Vandersteen 2ce questions

I know your speakers fairly well. I know this is a fairly basic recommendation but I would check that you have all of your cables connected properly. If you make a mistake hooking them up, your lack of bass can definitely be a result. Assuming you made no mistake, Islandmandan's advice about trying different placements is definitely a good idea. My best guess, though, is that your NAD may not be able to give the Vandersteen's what they need in terms of power. I don't find them too difficult to drive but they do like a little power.

The one thing I can tell you for sure, is that Vandersteen's do have excellent bass. Unless your speakers are damaged in some way, the problem is not likely to be with your speakers. I think it would be a good idea to go try a few thing mentioned in the posts and see if anything helps. Also, if you didn't use the directions that came with the speakers on how to set them up, you really need to do that. You need to use the formula they give you so you know how much back tilt you will need.

I have a lot of experience setting up Vandersteens. Post back with an update. If the problem remains, maybe we can try some other things, as well. Once you get them working properly, you will be very happy you bought them.

You need anywhere from 100wpc and up to drive these speakers to their full extent. I have a regular pair of 2ce's in my second system and they are being driven by a Classe 175wpc amp and a tube preamp. I also used a 100wpc amp on the 2ce's as well until I got the bigger amp. The amp should be able to put out quite a bit of amperage as well, somewhere around 45 amps peak to peak and up. Good power will really ame the speakers sing. I inadvertantly damaged the speakers by using a 60wpc integrated amp. It was the clipping of the amp that destroyed one of the speakers crossovers.

I have found sound balance to be a fickle thing, a new IC here, better speaker stands there, you get the idea.

I was going to suggest you bi wire them but you already have

Those speaker have plenty of bass, I have heard them in a few different systems with tubes and solid state both rocked out.

have you tried moving them even further out into the room?

good luck

Great advice. I havent done anything with the tilt as the stands were alreadt attached. I like them better about 3 and half feet from the rear wall. I don't really know what more power will do since I'm only using about 20 to 25 percent of the volume control as it is. They're plenty loud. It may just be a mid-base hump that I'm used to. I'll look at setting the tilt and see if that helps. I really like everything about them except the amount of low end.

Vandersteen speakers are sensitive to amplifiers especially in the bass department. It's not so much the amount of power as it is the quality of the power. The best bass I ever heard from Vandersteens was from a high quality 60 watt solid state power amp. Maybe your NAD isn't up to the task.