The 2CEs can be tilted just in case you didn't know.
I would NOT send the spikes into the speakers' base and risk damaging the speaker. They were designed to be used with the dedicated Sound Anchor stands.
IMO if your chair is too low when the 2CEs are fully tilted down, you probably need to get another chair or you are sitting too close. |
I believe it was Timrhu, from the community here, who gave me a very good idea once how to protect wood floors from damage. it may work for you in this case to lower the speakers. He suggested I find carriage bolts (with the rounded head) and use them inserted where the spikes would be. One can take a bit of funtiture felt (for protecting floors, the kind with an adhesive backing) and put it on the head of the carriage bolt. Worked perfectly! In your case it would lower the speaker and still get them off the floor. |
Thanks guys. I messed up on my measurements--the speakers are the right hight after all. Sorry for the hasty post. BTW, I do have allen bolts with felt bottoms in place of the spikes. |
Good news Rosedanny; I was going to suggest raising your ears !!! |
After setting up my 2CE sigs with the manuals guidance I noticed they sounded much better when I stood in front of my chair instead of sitting in it. I removed all of the tilt and they improved enormously. Ultimately they were way too large for my room. Shame as they did have a nice sound. |
With my Vandy 3ASigs I put the front spikes all the way down in front and adjust only the back spike to level them. What a huge improvement,more base and the highs are just right. |
I keep messing with placement and toe-in and tilt, too. I'll try the no tilt method. Thanks. And Swampwalker, I contemplated neck extension surgery, but the costs were prohibitive. |
What I did was screwed the front tip toes all the way down snug against the bottom of speaker.I put a small bubble leveler on top of speaker and with the back tip toe of Sound anchor adjusted it til the bubble stated it was level. Put the bubble leveler on both sides on top of speaker and it should be the same all the way around.There is also a tool you can use to make sure your speakers are exactly the same distance from wall and speakers are angeled exactly. maybe someone knows the name of it,i know some high end shops use them. |
I screwed my front feet down then adjusted the speakers flat using the back foot. I found this allignment deteriorated the sound in my room--high and midrange details became blurred--so I've been notching it up a bit at a time. Even a quarter bubble on my torpedo level created way better detail. Do you think it might have to do with my sloped ceiling? |
Vandersteen speakers are not intended to be level or tilted forward, nor should they be lowered and run without their spikes. Read the manual and follow the detailed tilt instructions necessary for achieving proper time alignment of the drivers.
There is a chart in the manual that will tell you exactly how much tilt to have for your seating distance and chair height. If you are going to ignore these instructions then know that too much tilt-back is better than not enough. Definitely do not tilt forward.
I'm a Vandersteen dealer. |
clarification: I did tilt the speakers back, not forward (I'm not that dense). And I did read the instructions and follow their guidelines. I'm just fooling around with placement and adjustments in hopes of finding a golden locus point for my particular room. Can't a guy tweek fer cryin out loud!? |
Rosedanny,
Be thankful that your speakers have instructions on how to perfectly time align the drivers. Take advantage of it. Time alignment of the drivers is the first parameter you should adjust. After that you can mess with toe, speaker placement, etc. If you mess with speaker placement, you will have to readjust the tilt to get the time alignment right.
You can tweak, but for goodness' sake, make sure the time alignment of the drivers is correct :) I doubt you can improve anything by having the drivers "out of" time alignment. |
Amusing how one can be confident that the designer made "errors" when it comes to tweeter height, tilt back adjustment, dedicated stands providing adjustable tiltback, etc., when Richard Vandersteen has refined this model for over twenty years and the model is recognized as an industry and consumer success. But then what does Vandersteen know? |
In response to Stevecham and Davemitchell, and in my defense, here are two direct quotes from the Model 2Ce Signature operation manual: "With all the possible variables in room layout, there are no magical formulas for determining the best speaker placement in every room. Since every room is different, we recommend that you try the speakers in every domestically acceptable location to find where they sound the best in your particular listening environment"(5). And on the next page: "Several factors influence how speakers interface with a room other than the room's basic dimensions . . . "(6). Your responses to mine and Qdrone's postings seem a bit dogmatic--even fundamentalist--to me. Relax. This is supposed to be fun. |
It IS fun, hence my sometimes ascerbic view. Believe me I mean this with a bit of humor. Hope you have been able to find the sweet spot with your Vandy 2Ces. For me the best sound is with the spikes all but about a quarter inch showing in the stands. I sit from them about 8 feet and have them aimed straight ahead for the best wide soundstaging. My sofa puts the tweeter at just about ear level when I am semi slouched. |
Rosedanny,
All I did was point out the correct way to set them up in terms of tilt and height. Unfortunately, there is only one way to achieve proper time alignment. Sorry if that seems "fundamentalist" to you but that's how it is. No one has discussed where to put them in the room- that's a different issue entirely.
I'm not putting a gun to your head and telling you to listen to me...just trying to offer good advice.
By all means, have fun. |
Sorry if I came off defensive. You're right--you did just give advice, and it was good advice, too. I looked again at the chart on tilt in the manual and recalculated distance/listening height/tilt. BINGO! I sit pretty far away from my speakers--12 ft--so I had the tilt initally too high, then when I went flat that wasn't right either. It turns out I needed something in the middle (3/4" distance between the top and the bottom of the speaker). Now the details are back, the accuracy is balanced across the frequencies--YAY, here's what I've been looking for! I remember speaking to Richard Vandersteen on the phone once, and he said one rule overrides all the others: if your ears say it sounds right, it's right. The manual also mentions something about not overanalyzing set up (something I'm definately guilty of)--when it's right, you'll know. Anyway, thanks to you all for you help and feedback--and patience--in this somewhat misguided thread. Danny |
