Vandersteen 2W frustration

The 2W is intended to be used with a proprietary crossover which is placed between the preamp and power amp. This crossover rolls off a portion of the low frequency information. The subwoofer is connected with speaker cables to the same speaker outputs as your main speakers.

If everything is working correctly, the 2W's internal amp restores the rolled off low frequencies, and will definitely move some air. I had the 2Wq, and it is an outstanding subwoofer.

Check the Vandersteen website for more info.

The proprietary high pass crossover is nothing more than a first order filter, i.e., a capacitor which value depends on the main amp. input impedance. I have a 0.047 uf cap between my preamp and amp. to account for that.

i have a 2W as well and also replaced the vandersteen xovers with a pair of mundorf caps - nice improvement even over the M5's.

looks like the input impedance of your power amp is 47k, so your caps will result in a XOver freq at 73 hz - there's no issue there. the slightly lower frequency will actually result in a little increased output by the 2w. mine are setup nearly identically to yours.

stereophile's measurements corroborate -6db at 42hz, however, from 46 hz on down, the output is from the rear port and not the woofer. i wonder if the rear port may be 180 degrees out of phase from the driver, and therefore if the 2w is connected non-inverted, the 2w and the de Capos might cancel in the 42-55 (ish) hz region?

do you have an SPL meter and test tones so you can measure the in room response you are getting?

in my room, i'm down 6db at 20 hz, which is plenty for me.

the V2W, with it's passive radiator, will move more air. i doubt there will be any appreciable difference between the 2W and 2WQ in that regard.

Manolo
Get out your assesment box and owners manual that comes with the 2w
And try to go down one more on the settings box.
That's what this box is for.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
JohnnyR

I will play with that tonight. Thank you.

Well howd tonight go?

checking. It turned out output increased substantially after dialing the gain to 91 db from 93 in the vandersteen sw. may be that the gain switch is not working properly. Remember that the unit is over 20 years old. also lowered the hp frequency to 60 hz but the bass got to prominent and lumpy, in short, unmusical. I guess that the 72 hz frequency I use is about right for my speakers. The unit blends seamlessly. Other subwoofers as you know, call attention to themselves. I am listening to The Lord of the rings soundtrack, to further check bass output and it seems ok. Maybe this q of 0.5 is the culprit here. Most subwoofers I have listened to in my friends systems do not have a q of 0.5 which is theoretically the right one. So, when the economy gets better I shall inquire about a 2wq.

IIRC, the gain control is rotary. If so, try using contact cleaner or failing that, rotate it back and forth over its entire range very rapidly 10 or so times, then recheck the output. It may be as simple as corroded or dirty contacts after all this time.

My last post was wishfull thinking. It turned out I had the full range preamp output connected, so there ,was some double bass going on. However I believe the problem has been solved. Took the plate amp out to check it and there was a 6.8 ohm resistor that had gone bad and while unscrewing the driver terminals from the amp board the negative lead came off the eyelet. Not broken, it slipped from the eyelet. A cold solder joint after all those years. I replaced the resistor and soldered the terminal to the board and it seems all is ok.