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Vandersteen 2W frustration

I have been using a 2W sw for 2 years now. I do enjoy it and can see its potential and good qualities, such as its agility and general musicality. It kind of does its job but it looks to me that it is working like a woofer not a subwoofer.

And, considering it has 3 8" woofers, it does not move air. I do not know for certain if it is going doing where it should go in its frequency response. It is being implemented with a pair of Reference 3A MM de Capos which supposedly go down to 42 hz, and connected to a First Watt F4 stereo amplifier. The high pass filter is set at 72 hz with a pair of Mundorf caps. The subwoofer is fairly dated from 1992 at least and it is being on long term loan from a friend. Opened the amplifier module to check on the capacitors and they seem OK, not bloated, etc.

So is this supposed to work like what I described, or maybe the amp module should be checked. I wonder if the 2WQ model does a better job
In the moving air department. Any ideas ..... welcome.
manolo
srosenberg's avatar
srosenberg
209 posts
 
i have a 2W as well and also replaced the vandersteen xovers with a pair of mundorf caps - nice improvement even over the M5's.

looks like the input impedance of your power amp is 47k, so your caps will result in a XOver freq at 73 hz - there's no issue there. the slightly lower frequency will actually result in a little increased output by the 2w. mine are setup nearly identically to yours.

stereophile's measurements corroborate -6db at 42hz, however, from 46 hz on down, the output is from the rear port and not the woofer. i wonder if the rear port may be 180 degrees out of phase from the driver, and therefore if the 2w is connected non-inverted, the 2w and the de Capos might cancel in the 42-55 (ish) hz region?

do you have an SPL meter and test tones so you can measure the in room response you are getting?

in my room, i'm down 6db at 20 hz, which is plenty for me.

the V2W, with it's passive radiator, will move more air. i doubt there will be any appreciable difference between the 2W and 2WQ in that regard.
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
Manolo
Get out your assesment box and owners manual that comes with the 2w
And try to go down one more on the settings box.
That's what this box is for.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
JohnnyR
manolo OP
12 posts
 
I will play with that tonight. Thank you.
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
Well howd tonight go?
manolo OP
12 posts
 
checking. It turned out output increased substantially after dialing the gain to 91 db from 93 in the vandersteen sw. may be that the gain switch is not working properly. Remember that the unit is over 20 years old. also lowered the hp frequency to 60 hz but the bass got to prominent and lumpy, in short, unmusical. I guess that the 72 hz frequency I use is about right for my speakers. The unit blends seamlessly. Other subwoofers as you know, call attention to themselves. I am listening to The Lord of the rings soundtrack, to further check bass output and it seems ok. Maybe this q of 0.5 is the culprit here. Most subwoofers I have listened to in my friends systems do not have a q of 0.5 which is theoretically the right one. So, when the economy gets better I shall inquire about a 2wq.
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