Initial impressions of my new Vandersteen Quatro's in Audi Havana Black


I will post pics when I get more time on them.  I had them delivered and set up by Johnny Rutan of Audio Connections.  He moved them out to the corners of the room and close up against the back wall. I love the look as does my wife.  I also LOVE the HUGE soundstage these things can now throw.  NO SUCK OUT either.  I was shocked at that aspect. I was scared to death when he started them in the corner of the room. I have a very difficult room for bass as it's an open floor plan. I lose a lot of bass on the right channel as it's by a stair case.  I'm putting up a temp wall by the railing.  I am using a screen right now, but I need treatment of some sort still. 

That said, it only has about 30 hours or so and it's already starting to sweeten up.  I'm hearing so many things that I haven't heard in the room before.  I'm hearing bass passages that hasn't been there before.  On one passage of a  Bela Fleck song, the room just moved.  The thing is that I've heard so many of these songs on Wilson's and Magico's and B&W"s and Focals, Paradigms, Legacy's and so many other speakers, but the tonality of the Vandersteen bass is just special.  It's so accurate. What so many don't know is that the way he designed the bass amp, you still have the same sound as YOUR main amp.  Not sure how he does it, but he does.  You don't hear the difference. 


I think that the reason some don't get the Vandersteen's at first listen is because it's not like other speakers.  We aren't used to hearing a speaker that isn't 'hifi' sounding.  Its very organic. To me, it's like analog vs digital.  Both can sound GREAT, but digital is still digital and that's why vinyl and reel to reel are still going strong after all of these years.  Kind of reminds me of a plasma TV vs the LCD TV's when I went to purchase mine.  I was originally taken by the brightest TV's in the showroom, but I keep going back and watching all the Plasma's in the darker room that Magnolia was showing them in.  I wanted the Pioneer, but could only afford the Panasonic's. I have two of them and love them.  People actually ask me why their TV doesn't look as good.  I first ask if they had it calibrated professionally.  The answer is always no and then tell them it's a plasma.  

Set up isn't fun for me, so Johnny does it for me.  I'm digging my new set up and will write more later, but i am Jonesing to go up to the loft to listen some more.  I'm really loving the organic sounds of my system right now.  All genres too which is just awesome.  Not taking any digs at others systems, just loving mine.  We all hear differently and I get that.
ctsooner
@ctsooner - Trust me, 30 watts of Pass Labs Alpha 3 current is plenty! It will shake the room at elevated volume with no problem and my ears give out way before the amp does.

@gndrbob - Never heard of Alon or Nola? I find that hard to believe as they have had a prominent position in the high end audio market for more than 25 years...
Not surprised as you saw in my post.  That's a nice amp.  Runs fairly hot like all Class A stuff, but it's a good match I would think. Never heard it with that specific speaker, but....since you love it, that's all that matters anyways, lol. :)
ctsooner, glad that you are enjoying your Quatro's.

I spent the afternoon with Johnny and ordered a pair of Quatro's too. 

Musicman - how cool that we get to enjoy a bunch of musical gear!!

i think with the powered bass and low pass filter the need to really big power might be somewhat overstated.... having it is good. I ran the 7's in my medium size room and at moderate volume levels ( which is most of my critical listening ) with an ARC 75 SE. 30 Watts of Pass power is different ! When my Ayre died and I was considering an upgrade to twenty I flirted seriously with picking up the 60 watt Psss monoblocks..

i do like Ike the idea of trying the MC275, just make sure you adjust the filter dip switches for the amp AND experiment with which output tap sounds best ! I ran my model 5a for many months with a 1961 MC240 in a massive room - glorious midrange...before I got the Ayre...




I should clarify the ARC75SE was a short term loaner ....
my VX-R is 300 ish wpc at 4 ohms...
i rarely tax it