Vistas??? (from the standpoint of a 13-year Sequel owner)

[Dreamer]

I own a pair of Sequels (as some of you may have seen from my humble pics) and am pretty happy with them. I love the big soundstage and the open airiness they present.

However, I listened to a pair of Vistas today, and WOW. The integration between the ESL and the woofer is just light-years ahead of my Sequels. The soundstage was sort of wonky (I was listening in a Gramophone, and they just don't seem to GET how critical speaker placement is with the MLs) and despite boring CDs and bad speaker placement, I was still amazed at how much smoother they sound than my Sequels.

So the question is, are they pretty much comparable to the Sequels, aside from the new ESLs and the greatly improved crossovers? I love the Sequel, and don't want to give up any of it's warmth, it's open, airy presence, or it's nearly mystical ability to create a 3-d soundstage that rivals some 5.1 systems.

I'm not particulary a "bass hog", so the attraction of having on-board amps (Vantage and Summit) is not really an issue with me. Plus I'm a HUGE Carver and Sunfire fan, and have a fair amount of gear laying around to provide power. And I'm also considering buying a Sunfire True sub anyway, REGARDLESS of what I end up doing, speaker-wise.

So should I just baby the Sequels--keep them clean, tighen all the screws occasionally, etc., or should I consider picking up some used SL3's (which are, I admit, WAY better than my Sequels, but perhaps not as smooth as the Vistas.) or just GO FOR IT and snag a pair of Vistas new from the dealer?

My main concern with the Vista is that the ESL panel is considerably smaller than the Sequels panel. I just don't want to loose that incredible soundstage...

--Richard C.

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I'm not cheap, I'm just REALLY frugal...
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[Pcar928fan]

However, I listened to a pair of Vistas today, and WOW. The integration between the ESL and the woofer is just light-years ahead of my Sequels.
So the question is, are they pretty much comparable to the Sequels, aside from the new ESLs and the greatly improved crossovers?

So should I just baby the Sequels--keep them clean, tighen all the screws occasionally, etc., or should I consider picking up some used SL3's (which are, I admit, WAY better than my Sequels, but perhaps not as smooth as the Vistas.) or just GO FOR IT and snag a pair of Vistas new from the dealer?

My main concern with the Vista is that the ESL panel is considerably smaller than the Sequels panel. I just don't want to loose that incredible soundstage...

Doesn't the first line of the paragraph I quoted automatically answer the last paragraph I quoted? If they are better, then THEY ARE BETTER! Funny how that works...

I would get the Vistas and use the Sequel as the rear pair in a home theater set up...

 

[amey01]

I have just upgraded to the Vista from the Aerius. Fantastic speakers they are, from bass integration to the new panel - it's a great speaker all 'round.

Funny, because I chose the Aerius over an older pair of SL3s - I thought the Aerius was a better speaker to my tastes, even though the panels on the SL3s might have been due for replacement. Regardless, the Vista is fantastic.

 

[ralflar]

Copy that. Not long ago I upgraded from Aeon-is to Vantages i.e. same panel as Vistas. While the bass is better, what I really like is the new panel. It seems to have so much more dynamic reserves, I can enjoy hard rock etc. again. In my smallish room the dimension of the sound stage has not increased much to the sides and in depth. Depth of field, to use a photography term, has increased though. While the extension into the front wall is as deep or deeper than it was with the Aeon-is, the stage now begins closer to the listener i.e. more forward with some recordings. Very nice. The Vantages also resolve the spatial detail of the stage better. I think that, excluding the lowest octaves, one would observe the very same thing with Vistas, too.