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Questions for Vandersteen 5A owners...

I finally got to audition 5A's yesterday. Involved 9 hours of driving, but it was worth it. :-)

I realize no speaker is perfect and it's a matter of tradeoffs. I am attracted to Vandersteen because of a strong reputation and the fact that it includes a powered bass module with 11 bands of EQ per speaker. I have a troublesome room. Currently have Aerial model 9s - a great speaker but not ideal for my room.

Anyway, I wanted to post my impressions and see what owners have to say.

1) Larger than life sound. Holy big imagery. High hats sounded like they were 3 feet in diameter.

2) Wide dispersion of sound (i.e. large sweetspot). Vocals stretched from speaker to speaker. Panning of instruments off center was hard to pinpoint.

3) Bass seemed EQd well (couldn't hear any notes being louder than others) but all in all it wasn't as articulate as I expected. Bass was very fat sounding.

4) Problem at loud volumes? It might have been the 200 watt amp, but when the volume was cranked it was very distorted. I notice that Stereophile recommends the speaker but says "won't play as loud as other speakers". I have never experienced a speaker that had a volume limitation per se, so I'm not sure what to expect - distortion or were they simply meaning it wasn't very sensitive? I don't listen to music at crazy volumes, but these would also be used for home theater - where speakers should be able to handle loud peaks. Have any of you noticed this?

5) A lot brighter than I expected and very revealing. Highs sounded less smooth/laid back than I expected (or was used to for that matter). Almost harsh at times. Could have been the recordings, but I played stuff I was very familiar with so I'm puzzled here.

6) Midrange was very nice.

Anyhow, I'm interested in others' perceptions here as I can't audition these in my own home. I do believe that the dealer could set up the bass well in my room, but am generally worried about some of the points above.

Thanks in advance.
madfloyd
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
2009 CES , I promise
Forums like this present valuable feedback for manufacturers..........hopefully
they are listening.
40K was/is an estimated asking price.
zargon's avatar
zargon
453 posts
 
Mrjstark,

Richard told me that based on some recent experiences with room-challenging dealer set ups of the 5As, he is stongly considering including the rear firing tweeter on the 7. As you indicated, he felt it was critical when dealing with overly damped rooms. Although most of us probably don't use it, when it is needed it would be a shame not to have it, especially at this price.

While not fully consistent with a point source time/phase speaker, its contribution is not too different from the attenuated time/phase delay of the first reflection off the front wall in a live room. It adds presence and a larger sense of space.

I agree with the idea of a Vandy 7 thread.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
tdaudio
201 posts
 
I tried the rear tweeter for HT when experimenting with a fantom center channel. I thought it helped a little either with or with out a center. But 5A controls are not designed to be used constantly on/off so its is stays off since the rear tweet hurts the image of analog playback in my room.
Terry
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
Should the rear tweeter be included in Vandersteen model 7 speakers is Richard's personal choice.

IMO, it isn't a necessity ........but why not give out the option of screwing-up the sound to those who can afford it.

---------------------------------------------------------

Another interesting feature in new "7s" is :

*setup-guide
*and easier tilt adjustment

Laser tool is included along the "step by step" instructions to optimize the toe-in and tilt. For your own protection a "Dummy head" is also provided as a target (just do not get any crazy ideas) and should be placed in the listening "sweet spot".

Distance from the floor to the speaker, side-to-side and back-to-front adjustments are now much easier to accomplished due to "new spike system".
sonofjim
557 posts
 
$40,000 is a lot of money but is about half what the new Wilson Maxx 3 costs ($70,000). Still a comparison of these two speakers isn't really fair. They should probaby be compared to the $150,000+ Alexandrias. Knowing Vandersteen, I'm sure the design of the 7 incorporates more impressive innovations than both of these speakers combined. I guess that sort of puts the price in perspective. Still, expensive.
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