Vandersteen


After hearing many good things about Vandersteen speakers I purchased a pair of 3a signatures. They sound beautiful with chamber music or small group jazz but quickly fall to pieces with symphonic works or rock. Have other people noted this deficiency with Vandersteens? 
Ag insider logo xs@2xbewoods1962
Wow!  4As?  Don't often hear about Model 4s.  How long have you had them?

My experience with Vandersteen is they excel no matter what you throw at them.  I own a pair of Vandersteen 3.  I have it so I can run them either in my all tube analog system consisting of an Audible Illusions Modulus 3, Music Reference RM-9 & VPI tt, or swap the speaker cables and run them as my home theatre front speakers.  I used to own a pair of Vandersteen 2C driven by Quicksilver Monos & Audible Illusions 2C . . . no negative issues to report there either.  I play in a rock band and have used hearing protection for years so my hearing is fine.  I can tell you these speakers can reproduce Deep Purple as if you were on stage with the band as well as play Vaughan Williams Symphony Antartica.  Highly recommended.
However, I find the  bewoods1962's behavior here a little bit disrespectful to this number of people trying to help and give an opinion. 
Sounds like not enough amp. I have 2ce's with stereo subs and are heavenly on symphonic music. Running old sonatas mono/blk M200. Set up is fussy but once you get it they are quite nice. I have heard many 3a sigs. and always was amazed. They really like good electronics. Good luck
Long time Vandersteen owner. 2CE Sig's and now 3A Signature II Anniversary Edition. Agree with consensus they will play anything, from soft unplugged acoustic to concert loud rock (like way past 11!). They will also quickly expose the short comings of poor equipment behind them.
Vandy's have legs and need to breathe with ample, quality amplification, connections and receiver/preamp.
Personally I run a Yamaha RX-Z7 to an 300wpc Adcom 5802 amp with MIT shotgun cables all the way. Slight tweaking of position or connection continues to surprise with new levels of detail in even my oldest recordings. Build a good foundation, experiment and enjoy.