Vandersteen Question

When I had my 5's, not the 5A's, I used that rear firing tweeter and liked it, much to the chagrin of my dealer, JohnnyR and Richard. My room had three walls of glass and for some reason the rear tweeter ameliorated some of the issues with the glass. Go figure. I would say try it and then decide if you like it. Good Luck!

EXACTLY!!   I do the same with the glass issues as well.   The rear tweeters do good things for my sound as well.  (Johnny and Richard both hated what I did, but I just wont invite them here)

Every time I try it on my 5ACs, I end up turning them off soon after. My smallish room just doesn’t need the added brightness. It is 12 * 22 * 7, with a nook behind the basement stairs so that part is 16 feet wide. It has two small windows and a door with glass panes, so there’s not much of that, and it is treated with absorbers and diffusers. I have the speakers along the long wall, about 30” out, in a roughly equilateral triangle listening arrangement. In a much larger plush room I might need the boost.

I’ve got original Model 5’s and have tried the rear tweeters on several occasions, but always think it is too bright.  My room is small and there is a concrete block wall behind the speakers so any rear output gets reflected back.  I did have some cotton tapestries directly behind the speakers but that didn’t really change the results.  

..just some extra thoughts.  When using my headphones, the striking of a cymbal, the crack of a claves, etc is very fast...you can hear the strike, and then the sound.  When using no Vandersteen  rear tweeter...its as the headphones, but recessed...listen very carefully to hear it.   When using the tweeter, the body of the stike is there, but the actual strike is "confused".   I'm thinking that the phase is screwed up with that rear tweeter.  My room is very big with 16 ft ceilings....I use the tweeter, but just barely.  Its like sub woofers....if you hear it, its way too loud.

What are you guys talking about! Richard would not spend the money to put that rear tweeter on the speaker if it didn’t have a purpose. It clearly states in the manual that it is one hundred percent distortion because all of the information in the recording has been reproduced by the front tweeter but that some rooms need it is treatment is not an option. It also helps compensate for age.

 

And what is super cool is that in addition to everything Johnny said above - there are some dry studio and even live recordings where ambieint / spatial information is deficient / missing that the added cost of the rear tweeter ( which is not peanuts $$ ) is very justified.
since it’s there. A wise audiophile would take that opportunity to discern differences and experiment, just as all the posters / owners are doing :-)))

The really strong and ambitious can also spin those fives around and bounce everything off that rear wall !!!!! Don’t try that after a libation or three!!!

have fun

After finally getting on here. My journey with Vandersteen's began in 1989 owning the 2ce's, & later the 3's. Unfortunately, I could not afford the 5A's new. But got lucky when a local shop had them used for sale in 2015. I grabbed them and had Joe at Superior Audio in Chicago set them up. A good friend of mine who turned me on to Vandersteen's who owns the 7's that had the 5A's. Said to me on a 1-10 scale, comparing them. He gave them a 71/2. What is amazing is that he never changed the batteries in the cabinets. Only in the high pass filters. If he had replaced them, they would probably been closer to an 8. My 2 cents.

Hello Tomic601.