Eneke (left) and Jaclyn Vandersteen flank Vandersteen's new composite Ebony Quatro ($10,700/pair). The wood Quatros are quite different from the speaker cloth covered $6950/pair Quatro Michael Fremer
reviewed in
Stereophile.
"Quite a step up for a wood cabinet," I joked.
"I always swore I'd never spend one single buck on cosmetics that I could put into sound quality," Richard Vandersteen thundered. "And I didn't start with this one. It's a very different animal, from the X-material plinth to the new composite Ebony, which gives me a consistency I've never gotten from
any wood enclosure."
Paired with Ayre's MX-R monoblocks, the Quatro was making music that was detailed, easy on the ears, and almost frightening in its dynamic range. "That's a lot of speaker for ten grand," I said.
"The Quatro's a great speaker and I think nothing comes close for the money, but the changes we put into this model are pretty scary—but don't quote me."
How could I resist?
