Floorstanding loudspeakers — Vandersteen Audio Treo CT

The Treo CT is a full-range three-way floorstanding loudspeaker from Vandersteen Audio, made in the USA and priced from USD 11,090 per pair excluding duty, taxes and freight. Vandersteen designed it from the start to sit close to the wall behind it and calls it essentially a passive version of the Quatro Wood CT, sharing that model's driver complement without the powered bass system.

Key specs that matter

At the top is a 1 inch aerodynamic dual-chamber carbon dome tweeter, transmission-line loaded and fitted with ferrofluid voice-coil cooling. The 4.5 inch Reflection-Free midrange below it pairs a cone of tri-woven composite with a die-cast aerodynamic basket and ferrofluid cooling. The 6.5 inch woven-fiber mid-woofer, built around a precision-formed magnet and a copper Faraday ring, handles the lower midrange and midbass. The bass foundation is an 8 inch carbon-loaded cellulose flat-cone woofer with an ultra-long-throw motor, tuned by a down-firing port in a QB3 alignment. Frequency response is 36 Hz to 40 kHz within 3 dB, sensitivity is 85 dB at 1 meter with a 2.83 volt input, and impedance is 6 ohms plus or minus 3 ohms. Each speaker is 254 mm wide, 1092 mm tall and 381 mm deep, and each weighs 36 kg net.

Engineering and use context

The Treo is a time- and phase-correct design with positive polarity. First-order crossovers at 6 dB per octave split the bands at 80 Hz, 900 Hz and 5 kHz, and the impedance-compensated networks are individually tuned in an anechoic chamber using high-grade parts. The tweeter and midrange are built to break up energy from their rear before it can pass directly back into the room. Vandersteen uses Minimum Baffle enclosures intended to stay rigid and to limit reflections and diffraction. The pistonic carbon tweeter traces back to research behind the Perfect-Piston drivers of the Model Seven. Wood finishes include Black, Cherry, Dark Oak, Faux Ebony, Light Walnut, Mahogany Walnut, Maple and Oak, plus upgrade veneers such as Birdseye Maple, Ebony, Kewazinga, Makore, Purple Heart and Rosewood. Connections are made on barrier strips that take terminals up to 11 mm wide.

Pairing

Vandersteen recommends 40 to 200 watts into 8 ohms. For home theater, the brand names the VCC-2 on-wall three-way center speaker as a match for the Treo, and the VSM-1 surface-mount speaker is offered for the rear channels.

Alternatives

The Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT shares the Treo CT driver set and adds a powered bass section inside the cabinet.