I auditioned the Vandersteen 2Ce's with my Bryston 2BLP yesterday. Both the dealer and I were very impressed with the performance of the amplifier. We were using a Rotel RCD 991, an expensive Adcom stereo pre (?) and top end Audio Quest cables.
The 2BLP picked up the Vandersteens and ran around the room with them. The imaging was awesome, the detail was very good and the bass was deep and pretty satisfying. The speakers didn't have the rich full sound that I heard from the Revel M20s a few weeks ago. I couldn't help but wonder if there was something missing down there. It was almost as if the lower regions had taken a step back from me.
In addition to my music, I listened to Bela Fleck's Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. With my 2BLP the Bass guitar sounded great, the kick drums seemed a little weak, but when the bass guitar got down and dug in I could feel it through the floor and on my skin.
The Vandersteens didn't sound any richer in the same set up with a Bryston 4B-ST (250W). I also listened with a $1000 200W Rotel stereo amp (dealer recomendation). It slightly increased the bass impact from the speakers, but at the cost of clarity and detail. The music just sounded plasic, synthetic, digital. It wasn't exciting any more.
This fact that the high powered amps didn't pull any more impact out of the Vandersteens tells me that something other than the amp was limiting performance. Either the 2BLP was enough to get the best out the Vandersteens, or something was failing to pass the info to the amps. Any thoughts?
Next weekend I'll hear the Revels again (on my 2BLP) and I'll get a taste of PMC speakers.
This is fun.
