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Fine Tuning Vandersteen 5s An offer gone missing

Awhile back I purchased a pair of Vandersteen 5's and I inquired regarding placement, etc., etc. As anyone who has these knows, there are a host of room contour adjustments that can be done. There are 11 adjustment "pots" for bass contour which generally require the use of an SPL meter and test CD to set accurately. One fine Audiogonner said in an e-mail that he had a very good way to accomplish these adjustments by "ear" and that I should contact him once I was fully satisfied with the speaker placement, cables, etc. Now, the e-mail (and address) has gone missing. Would that member be so kind as to contact me again? Of course, I would also welcome comment and advice from others. Thanks
4yanx
mikej
172 posts
 
You absolutely can NOT tune the Model 5s or Quatros by ear. Read the manual and follow the procedure there. You'll get 80% of the tuning done right there. A qualified and practiced Vandersteen retailer/installer is the only person who will get you 100% of the way there. It's mostly science...80%. The rest is art and experience. You have some very fine speakers that cost a fair amount of money. Go ahead and pay to have it done right. You won't regret it.
jeff_jones
418 posts
 
Ditto what machine said. Vandersteen would tell you that after all the adjustments are done, a careful listen to something like Ray Brown's Solar Wind is in order.
FWIW, I had a dealer set mine up initially and he really screwed it up.
4yanx OP
1,576 posts
 
Thanks for the mostly very well considered advice. My local dealer wants something like $300-400 to come out and tune mine. Because I will be in this house only one more year while another is being built, and after discussions with him, I'm left fearing Jeff's experience. So, I'm not going to waste that kind of dough. Based on the constructive comments here, it looks at though I should buy some tools and do it myself (story of my life, actually). :o) OTOH, if I could just remember that other member's name......
4yanx OP
1,576 posts
 
Not to discount the advice of others, but a special thanks to Zargon for not only being so knowledgeable about Vandy's but for taking the time to share experiences. This is what this site is (or should be) all about. My interest is piqued regarding the Room EQ software. Wish you lived near me!
machine
71 posts
 
fwiw,meant to say "not as cool looking as digital".
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