Vandersteen 2Ce and bass performance

<< I recently bought a 7-month old pair of Vandersteen 2Ce speakers and stands. I am running them with an Adcom 545 MKII and GFP555 Pre Amp. They are biwired with Monster M1.4s bi-wire. The room is large and hard (windows, maple floors, drywall, and brick). I'm hard up for more bass. I'm particularly concerened with the fact that so much of the musical stage is convincing and yet the kick drum in so much of my music sounds reticent. The speakers are reputed for "excellent bass extension," and I do not remember this reticence when auditioning other 2Ces in a local dealer. Suggestions for how to evaluate or improve this situation?? Any help is appreciated. >>  First the Adcom is a competent amp but not the most bass robust. Might try looking for a used Bryston 4b for about $1K. For a free fix start by moving them back towards the wall. If still not satisified, try a corner placement. Carefull when moving them back towards the wall, as it will effect the mids and highs. Try moving them around in your room, spikes will help a little. What about cables, while I'm not a cable freak, consider the gauge at least, use a 14 gauge, or better yet a 12, or even better a 10 gauge. The connectors to the wire provide at least as much sound effect as the wire it's self. Start with some reasonably priced multi-strand quality copper. It won't jump out but the sum of the above recommended activities should help. Audio Advisor in Grand Rapids, MI has some good deals from time to time. Last, there is always the subwoofer approach, but I suspect the bass your after is mid-bass, the slam and bam dynamics. If your into it, you can build you own or order a kit and assemble into their box. If not, for a serious low buck air mover with decent "apparent speed" the VMPS are big time air movers that don't screw up the pace and foot tappin feelin. Several of the kit places, Meniscus, Madisound (look on the net) have low buck dedicated amps for subwoofs with variable cross-overs. All rooms are not created equal, larger rooms need bigger air movements, i.e. bigger cones and/or more displacement. Trust me, try moving them around in your room first. Loontoon

<< I recently bought a 7-month old pair of Vandersteen 2Ce speakers and stands. I am running them with an Adcom 545 MKII and GFP555 Pre Amp. They are biwired with Monster M1.4s bi-wire. The room is large and hard (windows, maple floors, drywall, and brick). I'm hard up for more bass. I'm particularly concerened with the fact that so much of the musical stage is convincing and yet the kick drum in so much of my music sounds reticent. The speakers are reputed for "excellent bass extension," and I do not remember this reticence when auditioning other 2Ces in a local dealer. Suggestions for how to evaluate or improve this situation?? Any help is appreciated. >> Excellent speakers ; First thing you need to do is put drapes on your windows , carpeting on the floor ,cover the walls with something to absorb the sound(curtains ,tapestry ,etc) but don`t go overboard .Then try better speaker wires;I think Straightwire Raphsody are a nice match , or even MIT T2 , Synergistic Research or Tara Labs depending on your taste . Then think about upgrading your electronics .You could really get carried away as these are really nice speakers and should keep you happy for a long time !

Load the speakers into a corner-nothing else matters-not the amp, and certainly not the cables. There's a sucker born everyday and high-end cable manufacturers are the snake-oil salesmen of the world. Crunch the numbers and you will see that differences in cable mean absolutely nothing in the audio bandwidth. The longer the run the heavier the gauge-end of story.

i think the problem is that your cd player does not produce clean enough bass output. a frend of mine who has the same speakers as you just added an adcom gda-600 d/a converter and he cannot believe the bass responce. he paid $300 used for it. also use an illuminations d-60 digital cable for best results. it is worth the $150 cost. (1/2 meter through audio advisor mail order.) it is one of stereophile's reference digital cables.(i also use the same d/a and cable with magnepan 3.3's and 2 velodyne f1500r subs.)

I would consider replacing your preamp with a tube unit. A CJ PV-10 might be a consideration. Used they go for about $475. The ADCOM pre is a bit lifeless. If you would consider replacing your amp, the Bryston 4B would also work well. thanks, [email protected] ph805.527.9739 fax805.527.9808 www.hellohifi.com eCatalog available. New equipment demo’s by appointment. All quotes are good for 30 days. Customers in every state, & 26 countries (angol/ingles/englisch/beszelunk magyarul!/ hablamos en espanol/wir sprechen deutsch).

