Vandersteen 2C contour controls +-

@hifiman5   I have a complete set of ARC Litz Link cables with ARC Litz Line speaker cables. I am swapping in a used pair of Cardas Hexlink Golden 5c between the amp and pre amp and I love the sound improvement. I'm pretty sure just a slight repositioning and I'll have what I'm after.

Thanks all. I do have these placed in the sweet spot and used the Vandersteen manual to get there. They are off the back wall about 23" and are equal side to side. With my old interconnects it sang. With the new interconnects I get more highs and sparkle in the center which is what I want. I just lost the low end somewhat. I can still hear it, it just doesn't have the bass impact I previously had.

I'm purposefully avoiding mentioning the interconnect brands involved because I don't want to get into a cable choice discussion. Both are premium brands and both perform well in this system, just somewhat differently.

So this might be a placement issue now that the interconnects have changed? 

I'm still unclear however - does lowering the bass contour (-db) push more signal to the rear facing coupled driver? Or does going +db on the contour add more to the low drivers? Or if the bass is not there it's just not going to be there regardless of the contour settings?

I can play around and listen but I'm more interested in the theory of how the contours are supposed to work.

Gotcha. Ok that makes sense now. I am going to try adjusting placement rather than expect an effective solution by just using the contour controls.

Thanks a bunch!

@tomic601 

I was getting damn near full range with the current placement - so yeah - it went really deep with the ARC cables.

I've AB'd them 3-4 times now over a week and I definitely prefer the magic that happens with the Hexlink cables. They do show a lot of bass but they whiff on the deep deep stuff. And that "whiff" is very much what was happening when I first got the Vandersteens and didn't have the placement correct. I could hear them trying but didn't get the resonance.

I don't tune for tons of bass but if I have a system that is capable of it I should be able to make it happen when the recording offers it.

They currently are about 26" out from the rear wall and 31" from the side walls and 105" apart (measured from the center of the top cloth).

I'm going to:

A. Try them closer together with the ARC cables with the same distance from the rear wall to perhaps center the imaging and get better detail to my listening spot.

B. Try moving the speakers back into the corners a few inches with the Hexlink cables to try and get the bass back but keep the center sparkle that happens with those.

I'll you know what develops from that!

I spent an evening moving and listening with the new cables... only to return to the exact placement where they were before. 6 months ago when I purchased the speakers I labored over placement and apparently I found the right spot for them back then.

26" off the front wall and 31" off the side. Exactly 9 feet to the listening spot on both. For the record, this is exactly where the Vandersteen manual "odd dimensions" placement would put them in my room. Length of the room, width of the room divided by 3,5,7,or 9. I tried them all and then some.

No toe-in, no angle back (I have the 6" stands so the tweeter is at ear level when seated.) Speakers are level and square. I tried them toed and angled but it was not as good. Behind the speakers are built-in bookshelves and record storage, full of books and records side to side, no gaps.

The 12.5" from the wall didn’t work well for me. But I have 16 feet in front of them to fill with sound. I could see how that could work in a shallower room.

I think letting the dielectric settle with the new cables is the right advice for now. I’ll post back in a week or so once I stop changing cables and just let it ride for a while. It sounds really good, but I realize I’ve been chasing an unknown spectre!

Thanks everyone for the interest and help.

Funny thing - I had never considered inside space to be important but I removed two very full LP crates from between the speakers and the amps (amps are positioned in center between the speakers) and that opened up some more bass. So the speakers need a little breathing room on both sides, not just between the wall and speaker.

I'll be keeping the new cables in place between the pre and amp. =)

On side note: The single most effective jump in sound quality I've observed - once I assembled my current set of components - was power purification and AC cables. I can't explain in words how huge of an effect that made (noted: I have an old house with dated wiring). AC upgrades should not be shrugged! If I hadn't made those upgrades I don't think I would be hearing such large differences in interconnect cables.

Thanks all!

@jetter 

I've set the contour controls on the speakers at 0 during this time.

I don't use tone controls on the pre amp at all and I'm not inclined to. They are bypassed entirely.

Update:

After letting the cables sit without change for over a week the bass came back 80% which is fine - I was a little bass heavy before. More importantly, it really only shows up after letting the entire system warm up for a few hours. Previously I'd get up to full range in an hour or so.

I've now put a bit shy of about 200 hours on the cables.

I think this lends to the dielectric properties theory. The new cables are just more difficult to charge than the other ones. The end result is a better sound in my system.