Beware - long post.
I first listened to the 2's and a pair of quatro ct through an Aesthetix Atlas and unknown preamp. Wow - the speakers are capable of some amazing sound reproduction; at least to my 54 year old ears.
After getting an idea of differences in the two speakers and what they were capable of, I listened to them both again, but through a Rotel 1570 integrated. An inexpensive SS amp. It sounded pretty good on both again - nowhere near the Atlas of course, but pretty decent sound. it seemed like the 1570 and 2's were a winning combination within the budget. But do I really need the amp? And I like the sound of this amp. Isn't it a speaker problem was the unasked question still in my mind. I hooked up the PL Classic amp. It also sounded pretty nice.... until input level got pretty high, then, to me it was clear, the Rotel sounded better.
I'm no audio expert, but after going through it all it seems like it was two different things causing me issues; one limitation - the speaker - you can only get so much bass from a 4.5" woofer. And two - the amp - it isn't so much that the PL couldn't drive the Totems', it was that the Pl can't pass the signal without compressing it at some points, and that's what I was hearing. Is that the same thing - i don't think so. One is power, the other is bandwidth. So even with the "easier to drive" Vandersteens, the PL just didn't keep up when it needed to pass a lot of information. I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong - but that's how I understand it.
All in all John Rutan at Audio Connection in Verona, NJ spent about 4 hours with me, and sent me home with the amp and a pair of used Vendersteen 2's without bases, both for immediate enjoyment, and to make sure my wife was able to make the adjustment from the small presence of the Totem Arro to the much larger Vandersteens in her living room. Convincing her to remove furnishings to put in big, black boxes wasn't easy, but I was convinced she would feel so much better when she heard the new sound that she'd look past the redecoration. So I set the speakers on the floor in an approximate position, figureing I would work detailed placement out later, and ran the cable. She picked Lenny Kravitz, so I loaded the CD, and hit play, waiting to see her reaction. Then all we hear is terrible sound. If terrible is an exaggeration it isn't a big one. I mean, something was wrong, really wrong. WTF happened I thought? Did I mis-wire something? Nope. Is something wrong with the speakers? Maybe - they're a used pair I had not heard. Do I have a difficult room? Maybe, but could it be that bad? My ignorance was obvious and I needed to get John involved.
So Monday morning I called John from my office. After making sure I had not messed up polarity, he asked me about tilting the speakers and position. Tilting - nope, they're on the floor. Position - could it make as big a difference as I was hearing? I wouldn't think so, but I don't know. That's why I'm calling.
I guess I sounded so, because John seemed really concerned that I was freaked. He seemed more worried about it than I was - and he probably was - because I knew he would take care of it, and that in the end it would work out. He had a demo that morning and said he'd drive the half hour or so to my house later in the afternoon.
He arrived a little before me. When I walked in the back door, just a scant 10 minutes later, I knew we were a lot closer to where we were before. He simply tilted and repositioned the speakers, moving them closer to the side walls. I was amazed that so little did so much. We listened to some different tracks and also swapped between my listening to the Rotel passing analog and digital output from my Rega Apollo R.
The digital gives a bit more resolution and finer detail. The real surprise for me, was the difference in sibilance that was there with Kimber Kables, and not there with some solid core Audio Quest cables John brought along.
Then we set about doing a roughly measured, but accurately leveled and pointed placement of the speakers. It sounds really good right now. I'm so grateful to John, who turned out to be exactly the kind of audio resource the world needs more of - an helpful guy, passionate about sound, and honest enough to work a plan UNDER budget, knowing he'll have a dedicated customer over the long haul. I know I sound like a shill, but he deserves the praise.
Now, I'm looking forward to the new Signature series speakers, and the amp breaking in. There is also a bit of boomy bass in one small band, but I'm sure John will correct that when he installs the pair I bought.
Next is to figure out what Audio Quest cables I should consider - ones that will go with something like the Aesthetix Atlas, or perhaps some Quicksilver Monoblocks that will keep freediver happy.
Thanks for everyone's help so far.
