Hi guys, new Vandersteen Quatro Wood owner here. I bought them used and in fact they are the very pair that was used for the pics in the following link -
http://vandersteen.com//media/files/Brochures/Quatro-Seven%20Brochure.pdf.
So far I am extremely impressed but that was to be expected after hearing them, the 5A Carbons and the 7's @ different audio shows vowing each time that I will own one of these models someday.
When it came to setup, I was on my own as confirmed by RV himself thru an email exchange. 1st up was the M5-HP battery change as they were due both by the date on the batteries and the measured values of 4.16vdc on one and 6.44vdc on the other. Changing the batteries does require some soldering skills as they are soldered to the PCB but was not difficult at all.
What was difficult was that apparently only Duracell 9v MN1604 batteries work as the Energizer 12-2021 9v batteries would slowly drain as soon as they were connected. It took me a while of troubleshooting to finally reconnect the old batteries and confirm that they did not drain so there must be something in the Energizer battery but not the Duracell. Anyway, both now measure 9.62vdc and are stable.
As for speaker setup, I set them both where my Nola Vipers had sounded best and started from there. I fine tuned their position using the built in electronic x-over in my Oppo BP-95 Bluray player set to 90hz. Once that was acceptable, the M5-HP's were pressed into service and out came the trusty Radio Shack sound level meter and a download of the Vandertones to a flash drive.
Using the stock power cords plugged into a Platinum Power high current balanced power transformer, I measured each speakers response and charted the results which were pretty flat considering my room employs ASC half rounds, quarter rounds and ASC acoustic panels as well as Golden Sound Acoustic disc corner treatments. The only real issue was that the right speakers frequencies from 120hz to 20hz were down in level due to an open space next to it whereas the left is in an enclosed space so balancing the subwoofer levels was imperative. Once that was achieved, we were off to the races and it was just a matter of adjusting the 11 band pots to result in a +/- 6db tolerance for both channels at the same level and at the same frequencies.
This actually sounded pretty darn good but I'm here to tell you that power cords do make a difference on the subwoofer amps and my implementation of Acrolink 6N-P4030 power cord combined with a Furutech FI-50M(R) male connector with a Schurter 4781 on the IEC end was a game changer. No major adjustments necessary but the difference was pretty substantial in a positive way and very slight adjustments to each level and Q control were needed to bring everything into a coherent whole.
With all that said, I think I just bought the last speakers I'm going to buy as they just keep getting better the more time I put on them.
Regards,
Ken
