Vandersteen Supreme Support


I have been enjoying my Vandersteen 5A's, but have had reservations about some issues that I've attributed to the room in my new house. I got a call from Richard Vandersteen the other day who heard I was not completely satisfied with my speakers (how he heard of that, I don't know)...anyway, he offered to help gain additional performance from them. With the kind help from John Rutan from Audio Connection in Verona, New Jersey (from whom I first purchased the speakers), and Richard Vandersteen, we tracked down and corrected the room problems. Richard made a number of calls, giving me steps to accomplish proper performance. Under his tutalage, we found a number of peaks, valleys, and phase problems with the room, Richard giving instructions on how to reduce these issues. The result is absolutely startling. The speakers are playing with an ease, and clarity, I haven't heard before. I have to say that someone who writes on these posts, came to hear my speakers a number of months ago, before these corrections and was so impressed that he offered to buy my speakers, and when I turned him down, he bought a pair of his own. The difference now is quite astonishing. Many, many thanks to Richard and John for their tips and efforts.
128x128stringreen
There are 15 knobs that one can vary on each 5A. I turned 13 on each speaker. The speakers are set up differently from each other except for the contour adjustment which must be kept the same or the phase is out of adjustment with each other. These adjustments only control the bass, however, that affects how one perceives the mids and highs.
It's quite encouraging to hear a story like this. I too am a Vandersteen owner (the other end of the speaker line from Stringreen .... 1C's) and a customer of John Rutan (my Rogue Audio Cronus was bought through Audio Connections.) Over the years, I've had several telephone conversations with both gentlemen, always very happy with their guidance and thoughtful ideas on how to get the best musical sound from my system. I'd also like to add that Mark O'Brien and Nick at Rogue Audio have also been extremely helpful whenever I needed to contact them about my amplifier. It's just nice to know that the sometimes lost art of quality customer service is still alive and well.
Stanley, are you saying that you had never tuned the bass before this January exercise?

(I'm the guy who visited Stanley and bought my own 5As.)
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Originally, I bought the speakers from John at Audioconnection in New Jersey, and he did an excellent job of setting them up for me in my home in New Jersey. I have since moved to Arizona and took the speakers with me. I paid a former Vandersteen dealer to set up my speakers again, however, I noticed that every setting was set to maximum. I also noticed that something "might" be wrong when I couldn't really distinguish words on the new Paul Simon, or Norah Jones albums. I thought that the recordings were very badly produced, however, when I heard them on a relatively inexpensive system that a friend had put together, the recordings sounded better on his than on mine. As luck would have it, Richard Vandersteen heard that I was wondering if something was wrong with the speakers themselves, which prompted his outreach to me. Again...thanks to Richard and John Rutan, I was able to tune the speakers properly.
This is what high end audio is all about. I have also received excellent service from Richard Vandersteen and John Rutan.
I have to agree with these posts. I have met and spoken to both Richard Vandersteen and John Rutan on numerous occassions. Both are consumate gentlemen who really know their hifi. You can't go wrong with either Vandersteen or Audio Connection.
Ditto here as well. Though I have visited with Richard at numerous shows, I have only spoken with John on the telephone, actually through this website, as he was selling a preamp I was interested in. So fulfilling have my experiences with John Rutan been, that I am considering purchasing a pair of Vandersteen 2wq subs from him to pair with my 3A Signatures……..and I live in Orange County CA, he is in New Jersey! I am that confident that he will ensure I get them installed and set up properly in my listening room.
Really glad to read such nice compliments about Johnny R and Richard V. John sold me a couple of ARC pieces over the years. Always a pleasure.

So ... Stanley (Stringreen), any idea who "Deep Throat" may be??
Thanks! for sharing.
remember guys, it is very important to post both positive & negative experiences w/ these companies.
Vandersteen is real, with a history to show that he will be there to help with problems or parts. It's so unfortunate that few people seem to highly value these traits when purchasing audio equipment.