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Set-Up Advice for Vandersteen 1Cs

I'm beginning to piece together a system and having previously owned a pair of Vendersteen 1Bs back in the late 90's before I sold all my equipment I purchased a pair used 1Cs for $299 and $80 shipping... hopefully this was a good price.

I have a small apartment and these will be in the living room with the TV and I would like the sound from my TV, Cable, Apple TV or Roku 3, Blu-Ray, a DAC connected to my ipad/iphone/macbook pro, and eventually a turntable to be able to play through this system. I plan I have zero interest in a surround sound system, so multichannel is not a concern.

My understanding is that I should probably get an HDMI switch with audio out since things like the Apple TV and Roku 3 don't have audio out and I'll want the audio from those to play through the system. This area is new to me so any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

To complicate things I would LIKE to have a tube amp if possible. I am willing to go solid state, but I would much much prefer tube.

My budget is somewhere in the $500-$750 range. I am planning on buying used equipment to get the most bang for my buck. Something with a phono input would be best, but obviously I can't have everything.

I've been completely out of the loop and this was totally a spur of the moment purchase for me but I don't have a tremendous amount of time or disposable income so I'm looking to greater minds than my own for assistance.
greatwhitebat
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
(((Heavy drapes are going to happen because I know I'll want to cover those windows,)))
This is a big mistake try lighter normal drapes
like a chintz material.
Vandies will sound fine in normal homes think diffusive materials like nic nacks,book cases,lamps,tables chairs,record rack,plant,etc.
The more normal your room is the more you will experience
the venue.
I predict when you install light drapes,
and have all of the underlined correctly you will discover their magic.
1 Did you fill the stands with dry sand?
and tighten finger tight, then one full turn on each
with a 7/16th wrench?
2 Did you read the manual and do the tilt back
with the spikes in place?
3 Did you ever think if I get a turntable I may not feel
a tube amp is the next move?
Best JohnnyR
greatwhitebat OP
35 posts
 
3 Did you ever think if I get a turntable I may not feel
a tube amp is the next move?

I've thought about this.

From what I can tell the biggest things holding my system up are:

The DAC. I'm running sound out of the headphone output on my TV because I can't get the digital source from my Apple TV or computer into the amp any other way. This is OBVIOUSLY a HUGE PROBLEM. So... I need that solved.

The biggest thing holding me back there is if I pick a external DAC I feel pretty compelled to head into the tube world because both of the amps I'm considering that are SS have DACs included.

I've been quite tempted to simply jump and get the 3020 D and see how I like it because at worst I can sell the damn thing on ebay for very little loss. I saw a used one sell for within ~!$20 of retail the other day. Very little risk there.
jebe1
75 posts
 
I drove a pair of Vandersteen 1cs (and later a pair of Vandy 2ce sigs) with a 100 Watt McCormack DNA-0.5 with excellent results. They go for about $650 used.
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Listen to John. He knows Vandy's and what goes best better than anyone other than Richard I think, lol. He just gave you some of the best free advice you can get. John has a lot of used gear that would sound great with those Vandy's I'm sure. You may want to see what he has that's in your budget to drive them. You'd be amazed. Save money, help a dealer who's trying to help you regardless....win win from the looks of it and he wont' let you make expensive mistakes which happens often in audio as we all know.
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