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Vandersteen 3A sigs, whats wrong here.

I recently purchased a Pair of 3Asigs here on Audiogon.
The problem is they dont seem to have much bass at all.
I have tried many different room placements. They are being feed by ARC VTM100MKII, ARC LS25MKII, ARC CD3MKII. Also with Kember 8HTC true Bi-wire cables, And a variety of IC's including transparent and Cardas Gold reference. Tried single ended as well as Balanced. So the front end gear should be ok, but no matter what I do there is weak bass. I also prefer to listen at lower levels, however regardless of volume it is always week. Any ideas, please help.
vdosc
audiomax
166 posts
 
Richard Vandersteen is still around. You can contact him and describe the symptoms. May be an easy problem such as swapping out bass drivers if there's defective one.
sounds_real_audio
1,034 posts
 
Ok just sell the damn things. You are not happy now so what could change that?
dhgee
10 posts
 
Use a test CD to do a phase test. I use a Rives Audio test CD 2. You could always just raise the cover sock on both and put some heavy kettle drums and place your finger to see if the woofer pushes out or in as others suggested. If one pushes in reverse the woofer wiring. I keep a cheap integrated amp just as a system isolation tool. The woofer coils could also be overheated as it is used. The 3a is not as efficient and may need more power amp.
Post removed 
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,182 posts
 
there is no passive radiator in a Vandersteen 3,  the acoustic coupler is driven.

Go thru every connection and check phase ! 

might have to check to see IF they were not properly repaired.

working correctly w decent 100 wpc amp, they produce amazing bass.
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