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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
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.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
IIRC, the gain control is rotary. If so, try using contact cleaner or failing that, rotate it back and forth over its entire range very rapidly 10 or so times, then recheck the output. It may be as simple as corroded or dirty contacts after all this time.
manolo OP
12 posts
 
My last post was wishfull thinking. It turned out I had the full range preamp output connected, so there ,was some double bass going on. However I believe the problem has been solved. Took the plate amp out to check it and there was a 6.8 ohm resistor that had gone bad and while unscrewing the driver terminals from the amp board the negative lead came off the eyelet. Not broken, it slipped from the eyelet. A cold solder joint after all those years. I replaced the resistor and soldered the terminal to the board and it seems all is ok.
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