At Long Last

[Dan]

My computer and camera savvy is finally starting to catch up to my other know how, well at least a little.

Here is my now four year old system (mostly)

B&K Reference 30 pre/pro
B&K 7250 Amp
Denon 2900 Universal player
B&O TX2 Turntable, Parasound PPH100 phono preamp
cheap Phillips VCR
Harmon Kardon CD191 cassette player
Panasonic 50" plasma
Parasound Z amp (zone B)
Sennheiser headphones

Vandersteen speakers:
3A signature fronts
VCC1 Signature center
VSM1 Signature rears
(2) 2Wq subwoofers

Cheap 12g speaker wire form Audio King, AR interconnects

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/1b64698f.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/100_0183.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/100_0184.jpg
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Thick window treatments have since been added to the back. The room is 15' x 20' x 8'.

 

[Sheep]

very nice!

Now all you need is some wall treatments are your set.

SheepStar

 

[zumbo]

Very nice indeed. I have been studying the Vandersteen line for a while. Can you tell me other contenders you auditioned before deciding on Vandersteen, and what your personal thoughts were?

 

[Dan]

These pictures are about a year old. There are now some thick wall hangings in the area behind the speakers where the spots are and heavy fabric shades over the windows. The other walls have a couch and the pictured music and the fourth a large stone fireplace.

I initially was in the $1500-$2000 range before moving up to the $3500 range for the front speakers. I liked the Vandersteen 2ce but thought it was short in the tweeter (some would say it was bass heavy). I also liked the Monitor Audio Silver 9s but they are very different with metal tweeters. Versus the 3A Vandersteens I listened to the similar priced Thiels. These were in a small room that may have been the main problem with them. They just weren't as clear in the high end. I listened to the Martin Logan Aeon and these were nowhere near as good at imaging, through the midranges (poor term for ML I know). Meadowlark Heron speakers were good but no bass. They would be good for chamber music or folk but would need a powerful sub to handle anything else.The $4500 B&W (?#) were not close. The image was poorer, the frequency response less flat, and the bass muddier. I have heard the $3500 Ariel Acoustics speaker and they are OK but not really great at anything. The Vandersteen 3A Signature puts the performer in the room like nothing else I've ever heard and is the most neutral speaker I've heard. It handles all music well. They have so many features different than conventional speakers and so I am hard put to say which ones are the most crucial. The drivers are matched pairs in each speaker. There are no or minimal baffles around the drivers, they are time and phase correct with first order crossovers. This requires robust drivers which must handle very wide frequency ranges due to the shallow slope of the crossovers. The openness of the design may also add a lot to the imaging which is spectacular. Compare to the other speakers I heard, the 3A sigs won in a runaway. Sorry, but I've not heard the MB Quarts you love so much. I'd like to hear them some time. Also see the review I wrote in the reviews forum sometime back.

 

[zumbo]

They are nowhere near the class of speakers you are using. They are similar sounding to Monitor Audio S6's, and B&W 704's. Titanium tweets. I love metal domes. I am a drummer, and have been crashing symbols on several different drumsets through the years. Playing a set really puts the treble "in your face." I think this may be the reason I like metal domes so much. They just sound more like a real symbol to me.

I am not a speaker reviewer, so my terms may not be politically correct.

The B&W's seemed to have the cleanest sound, but not the fullest. I liked the tweets. The whole design to solve the shortcomings of the tweeter was impressive. The mids were tight and made (IMO) vocals lifelike. OTOH, there was no bass extension. The cabinets were a work of art. They were the most expensive. ($2199.90 a pair)

The Monitor Audio's had the fullest sound, but not the cleanest. The bass extension was great, but I think this caused the vocals to fall behind the quality of the B&W's due to the cone movement. The tweets were not the best of this bunch, but I did like them. The cabinets were classy. They were the least expensive. ($999.00 a pair)

The MB Quarts were a happy medium. The sound was clean, and full. The tweets were superb. While there was no fancy designed enclosure to solve the tweeters shortcomings, they seemed to have put the work into transducer itself. The bass extension was not great, but tight and snappy. The vocals came out lifelike, but slightly behind the B&W's. There is a little of the "boxy sound." The cabinets were 3/4" MDF, but not the best looking of this bunch. Priced accordingly in the middle. ($1699.99 a pair)

The decision was made based on the reasons above along with getting a great price break due to a whole system purchase.

 

[anamorphic96]

Zumbo,

It's funny you mention cymbals on metal tweeters. A good friend who I grew up with and one's opinion who I trust. Said that the Paradigm Studio 40's I owned for a couple of years had some of the best reproduction of cymbals he had ever heard. He also stated my Energy C1's where quite impressive as well. But the C1's are 300 dollar speakers and cant keep up with the Digms.

I know im babbling. But I guess what im getting at is metal domes seem to get a bad wrap when what it really comes down to is design and how the drivers are implemented.

Cheers

P.S.

Dan, I love your system. Vandersteen rocks. It's to bad more people misjudge them or have not heard them properly placed and executed.

 

[Dan]

Zumbo,

It's funny you mention cymbals on metal tweeters. A good friend who I grew up with and one's opinion who I trust. Said that the Paradigm Studio 40's I owned for a couple of years had some of the best reproduction of cymbals he had ever heard. He also stated my Energy C1's where quite impressive as well. But the C1's are 300 dollar speakers and cant keep up with the Digms.

I know im babbling. But I guess what im getting at is metal domes seem to get a bad wrap when what it really comes down to is design and how the drivers are implemented.

Cheers

P.S.


Dan, I love your system. Vandersteen rocks. It's to bad more people misjudge them or have not heard them properly placed and executed.

Thanks anamorphic. I agree that speaker positioning (mine are not ideal) and room treatments are so important. I think the best and most wife friendly treatments are furniture, rugs, book shelves and drapes not in any order. Like I said they are more sensitive to position than most speakers.

Zumbo, if you think B&W is clean, then Vandersteens are far cleaner (neutral,uncolored). Also much cheaper. If you are a drummer have you heard some of the mapleshade recordings. These are the best drum/percussion recordings I know. They are the only recordings where I can consistently hear the stick on the cymbal separate from the rest of it. Try A la Carte Brass and Percussion or Micheal Colvin "Drum Concerto at Dawn" for great drums. Also on the web site there is an interview with a drumming magazine where he discusses how he records drums with a single mike which I found fascinating. It onvolves a plywood bass which the drums are spiked into like speakers and a plywood slab above the kit on pulleys which functions like the lid on a piano to reflect the sound forward instead of up.

Finally, bless my wife for putting up ith these low WAF speakers. She is her audio engineer father's daughter.