs had me move up to the next level JA speakers. They were better, but still had the same characteristics. The store than had me try Wilson Watt Puppies, which i found too colored and the original version of the Wilson Sophia, which I actually liked, but not as much as my Vanderteen 5s.

The latest version of the the Vandersteen 3A Signatures are, to MY ears, much more satisfying speakers. The entire lower mid-range and on down is finely detailed, so that you hear the bit of the bow on strings of a cello and so on. When people say they find Vandersteens laid back, I think they mean they are not "in your face." They do not have exaggerated highs, but a very smooth, flat frequency response. They are not initially "impressive" speakers unless their type of sound is just what you have been looking for. They just let the music come out and get out of the way. I am sure they are not for everybody, as tastes differ.

So, it sounds like I am a salesman for Vandersteen, which I assure you is not the case- just a happy owner who listened to more than 75 speakers before I chose them! I happen to like the kind of sound they make, but others prefer different kinds of sound from other speakers, and I would never say they are wrong. Speakers can sound very different, and i would never say one is better than another. I would just say I prefer one to another.

I was very hesitant to write this, because JA speakers are in fact very fine speakers, and Mr. Joseph has a business to run. Who am I to be critical of his products? That is a valid question, and I really mean what I said in the subject line of this post. I could well imagine many people who weigh various aspects of performance different from me would prefer JA speakers. Somebody else wrote a strong note of support for JA speakers over Vandies, so I write this as a slight cautionary note.

I would suggest two possible courses of action. Simply wait until you can hear Vandersteens before making your decision. Be patient. It may mean making a special trip or taking advantage of a special opportunity, but you will likely live with your choice for a fair a bit of time (unless you are one of those people who buys and sells equipment all the time.) Some years ago I had to wait five months before I had an opportunity to hear JM Reynaud speakers, and that came only when I was on a trip to London; I live in California. Of course that's rather extreme. Your alternative is to listen very carefully and at length to the JA speakers and judge them in some absolute rather than comparative sense. You have to ask yourself if you really like listening to them, are they really satisfying, do they play the kinds of music you like the way you like to hear it? Do you find it hard to stop listening? Do they make you forget the speakers and make you listen to the music? If the answers to these questions are positive, then you can buy the JA speakers with the expectation that they will very likely provide you with a lot of satisfaction.

Whew! I went on a long time here. I hope it helps. And for what it's worth, should Jeff Joseph read this, I do not in any way want to imply that your speakers are poor or faulty. As I said, i think they are very fine, but in the world of very fine speakers, different people hear the same speaker with different reactions. No speaker is perfect, so a lot depends on what aspects of performance are most important to you. I would never but a speaker without hearing it, and I would never expect anyone to buy a speaker based on what I told them.

Joe

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