Best of both worlds, Vandersteen and B&W


In my mid 30's, living in New Orleans at the time, I purchased my first pair of high fidelity loudspeakers, B&W matrix 802's. I have had a long term love-hate relationship with these speakers. I love thier dynamics and solid base but have always been bothered by a tilt toward the higher frequencys and an upper midrange glare I was unable to banish with ancillary equipment. After much deliberation I recently purchased a pair of Vandersteen 3A signatures. As promised these speakers are smooth and warm, without a hint of midrange glare. With jazz or classical music they sound beautiful and I initially thought I had solved my speaker problem. That is until I queued up rock and roll. The highs and mids still sounded wonderful, but the bass was hugely disappointing. Flaccid, aneimic, distant, without any drive or authority. My wife, who could not care less about high end audio, commented, "they sound a little flat", and "they don't have the same power".

I live in Maine where there is little opportunity to audition equipment. My question is are there any speakers that have both the smooth treble and midrange of Vandersteen and the excellent bass of B&W?

Ag insider logo xs@2xbewoods1962

Showing 2 responses by tomic601

As you move up Vandersteen line you get subwoofer amps and analog EQ to fix freq response in bass at listening positions.

adding two subs will get you close but without EQ

who is your dealer ? Let me know how I can help


I had 3a sig for a decade with 200 wpc Mac amp - vise like grip and low end.

you do need to get the rear acoustic coupler to work with room and you do need and amp with balls.

Follow setup instructions to a T for 3a

then Download Vandertones ( free) play thru system with radio shack analog spl meter at ear listening position.

tune to taste by adjusting distance to rear wall - do you have the excellent sound anchor stands ? Are you on carpet w spikes or solid with spikes and machined aluminum cups ???

vandertones and spl meter allow you to see what room is going and be much more scientific with setup. You might want to really hone in on 70-120 he if you like rock and boost that a bit