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Add a Subwoofer to my Vandersteen 1ce s or replace with Revel Concerta2 F36

Hey Audiogon community,
    Perhaps you guy can help here. I have a VPI Scout with Sound Smith Zephyr III Cartridge running into a Musical Fidelity v-LPS that runs into a NAD VISO 5 Receiver and back out to a pair of Vandersteen 1ce's. Since I recently bought the Zephyr III, it revealed some inadequacies, and I am in upgrade mode. My audio advisor from Brooks Berdan suggested I start with the speakers. Mind you, I Love my Vandersteens but wish there was deeper bass realism. I have been listening to the Revel concerta2 F36  recently with a Cronus Magnus powering them via some entry level Oracle turntable. I like the F36 a lot, and feel like they would give me more full range dynamics especially on the low end. I am looking at upgrading to the Rogue Cronus Magnus soon as well. And am hoping that upgrading to the F36 is the smarter choice than adding a sub that would seamlessly integrate. Any thought would be appreciated. Thank you.
voodooman13
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,995 posts
 
Have no experience with the Revel you speak of so take my comments with a grain of salt
The ones are amazing.....the last pair I heard (I) driven by a Marantz receiver with a Bluesound Vault server/ DAC were glorious...( about an hour south of Monrovia.... hint)
but hey I am biased as a many model Vandersteen owner...
your dealer is solid but is not going to steer you towards Vandersteen- they have not carried them for many years.
Upgrade the amp with an eye to future... as others have said there are a number of excellent tube and SS integrated amps out there and affordable. Richard engineers for an easy load and also answers the phone.
you should be able to get a demo amp from any number of great so cal audio retailers.


tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,995 posts
 
Also
please point me to a good sounding post punk album....

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,874 posts
 
Voodooman, if you like your 1ce's, replacing them with the Vandersteen 2 seems like a good idea. They may be better overall than the 1ce with a sub. The Model 2 with subs even better! When Brooks was alive and a Vandersteen dealer he sold a lot of the Model 2, his choice of best speaker in it's price category. If you're not in a real hurry, ask Sheila (Brooks' widow) to let you know when they get a pair traded in.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,995 posts
 
pretty good advice on the model 2 imo
they do take IMO a fairly ballsy amp to control the lower end but they can be stunning..and as I said you have a dealer close by..


bondmanp
1,820 posts
 
My personal experience was similar to yours; trying to improve on the sound of Vandersteen 1Cs. I had a Def Tech sub, but it wasn’t doing the trick. I eventually acquired a pair of Vandy 2Wq subs. Better, but I still found the sound wanting. I upgraded from the in-line crossovers to the M5-HP battery biased crossovers and heard more transparency, but still found the system wanting. Too much etch and grain and congestion in the upper-mids and lower trebles. After upgrading my amp, preamp, DAC, cabling and power filtering, and treating the room, I finally concluded I had taken the 1Cs as far as they could go, without satisfactory results. But those 2Wqs I absolutely love, and still have. In fact, when I began the search for new mains, one requirement I had was that they reach 40Hz without any issues so that I could keep the 2Wqs in the system (they are that good, IMHO). In late 2009, I tried a home demo of Ohm Walsh 2000s, and have been thrilled with them ever since. I have heard many, many systems, with and without subs, and I would never go back to a system without subwoofers. Just my 2 cents; YMMV.
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