Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT Setup Questions

16ft. x 15ft. 8 in.

Speakers will be placed on the 16ft wall.

I haven't done the math yet.

Near Milwaukee Wi

Another question. My Audio Research Amp (REF110) has 4, 8 & 16 ohm taps. The Quatro manual says try 4 or 8 ohms. I know that Vandersteens were often demoed at shows using similar ARC amps. Does anyone know what taps RV uses? Any general opinions?

They were delivered yesterday in excellent condition. High pass filters batteries are dated 2022 and have QA Wind balanced connections; I am running AQ Niagara and Water, nice match.

In the week it took to ship the speakers I studied the setup manual and created another thread here asking for help. I followed all the advise and did my homework and had all of the proper tools. The setup took a few hours and all I can say is I am extremely happy. The setup is not hard but it takes time and the process must be followed. 

Thanks for all the great adviose and 

Vandersteen Quatro CT Setup Update

I decided to ask Jonathan Spelt from Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee do a masters setup on my Quatro CTs. Bottom line is the difference is remarkable.

Originally I set them up myself. I was extremely detailed when I did my initial setup. I followed the Vandersteen instructions and really took my time. My system sounded better than it ever had and I was very pleased. After several weeks of listening, I decided to have Jon do the Masters Setup to see what improvement gains could be had.

Jon came to my house armed with music, tools and know how. His procedure was completely different from the one in the Vandersteen manual. I took notes on what he did but once he really got into the process I realized that my notes would in no way allow me to recreate the years of experience Jon has, or his ear... 3 or 4 hours later and my system sounds so much better that I was amazed. Probably the single biggest jump I could imagine for the money.

If you have Vandersteens, get Jon or someone like him to set them up properly. I took notes, I could elaborate on Jon’s process, but I would absolutely recommend a masters setup. Jon works closely with RV - and RV himself referred Jon to me; I am glad that I listened...

The Masters setup goes way beyond the setup procedures that come in the Quatro CT manual. Richard Vandersteen himself recommended this method and he and Jonathan Spelt use this method when setting up at shows like AXPONA. I exchanged several emails with RV and he absolutely recommended Jon.

I'll post notes on the masters procedure soon.

Some notes on the Master process. The setup took about 4 hours.

First off my system components FWIW. VPI Aries 3 - Single Flywheel Motor - Peripheral Ring - Super Plater - SDS - Balanced Output. Lyra Delos. ARC PH-8 Phono Pre. ARC LS-27 Pre. ARC Ref-110 with KT-120. Rega Saturn DC. AQ Niagara 1000 Power Strip. AQ WEL Signature Power Cable wall to Niagara 1000. AQ NRG 10 Power Cable Niagara to components. AQ NRG-2 Niagara to Quatro subs. AQ Water & Niagara Balanced IC.

Step 1 - Remove spikes and place speakers onto furniture slides
Step 2 - Zero all 11 sub EQ channels
Step 3 - Leave the subs powered on when positioning the speakers. Jon wanted to "energize" the room while seeking placement. "the speakers need to work with the room"
Step 4 - Play cd Rob Wasserman & Jennifer Warnes Duets - Ballad of the runaway horse. Very loud (61 on the LS-27) to energize the room.
Step 5 - Starting with speakers very close to rear wall and very wide apart... Hours of successive approximations finding the proper location and toe in while replaying track over and over. Listening, small and fussy adjustments, more listening, small and fussy adjustments - all by ear.
Step 6 - When the final location was reached, Remove furniture slides and insert speaker spikes.
Step 7 - Set speaker tilt. "listen to Jennifer’s voice" - and that placement needed to be recreated. I was told that Jennifer was standing when this song was recorded. As tilt was adjusted, Jennifer’s voice raised from low between the speakers to about 5 ft above the floor, pinpoint, right there so it felt as if you could grab it. "This is the final of setting a 3D sound stage I was told.
Step 8 - Set the Bass EQ similar to the procedure in the manual however the lowest setting was left at zero and ignored.

The speakers are now much wider apart and closer to the rear wall, more toe-in.

On to test listening via vinyl. Gomez - Bring it on. Original pressing. Get Miles, Who’s gonna go the bar, etc.

Notes on the sound compared to the old placement (carefully using the instructions in the Quatro CT manual). My system seems to play louder and more dynamic at the same volume level with the new placement. Louder may not be the right word, perhaps more immediate? Bass is the best I have heard; level through all bands. Dynamics are way up. I wasn’t expecting this. I thought that soundstage and imaging were the only things that would be effected but the overall sound is even more natural, extended, dynamic and as good as I could ever hope for in my room. The 3D soundstage is giant and the speakers have finally completely disappeared. Stable imaging and instrument/voice placement. Very emotionally involving.

In the studio the microphone has no idea whether a performer is seated, standing, or lying on the floor. The engineer also has no way of encoding vertical information into the recording. They have pan, which will locate an instrument from left to right, and will use track levels and reverb often times to give the impression that instruments are located closer or farther away. But to the best of my knowledge, there is no way to encode vertical information into a recording. 


Interesting. I must admit that I am not competent to answer such a question but my ears can hear 3d imaging when it is present. My question is How does this explain single mike recordings? I am specifically thinking of Chesky Records - The Ultimate Demonstration Disc - Track 23 - Festival to Deum.

I am not trying to be a smart ass in any way. When I think of clean single mike jazz or similar recordings the soundstage can be amazing.

I can also tell you that when this adjustment was made, it locked everything in.