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Best of both worlds, Vandersteen and B&W

In my mid 30's, living in New Orleans at the time, I purchased my first pair of high fidelity loudspeakers, B&W matrix 802's. I have had a long term love-hate relationship with these speakers. I love thier dynamics and solid base but have always been bothered by a tilt toward the higher frequencys and an upper midrange glare I was unable to banish with ancillary equipment. After much deliberation I recently purchased a pair of Vandersteen 3A signatures. As promised these speakers are smooth and warm, without a hint of midrange glare. With jazz or classical music they sound beautiful and I initially thought I had solved my speaker problem. That is until I queued up rock and roll. The highs and mids still sounded wonderful, but the bass was hugely disappointing. Flaccid, aneimic, distant, without any drive or authority. My wife, who could not care less about high end audio, commented, "they sound a little flat", and "they don't have the same power".

I live in Maine where there is little opportunity to audition equipment. My question is are there any speakers that have both the smooth treble and midrange of Vandersteen and the excellent bass of B&W?

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tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
I had 3a sig for a decade with 200 wpc Mac amp - vise like grip and low end.

you do need to get the rear acoustic coupler to work with room and you do need and amp with balls.

Follow setup instructions to a T for 3a

then Download Vandertones ( free) play thru system with radio shack analog spl meter at ear listening position.

tune to taste by adjusting distance to rear wall - do you have the excellent sound anchor stands ? Are you on carpet w spikes or solid with spikes and machined aluminum cups ???

vandertones and spl meter allow you to see what room is going and be much more scientific with setup. You might want to really hone in on 70-120 he if you like rock and boost that a bit


tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
As you move up Vandersteen line you get subwoofer amps and analog EQ to fix freq response in bass at listening positions.

adding two subs will get you close but without EQ

who is your dealer ? Let me know how I can help


gdnrbob
4,445 posts
 
A pair of Vandy subs should give you what you need. I ran the 3a sigs with a pair of 2w subs, even without 'q', it was amazing.
Can you tell us what your other equipment is? It may help in diagnosing your 'anemic' sound.
I just bought a pair of Treo's, mostly because they fit my room better, and am still using the 2w's- I am in heaven.
Bob
miketuason
337 posts
 
I have the Vandersteen 2CE Sig II I'm very satisfied with the bass. 
Driven by McIntosh monoblocks MC601 (600 watts per amp)
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, but any time there is an issue with the bass, subwoofer recommendations seem to be plentiful regardless of the scenario. Looking at basic specifications of the two speakers in question,

B&W Matrix 802 Series 3

Frequency Response - 42Hz – 20kHz ± 3dB
Sensitivity                   - 90dB spl(2.83V 1m)
Impedance                 - 8 ohms nominal (minimum 3.4 ohms)

Vandersteen 3A Signature

Frequency Response - 26Hz – 30kHz +/- 3dB
Sensitivity                   - 87 dB, 1 meter/2.83 volt input
Impedance                 - 6 ohms nominal 4 ohms minimum

Since the 3A's are 6 ohm that makes their 1 watt sensitivity ~85.5db compared to the 1 watt sensitivity of the 802's being 90db. With the 3A's going deeper in the bass but with a much lower sensitivity, I'm thinking the issue is power, but can only guess not knowing the amp being used. Also, having experience with both speakers, I do somewhat agree with this comment,

"Both speakers play well with the right set-up and equipment. If not, the Vandersteens may bore and the B&W’s may glare/sizzle. I can't imagine them working interchangeably in the same system."

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