Vandersteen Kento Carbon

[Mpsafranski]

So a couple weekends ago I decided to drive up to Milwaukee hifi dealer Ultra Fidelis. Walk in and they ask me what I’m looking for and I just told them straight up, nothing: I’m going crazy and needed to get out of the house and just want to look around, and also ask them what services they provide for a complete HT install since we are thinking of building in a couple years and a dedicated room is high on the list.

since there weren’t any customers they graciously hosted me for a good 2 hours just talking shop, listening to some music, etc. big vandersteen guys there and towards the end they fired up a live jazz recording on the $37k Kento model. Holy poop. First off the room we were in was gigantic, but those things filled it with no issue. It truly was like being there; all the ambient club noise on the recording seemed to be emanating from precise locations in the room as if we were in it, and if I’d have been blindfolded I’d have sworn there was a baby grand 20 feet in front of me. The sound was immaculate. It was my first experience with such speakers and one I’ll never forget.

It was such a cool experience. Obviously the speakers themselves are way out of any range I’ll ever be able to afford not to mention the associated equipment. But holy cow. Unfortunately I did t get a chance to listen to any of the lower priced models. However they are redoing their HT room with all vandersteen on wall speakers. It isn’t done yet but I did like the look of the room with the on walls. Will be super interested in hearing it once completed.

Anyway shout out to Ultra Fidelis, and heads up to anyone who can go listen to those speakers, don’t pass on the opportunity!

 

[KEW]

So a couple weekends ago I decided to drive up to Milwaukee hifi dealer Ultra Fidelis. Walk in and they ask me what I’m looking for and I just told them straight up, nothing: I’m going crazy and needed to get out of the house and just want to look around, and also ask them what services they provide for a complete HT install since we are thinking of building in a couple years and a dedicated room is high on the list.

since there weren’t any customers they graciously hosted me for a good 2 hours just talking shop, listening to some music, etc. big vandersteen guys there and towards the end they fired up a live jazz recording on the $37k Kento model. Holy poop. First off the room we were in was gigantic, but those things filled it with no issue. It truly was like being there; all the ambient club noise on the recording seemed to be emanating from precise locations in the room as if we were in it, and if I’d have been blindfolded I’d have sworn there was a baby grand 20 feet in front of me. The sound was immaculate. It was my first experience with such speakers and one I’ll never forget.

It was such a cool experience. Obviously the speakers themselves are way out of any range I’ll ever be able to afford not to mention the associated equipment. But holy cow. Unfortunately I did t get a chance to listen to any of the lower priced models. However they are redoing their HT room with all vandersteen on wall speakers. It isn’t done yet but I did like the look of the room with the on walls. Will be super interested in hearing it once completed.

Anyway shout out to Ultra Fidelis, and heads up to anyone who can go listen to those speakers, don’t pass on the opportunity!

If you get up there again, listen to those speakers again (to remember), then drop to the next lowest priced model (stick with the carbon tweeter) And keep dropping to see “where the magic is gone”, then take a close look at the differences between the one that lost it to know what it is that makes the magic (their Carbon tweeter is good).
Also check out the bookshelf model to the lowest priced series that still has the magic and if they are willing to, compare the bookshelf’s with subs against the towers.
...just a couple of worthwhile approaches to see how you might get the price down and better understand your preferences. The price may still be out of reach, but you also might find a reasonable point of diminishing returns along the way.
IME it is reasonable to expect a 15 tp 20% discount from MSRP on most brands. I’m not sure about Vandersteens as I have never bought any, but I think I listened to them in the same store you are talking about (on High-Figh’s recommendation) good people!
They did not have the UltraFidelius at that time (or maybe the trained salesman’s eye knew that I was not high dollar clientele.

 

[Mpsafranski]

I think part of the reason I got to hear em was on account of there being a complete lack of other customers. Great idea walking down the line and seeing where that point would be. I have recently seen a pair of the Treo model for sale on the used market. I’m really super interested though in hearing how the on wall model sounds in a HT application. I’ve always been skeptical regarding how well those types of speakers can actually perform but are pretty cool aesthetically in that application. Although so too are an imposing pair of towers.

legacy makes some on walls that really look awesome, too. Lots to consider over the next few years. And lots to save up

 

[mazersteven]

If you get up there again, listen to those speakers again (to remember), then drop to the next lowest priced model (stick with the carbon tweeter) And keep dropping to see “where the magic is gone”, then take a close look at the differences between the one that lost it to know what it is that makes the magic

That's some good Advice. Good way to calculate Diminished Returns

 

[Mpsafranski]

The other cool thing is this place has occasional listening events/gatherings. During normal times of course. Have always wanted to meet others who are into this stuff, compare gear, do shootouts, etc. it’s a bummer having nothing but friends wno interest in this hobby outside of “wow, those speakers sound great” but whose eyes glaze over if you take that as an opening to talk about it

Let alone asking “do me a favor, I’m going to move this speaker a few inches closer, tell me what kind of difference does it make? Or better yet, “do me a favor and move that speaker a bit for me so I can hear the difference” lol. Not getting anyone to help marking reflection points, to be sure!!

hope things one day return to normal enough to attend one of those.