Vandersteen 4

I owned Vandersteen model 4, they were excellent for that time, probably around 1984. They had twin 12" sub woofers per cabinet that faced each other (isobaric push-pull design).

The bass frequencies emanated from slots at the base of the cabinet which was mostly black grill cloth. Mine came with steel spikes that raised the bottom platform the appropriate distance from the floor for maximum coupling.

These required and came with an outboard crossover that divided the subs from upper frequencies. I bought a second factory crossover and ran them as dual mono for more control.

Back then I choose Counterpoint SA4 mono block OTL for the highs and modified (mono) twin Quad current dumping amps for the subs. These speakers would rattle the room, particularly if you ran the gain on the bass a touch high. They were tremendously fun to listen to and I still have fond memories of them.

If they had a flaw it was in the upper midrange and high frequency at somewhat high volume, a bit more distortion than ideal but that was a LONG time ago. The speaker was great for it's time and I would still take it over Vandy 3A due to bass advantage of the 4.

Wonder what it would sound like today with a better phono cartridge and all the improvements in interconnect and speaker wire?

My father had VAndy 4s, in fact I am getting ready to sell.They were a very good, neutral sounding speaker.The are very large and require an external crossover. I currently own the 5s, hard to compare b/c systems are totally different.

Thanks for all your responses - I have to admit i was a bit surprised to find it was so difficult to find much info on these speakers..it seems they have become the "lost Vandersteens".. Anyway, I chose to stick with my 3A Sigs, (although I was interested to hear the difference, mainly the bass extension) - however, the speakers didn't have the outboard crossovers (and I haven't got anything that would suit), making any advantage of the 12" subs a mute point. Once again, thanks to all.

I've heard Vinh's (Vtvu) Vandersteen 4s numerous times. Definitely a product to consider for someone in the market for a larger loudspeaker. Factor in the depreciation I've seen on these, and it's truly an incredible bargain.

The 4A is truly an excellent speaker and stands up well today with a good front end. They were a bit fiddly - triwired and biamped with a separate crossover (or two) and some people aren't into anything but plug and play, but they are definitely worth the trouble to set up well.

I run them in my main system with a good vinyl front end.

Think of the Vandie 5 as a better looking simpler to implement update of the 4 with a few more years of thought on Richard's part.