Try to call your local Vandersteen dealer and dont be shy just cause you got them used does not mean you wont get first class help or try Audio Connection Verona NJ vandersteen dealer over 17 years ask for john 973 239 1799

Vandersteen 2ce's are are great buy even at new prices. Need more bass. Try an extra dose of sound absorbing window coverings along with a nice area rug to complement the maple floor. That will help a bit. If you do not want to replace your already competent adcom gear, try some of the dog. The Vandersteen 2W subwoofer should arouse interest in the most seasoned bass hound such as myself. They're fast articulate and make an outstanding match with the 2Ce's. If that's still not enough, try to find a PSE amp. Few combinations compare with this one. They're old but great.

Many years ago I tried the Adcom 545 with 2C's, (and several other amps, as it was for a review for a magazine) and had inadequate bass performance. We had much better bottom end (depth and impact) from amps such as the Sumo 9+ and Polaris, the Counterpoint SA-220, the Naim 250, and several others. The Adcom is a decent amp, but not really a great match for the Vandersteens. Find a dealer who will let you audition amps at home.

I've owned a pair of 2Cs for 12 years now. It is really hard to beat these speakers for the money. I used a Hafler 220, then an Adcom 545, and for the last 9 years a Counterpoint SA-12. I love the bass. It is clean, tight, and deep. As deep as you can get for $1250 a pair. Loading them into a corner will most likely give you big car audio like bass but will suffer in imaging and soundstage. Try it and let us know how it comes out. I've also found that toe-in collapses the soundstage on mine. Good luck.

i've had the 2c's for 12 yrs and love them but until i added a vany sub i never realized how much low bass i was missing. i have a home theatre setup so i used the v2w sub but in an audio only setup the 2wq is probobly a better way to go

Get down and listen to the rear firing woofers to see if your speakers are in fact funtioning at the low end. Sounds simple, but check polarity if someone else has had a chance to get at your system. My 2Ce's are just 15-18 inches from the wall due to the moderate size of my room. They do not boom, but have sufficient bass that shows up when the program material calls for it. I also have a Sunfire sub. that cuts in below 40 Hz. but the level is set pretty low as it can get obnoxious with some material, and most material doesn't even seem to activate it. You might get bigger bass in a big room from model 3's. Plus that model can be upgraded by mfr., as the 2's cannot be. Try someones elses electronics with it, if possible, if only one at a time. I get all the nice bass I need with Hafler stuff. And a modified SONY higher price player.

having the 2ce go flat to 30 in more than one system, il cant understand why more of you havent advised getting different electronics. the 545 probably doesnt have the oomph in the bottom. arc sp9/classic 60 combo would be awesone but expen$ive. a hafler 500 is hard to find but i assure yu the bass would be visceral. do NOT put these fine sounding spks in corners or near walls. if they sound too spacey, toe them in toward the sweet spot. im not potshotting you medford, just offering the solution it took in the dealer showroom whre they were a bit too close to a reflective wall. theyre spacious enough without depending wall reflections. these speakers need to have space on all sides to take advantage of their near boxless design. they look goofy without the grill but thats the way id want to hear them all the time. kimber 8tc works well with this system also. ive never messed with biwiring but would if i owned these spks.

You might want to try a different CD player. I know when I bought a higher end CD player the bass response of my system went up noticeably. If you don't want to spend money try the following: 1. Spike the speakers. 2. Put lead shot or sand in the speaker stands. 3. Verify the speakers are firmly connected to their stands. 4. Put the speakers a little closer to the wall. You will pay a little in imaging. 5. Biwire the speakers. I did this with mine and noticed a sound improvement. 6. Shorten your speaker cables as much as possible & keep them off the ground. 7. Clean all of your connectors. 8. Sit further from your speakers. Low bass makes very large standing waves that you cannot hear up close. If you do want to spend money you can 1. Buy a cheap solid state amp for the low end. Pick up an old adcom, rotel, denon etc. Put your lower quality amp on the bottom. 2. Buy a used Vandersteen sub. I have heard the old 10 vintage 2w, and thought it added a lot to the vandersteen 2's.

Go tubes, these speakers thrive on tube gear ARC for the best result. This will give you rich full bass that you're missing.

Experiment with placement! 2C's are very critical in terms of how far away from the rear wall they reside. The speaker does have very good low-end extension if setup properly. Using a good amp will also help your situation.