Vandersteens?

[silversurfer]

I was at a friend's house last night. He is not much into audio, but he just aquired an old pair of Vandersteens from his father. They were in his parents' garage for a long time, and they were finally doing some cleaning.

My buddy had them hooked up to an old Sony receiver. I was quite impressed with the imaging and soundstage, not so much the dynamics, but that could be the receiver's fault.

There is a Vandersteen thread going on at AVS, so I was wondering there were any fans here.

 

[mazersteven]

What model Vandersteens?

 

[silversurfer]

I do not know for sure, my friend did not know either and said he would ask his father.. From looking at pictures and descriptions on the Vandersteen site, I think Model 2s?

 

[OttoMatic]

I have a pair of 3A Sigs that I like quite well. Nice and mellow sound. They will get dynamic with enough power.

Should be some pics in my sig.

 

[Seth=L]

I was quite impressed with the imaging and soundstage, not so much the dynamics, but that could be the receiver's fault.

It is the Sony, I bet money on it.

 

[Dan]

One of the many nice things about Vandersteens is that even the oldest models are upgradeable to the most recent. More info can be obtained at the www.vandersteen.com. Try and get em at a great price and have them upgraded. Models 2 and 3 look alike although the threes are taller. They do NOT sound alike, the threes are much better in the higher frequencies.

OttoMatic very nice pics. I like the turntable set up especially. I notice that you have a lot more toe in than I do. Here are my pics: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18052

 

[Seth=L]

One of the many nice things about Vandersteens is that even the oldest models are upgradeable to the most recent. More info can be obtained at the www.vandersteen.com. Try and get em at a great price and have them upgraded. Models 2 and 3 look alike although the threes are taller. They do NOT sound alike, the threes are much better in the higher frequencies.

OttoMatic very nice pics. I like the turntable set up especially. I notice that you have a lot more toe in than I do. Here are my pics: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18052

Your links are dead on the thread with the vandersteens

 

[OttoMatic]

Yep, dead links, Dan. But I'd love to see your photos!

The pics I have aup are probably a bit old. I've played with placement recently -- moved them closer together and perhaps toed in a little less. While they do sound great, I can't get them to sound "phenomenal." I think it's because of the room. I'm also bothered by the TV that's in between them, but there's not much I can do about it right now (I am working to make a custom wall-mount solution for it, though. It's still a DLP, so it'll sit off the wall regardless). Anyway, I continue to play with placement, and I need to make some room treatments, which I think will make a big difference.

 

[Dan]

Does this work any better?
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/ht pics/

I have room issues too. I can't bring them as far forward as I would like, there is a 5 foot wide entryway to the right and the rear wall is almost all glass. I have added some thick fabric wall coverings behond the speaker and thick shades for the windows.

 

[Seth=L]

Does this work any better?
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/ht pics/

I have room issues too. I can't bring them as far forward as I would like, there is a 5 foot wide entryway to the right and the rear wall is almost all glass. I have added some thick fabric wall coverings behond the speaker and thick shades for the windows.

Ah, much better. Very nice rig, extremely nice.

 

[fmw]

The Vandersteen line has always had a great reputation in the high end audio business as speakers that that tend to perform beyond their price points. I've never heard them myself but I've read many, many reviews and they are consistently positive.

 

[Dan]

One of the things that holds down costs is the lack of wood veneer relative to most speakers. The veneer and the labor to apply it is usually the most expensive part of the whole speaker. Obviously that is not true for the model 5a but the cost reflects that.

 

[OttoMatic]

Dan,

Nice system! How do you like the Vandersteen subs? I'm using an IB, and I tweak it to blend nicely (awaiting a firmware upgrade for my proc, so it's not tip-top right now).

I continue to work with placement!

Have a good day.

 

[Dan]

I started with one and added the second about a year later when budget permitted. They are both 2Wq rolled off at 8o Hz. Two makes the bass much more even in the room, which helped since I had only one place they could go. Music goes as low as I can imagine, especially a good SACD of Bach's organ Toccattas (it makes me wish I had four subs!) They integrate very smoothly with the 3A sigs.

How do you like the center channel? I find that I don't use mine when I sit in the sweet spot as it degrades the image even for DVDs. I only use it when a crowd is over. Of course, Richard Vandersteen told me the VCC-5 would not have that problem and I could upgrade the VCC-1. Now if only I had $1200 burning a hole in my pocket...

 

[OttoMatic]

Yeah, the VCC-1 Signature is all right. But I do hear more sibilance from it than my 3A Sigs. I'm always on the lookout for the VCC-5. I have seen a few come and go on AudiogoN, but I'm never quick enough. I was there for one in the first few hours, and it was already "under contract" and the deal ended up going through, so I didn't get that one. There's another there right now, but he's selling the "stand" as well, so he wants $1999 for the set. I don't need the stand, and I don't want to pay for it. VCC-5s usually go for about $1,100-$1,200 on AudiogoN, so that's what I'm looking to pay.

When you say that Richard V. said you could upgrade the VCC-1, what does that mean? You can do a VCC-1 to VCC-5 upgrade for $1,200?

 

[mazersteven]

Does this work any better?
http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/drsdr/ht pics/

Wow those speakers are big. Nice

Are you running stereo subs?

 

[Dan]

The VCC 5 is as VCC1 in the center with two 6.5" woofers, one on either side. I don't see this descibed on the upgrade page but I remember Richard Vandersteen himself offering that upgrade to me on the phone for that price plus shipping to CA.

The subs are stereo playing L front and R front separately or L+C and R+C if I use the 4 channel mode which I do for most video. This is very easy to configure since Vandersteen subs are wired from the amplifier not the LFE of the preamp. There is a crossover between the preamp and amp. This makes receivers that do not have pre out and amp in jacks unsuitable for the subs. They have an adjustable q which I keep around 0.7 unless I want to watch a blowup movie when I increase it. They have plenty of pop when increased but a really big powerful sub will probably handle an explosion better although not music. Having two helps.

The 3A sigs are 48" tall and weigh about 95 lbs including the stands. Bless my wife for tolerating them.

 

[silversurfer]

Not that it is a big deal at this point, but I talked to my buddy tonight he believes he has the Model 2's.

 

[OttoMatic]

Not that it is a big deal at this point, but I talked to my buddy tonight he believes he has the Model 2's.

That's cool. I understand that Vandersteens hold their own over time. While so many of them are upgradeable, it might not really be necessary. I wish I could hear an "older" pair like that. I hope you are guys are both able to enjoy them.