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Vandersteen's, optimum placement, room limitations

Category: Speakers

I'm thinking of switching from Thiel 2.3's to Vandersteen 3A sigs with their subwoofers, or possibly the new Quatro's (have to demo). My problem is that in my city apartment, my listening room is only 12' 8" wide. I've listened to the 3A sig's under varying conditions (once 20 inches from the walls w/ good results, once the same distance w/ terrible ones. In both cases I was able to sit more than 7 to 8 feet back from the speakers, which is the current/maximum distance in my listening space). I can't afford to put the backs of my speakers more than 18-20 inches from the walls in any case.

I currently have an Ayre CX-7 cd player and Rega P3 Turntable, Ayre K-3X preamp, and Ayre V-5x amp, w/ Ayre and Cardas Golden Reference interconnects plus Cardas Cross speaker cables. I think the sig's might be quite nice in my system, but the distance/set-up thing? I don't know...

I'd appreciate anyone's feedback on this.
rliroff

Showing 1 response by bigtee

bigtee
803 posts
 
I too feel your room deminsions will not allow you to get the best out of the 3A Sigs. The closer to the wall, the more bottom you will have but the soundstage will strink.
Your equipment is an excellent match. I too use the V5x with an Aesthetix Calypso preamp. Great stuff.
The best thing to do is try if at all possible. Also, you must sit 8' back to allow for the speakers to come together. This is Vandersteen's minimum recommended distance and I agree with it. Anything closer and the soundstage becomes a little diffused. You might talk to Mr. V himself about your room deminsions and the speaker. He's a straight shooter. Good luck.
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