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John Atkinson's thoughts on the New Vandersteen System Nine from LA Show

I have read JA's outstanding reviews of Vandersteen speakers for years, but this is the first time he's heard their new System Nine.  Please read all the way down as Fremer mentions the late AJ Conte's outstanding TT:  Enjoy

From JA:
The first room I went to at the 2017 LAAS was that hosted by LA dealer Optimal Enchantment featuring a system based on Vandersteen's Model Seven Mk.II speakers ($62,000/pair) and M7-HPA amplifiers ($52,000/pair), which I reviewed in May 2016, this time reinforced by a pair of Vandersteen's SUB NINEs operating below 100Hz. It may have been the first room I visited but as good as many other systems sounded, they didn't match what Vandersteen refers as System NINE for its effortless sweep of sound, precise, palpable imaging, and smooth yet detailed high frequencies. On the title cut from a test pressing of Dave Brubeck's Take Five, the reverb surrounding Joe Morello's drums in his solo was more audible than I hear from my own system and the textures of his cymbals were superbly well differentiated.

The rest of the system comprised Audio Research Corporation's REF-10 phono preamplifier and line stage, with isolation stands and bases from Harmonic Resolution Systems (HRS) and cabling and power-line conditioning by AudioQuest—a Niagara 7000 for the amplifiers and Niagara 5000 for the front-end components. But it is the LP player in this room that drew visitors' attention.

image: https://www.stereophile.com/images/060217-Basis-600.jpg

Michael Fremer shared my enthusiasm for the sound in this room, which had LPs played on the late AJ Conti's Transcendence turntable with the Super Arm fitted with a Lyra Atlas cartridge. In Mikey's words: "This turntable is the acrylic-free, minimal-plinth design I always hoped AJ would design and build."


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/jas-final-report-2017-laas#mX8Fja9AgBY4SDyp.99
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Showing 1 response by richfield_hunter

richfield_hunter
68 posts
 
I was at the LA show and JA couldn't be more correct. The musicality and tonal correctness of the Vandersteen setup was second to none. There were wuite a few rooms that sounded awesome but none has the relaxed sit down and listen for hours sound like this room. Randy always does a great job at shows. Before the show opened on Saturday I went to his room early and found him carefully listening to every piece of music he was thinking about playing that day to make sure the system was at uts best and to prepare a plan for the day. I've never seen anyone do that before. The new Basis TT was for sure the source that took this system to the next level. The passion AJ Conte had for his craft was refreshing and it showed in his final reference piece he produced. 

At at the show most of the rooms that sounded the best were playing reel yo reel tapes as the source. The price of entry for tapes and the UHA decks is very high but the SQ that comes out of them is second to none. I wish I cound have heard the Vandy room with that set up as well. 

CT no shame in promoting the love you have for the Vandersteen products. IMHO no other speaker at any price pushes all the right buttons in SQ, timbre quality, etc like the Sevens do. With the Sub Nine it takes it to another level. 
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