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Set-Up Advice for Vandersteen 1Cs

I'm beginning to piece together a system and having previously owned a pair of Vendersteen 1Bs back in the late 90's before I sold all my equipment I purchased a pair used 1Cs for $299 and $80 shipping... hopefully this was a good price.

I have a small apartment and these will be in the living room with the TV and I would like the sound from my TV, Cable, Apple TV or Roku 3, Blu-Ray, a DAC connected to my ipad/iphone/macbook pro, and eventually a turntable to be able to play through this system. I plan I have zero interest in a surround sound system, so multichannel is not a concern.

My understanding is that I should probably get an HDMI switch with audio out since things like the Apple TV and Roku 3 don't have audio out and I'll want the audio from those to play through the system. This area is new to me so any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

To complicate things I would LIKE to have a tube amp if possible. I am willing to go solid state, but I would much much prefer tube.

My budget is somewhere in the $500-$750 range. I am planning on buying used equipment to get the most bang for my buck. Something with a phono input would be best, but obviously I can't have everything.

I've been completely out of the loop and this was totally a spur of the moment purchase for me but I don't have a tremendous amount of time or disposable income so I'm looking to greater minds than my own for assistance.
greatwhitebat

Showing 5 responses by timrhu

timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Are they the black pair on ebay last week? I bought a pair a while ago for $265 with free shipping. Was the only bidder, felt like that was a bargain.

As for the tube amp in your price range, you'll probably need to look at some of the Chinese made products. I'm currently using a pair of Dared VP-20 mono amps. They only allow for a single input and only produce 18 watts each; probably not for you. Hopefully some other owners of these products will chime in.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
So you're in Indy? I live in Brownsburg.
Howdy neighbor!
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Be careful with the tilt. I found very little tilt worked best for me with both the 1Cs and the 2CEs. Discovered this after setting tilt and noting how much better they sounded when I was standing in front of my chair. I straightened up the speakers until they sounded best when seated. Still some tilt, just not too much.
I would think the 40 watts is plenty unless you are really cranking them.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Nice drawings. I suggest some very heavy drapes in front of that window as absorptive panels aren't going to work there. Especially if your seat is right up against the window.

Did you use the formula in the manual? If you set everything just right, it should sound OK as long as you don't have other problems like a bad room, or your head is too close to the rear wall.
Zd542

Yep I used the manual. Don't recall it being specific about the amount of tilt. No substitute for dialing it in with listening though. The stand up, sit down test is very revealing if there is too much tilt.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Check Amazon if you have a prime account or Partsexpress for spikes. The Vandies probably use a standard thread for their spikes and should be cheap and easy to find.

That seller should be tarred and feathered.
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