Vandersteen 3A Signature in a small room?

I ran 3A sigs in a 9 X17 room with the speakers on the long wall. They sounded wonderful at about 18" from the rear wall. I toed them in slightly and had about 7 feet between me and the speakers.

I initially rain a pair of Counterpoint SA-100s veritically biamping them and a Counterpoint SA300 preamp.

The sounded particuarly great with detailed music, jazz trio, acoustic guitar, strings. The imaging and depth were outstanding,

An owner speaks.
08-04-08: Bigtee
I owned the Vandersteen 2CE Sig II's for a month or so. I was forced to sell them due to grandkids and pressure from my wife to cut down on the hobby some and build a play room where my second system was.
I have owned the 2CE's, 2CE Sigs, 2CE Sig II, 3A Sigs and the Quatro's.
The sound of the definitely unbroken in pair of Sig. II's is a definite departure from the 2CE Sigs. IMO, they are cleaner with a bigger sweet spot. For a Vandersteen, they almost sound lean! The bass is quicker and the mids more defined. However, they have lost some of the warmth of the other Vandersteen's. There is a big enough departure that I would not call the difference "Incremental." My pair were a "30th anniversary edition." What that means, I don't know.
Compared to my last pair of 3A Sigs, the mids and highs are close but the bottom of the 3's is more robust as they should be. The 3's also sounded "Bigger." Vandersteen has done upgrades to the 3A Sigs and I was told they don't sound the same as my older pair now. I can't speak to that.
The Quatro's (non wood)are the better of the ones mentioned above but sound more in line with the 2CE II's. The mids are better defined and the treble sounds more extended and open.
The bass is a good bit better (all the adjustments help here.)
I would find a dealer and listen to the 2CE Sig.II's before I made a decision. They are a big enough departure to warrant that.
Bigtee (Threads | Answers)

I'm posting this for clarification only:

This is a quote from Richard Vandersteen about the drivers in the 2Ce Signature II as posted on the Vandersteen Website 12/23/2006.

Sorry for the all CAPS but that is how it was posted.

THE NEW 2Ce SIGNATURE II DOES HAVE THE TWEETER AND THE MID-RANGE OF THE 3A SIG'S. THIS AND DOZENS OF OTHER CHANGES INCLUDING STRUCTURAL PUSH THE PERFORMANCE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE 3'S. THE MODEL 3'S ARE LARGER AND HAVE MORE ADVANCED DRIVERS IN THE BASS SO THE MID BASS AND BASS ARE STILL SUPERIOR BUT THE GAP IS CLOSED AT THE HIGHER FREQUENCIES. I SUGGEST WHEN YOUR DEALER GET A PAIR AN AUDITION. I WILL SAY IT HAS TURNED AN OLD CLASSIC INTO ONE INCREDIBLE SPEAKER.

Hope this helps,
Dre

In my experience the Vandy's are very room/placement sensitive. Tread carefully.

I think you might be happier with the 2ce Sig mk ll in a room that size. I had the 3A sigs in a 14' x 22' x 9' room and they could have used a little bigger room, a few friends felt the 2CeSig mkll might have been a better fit in my space. I'm not positive but i think the 2ce mk ll has the same components ( tweeter and mid) as the Quatro's and sounds more like them and the 3A Sig's are more like the 5's. Personally if I had it to do again I'd get the 2ce mk ll and two 2Wq subs!!!!

Hey, personally I like the sound of (most) big speakers in a small room as it gives you a huge sense of scale (I have a pair of Khorns in a small room and all my audiophile friends can attest they sound incredible, even at very low volumes). Now, while the Vandy's don't have the same efficiency as the KHorns, they still have great clarity and coherence (both time and phase) so I would try it. Best of luck!

The vandys must be out from the wall and you must be far enough for the drivers to blend (8-9 feet) you need flexability here. If this places you close to the back wall expriment with moving the seating position back and forth to get the best balance.

I used Thiel 3.6s and Dunlavy SC4As in a 14x16 foot room with good results and I think I could have used 3As in there as well.

Terry

The 3A signatures can work in a small room, but you won't be getting all they are capable of. My room is 13' by 14' (though the room is actually a little bigger because of a half wall) and they work well. I have them about 30" from the rear wall and 42" from the side wall so they can breath a little. If they are much closer to the walls they will lose the openess. I did have a problem with lumpy bass, but I solved that with a single 2Wq subwoofer (sounds counterintuitive but it worked!). As much as I like the speakers something smaller may be a better match but there are so many options I'm sticking with this for now. As for the amp I can't offer any advice since I don't know the McIntosh sound. I use an Audio Research amp and preamp to very good result.