Mint Vandersteen Model 1's For $200 Should I buy

W

williamburns

Member
I've got a neighbor who wants to sell me their Vandersteen model 1's for $200 bucks. They look and sound amazing! Can I power them with a harman kardon av235? Is this a good/great deal or is a little negotiation in order? What's your personal opinion of vandersteen model 1's.. I'm currently using polk ls-50s with the avr + sub center + reference + cd player etc

Thanks for the Feedback! :banana:
 
I just sold my pair for $200 without stands.
If they come with stands, $200 is great price.

They will completely wipe out the ls70 in everything except may be bass.
When I first heard them, they sounded like live studio compared to Polk SDA's.
Amazing clarity and imaging.
The avr works but better amp should be in the order.
 
I've owned a pair. I thought they were quite good. You can power them with the HK- should sound pretty good. I sold my mint pair for that amount about a year ago without stands. You will need banana plugs to hook them up, not a big deal, but you may want to get some ready so when you get the speakers home, you'll be prepared.
 
$200 is probably a fair price, if you like them well enough to pay it-- and I gather you do. So sure, why not?

As to my opinion of the Model Ones, I think they put out a nice, airy, open sound, with decent bass to boot.

What I didn't like, though, was how pinned down in my chair they made me feel. A little lean to the left or right of dead center in my chair, maybe a hand's width, and, goodbye stereo, hello mono. And, oddly enough, this also seemed to be true along the vertical. So no leaning, no slouching, not even a little. It was like being supervised by a nun. A nun with a lovely singing voice. And a ruler. So, ultimately, I gave them away. Such is life.

Not trying to rain on any parades here. Vandersteen 1s are definitely nice sounding, quality speakers. I'm not saying otherwise. They just didn't work for me.
 
I'd like to hear what you think of the Vandys compared to the Polks. You should post up a short comparison once you've gotten some hours of listening in
 
I had Vandersteen 1Bs for about 20 years. They are excellent for the money, possessing many of the sonic characteristics of their larger siblings. And the transmission line design gives more accurate, lower, smoothly-rolled-off bass than you would expect from a ported speaker. You do want the attachable stands which help much with anchoring and tilting the speakers. For $200 I bet you'll be very happy!
 
I paid $220 for a pair and would do it again in a heartbeat!
They sound wonderful!
 
The Model 1 variants indeed have a folded bass port that Richard Vandersteen consistently describes as a transmission line.

Interestingly enough, the Vandersteen website mentions a "transmission-line loaded tweeter" in several of their models.
 
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I think that $200 would be a great price for 1C's, fair to slightly high for 1B's, and too high for 1's. Impedance on the original Model 1 was specified as 6.8 ohms, +/- 2 ohms....so if that's what they are, you'll need an amp capable of doing a good job with somewhat lower impedances. Sensitivity is 90dB. They need quality power, but not especially high power. My first high-end speakers were Vandy Model 1's. A British Fidelity (aka Musical Fidelity) A100 integrated powered them quite nicely (50 watts per channel, class A).
 
^^ All of this. Good amp combinations with my 1Bs included the Adcom GFA-535 and later a Rotel RX-1050 receiver.
 
Cool, thanks. Want to try something more modern than my IMF's and they are about 4 blocks from me. Also might be looking at a perreaux amp this weekend too. Might find the dog house.
 
Just noticed you have an MC502. That's a sweet little amp and I'd certainly try it with the Vandersteen 1Bs. Could be all you need right there.
 
The amp is on the fritz and I've actually got the mac stack on the market. Going to lay off and shoot for a newer mac integrated in a few years. Flip my way up. :)

It is a nice amp, but will be powering it with a good avr or an onkyo a809 (sleeper)
Thanks for the additional thread interest. Hope the speakers are still there, I told him not to wait.
 
Passed, excellent condition included peeling laminate on the top edges and a fair amount of piling on the socks. :( But wow, for a few seconds the sound, oh the sound and space. :) I offered $140 if no one else does better.
 
Never heard back, and since then I've gotten a set of the pioneer fs52 and really having a hard time taking them back out.
 
Was waiting for a pair of these to pop up in my area, but the Sony SS-TL5 came up 1st, and I rolled the dice. Wow, is all I can say. If you're looking for a "transmission line" speaker, the Sony are hard to beat. I bought the TL3 when they came up for sale, also. Sony got it right with this line.
 
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