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Vandersteen 2ce questions

I have been upgrading my system over the past few months. My newest upgrade is some older Vandy 2Ce speakers(not sigs) replacing my little Jamo E855s. My system is now NAD c370, Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista DAC, and Yamaha dvds-1800 as a transport.I know its nothing special compared to people's systems on Audiogon, but I'm a single parent and my budget is low enough to be almost non-existant. I am wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the Vandys. The lierature that came with them says they go to true 30hz, but they dont have the bass slam that my little jamos do. I've moved them all over the romm(about15x23). Wood floors with nothing on the sides and about 24 inches behind them.I wanna love these as they cost me more than everything else put together. I'm really pleased with the mids and highs, and get ALOT more detail from these than the jamos. I just want more bass and cant really use a sub because I'm in a townhome. Any advice for this newbie?
biffrythm
biffrythm OP
42 posts
 
I plan to do all the measuring from the manual this weekend. I have move them closer together. I rolled the highs and mids back one knotch and it's getting there. I get some low notes, they are not the volume of the mids and highs. I will keep at it.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Ecruz, Did you power the woofers with an SA bass amp?
ecruz
402 posts
 
Rrog-

No, I just run the single voice coil. I found the Gallos to be more dynamic. Don't get me wrong, I owned Vandies for a LONG time, I really like them. I just found they didn't have the "slam/impact/dynamics" (whatever you want to call it), that I have found with other speakers.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
What works with one speaker doesn't always work with another speaker. You need the right amp for the job.
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
One of the very things that impressed me about the 2C Vandersteen speakers when I first heard them was the quality of the bass, very natural without the irritating mid bass hump that many speakers in their price range exhibit as noted above. I agree totally with Dan, Zd542 and Rrog and of course Johnny. These gentlemen really understand these speakers. Proper set-up, interaction in the room and the amplifier used go a long way in realizing their potential which is considerable for a full range speaker in their price range. I would address the amp last after all set-up and placement issues are addressed. While the Vandies are not the most efficient design they don't exhibit any wild impedance variations that mandate a high current amp, relatively easy to drive but as is with any quality speaker, benefit from quality amplification and I would agree, they like power. No they don't have the slam of other speakers but what they really get right is natural tuneful bass as you would hear it live. These speakers are better suited towards acoustical jazz and classical and are NOT for headbangers, IMO.

You haven't stated your musical preference Biffrythm. Ultimately they may not be your cup of tea but none the less they are excellent speakers. I owned a pair for 10 years and I always enjoy hearing any of the Vandies that are well set-up.
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