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I love my Vandersteen's but . . . . . . . .

Over the last 35 years I have only owned Four different speaker brands . In the 70”s Radio shack ,In the 80’s ADS L-990's and Vandersteen 2ci , In the 90’s to present , Snell B’s and then back to Vandersteen 2ce sig’s .. You can see my current system here on Audiogon.. Do a search In virtual systems for Stumpies System ..This will give you a lot of info on my system.

Ok ,, Here is my question … I love the sound from my current system but there are times I wish I could get a little more volume out of it . Most of the time when I listen the Meters on the McIntosh amp are bouncing around the 40 watt area with “peaks” around 100 W . But there are times I wish I could turn it up some . If I try to turn the Vandersteen’s up the sound starts to get “compressed” ,, Instruments loose there air around them ,, everything gets thin sounding so I always turn it back down.
Is there a speaker out there that will play “bigger” in my small listening room ?
Speakers I have been considering are B&W N-804’s ,, Von schweikert VR4jr ,,, Green Mountain Audio ,, NHT .
I listen to all kinds of music . Light rock mostly . Eva Cassidy,,James Taylor,,James McMurtury,,Lyle Lovett,,Mark knopfler,,Bob James,,Larry Carlton,,Lee Ritenour ..

What to do ??? Any help would be appreciated ..
stumpie
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drubin
3,265 posts
 
What a great happy ending, Tom. Congratulations!
mdhoover
695 posts
 
Stumpie:

As a former Paradigm owner (just like yours, except mine were V 3's), your excellent story doesn't necessarily surprise me. Although the Paradigms are sometimes bashed, I really think they're excellent speakers that do a LOT of things very well, including imaging. Thanks for posting your happy ending.

Scottht said:

"I am sure this will cause some negative input but, I am going to say it anyway. I won't go on about my decision to downsize. That is impossible to defend. But I will tell you this. I am using a stacked pair of Advents right now. I love this sound. I listen to 70's rock 99% of the time. For me, this is the answer."
Scott,
Nothing to defend at all, and you won't get any negative input, at least not from me. YOUR ears trump any stranger's opinion. Congrats to you on the "Advent" of your audiophile nirvana.
kt_88
242 posts
 
I cannot beleive no one has aksed the question of the position of those Vandies. They need to be at least ( recomended by Vandersteen ) a foot off the wall. I have had them 3 feet from the wall. Ever noticed how far most audio delaers place their speakers from the wall? I rarely see them closer than 3 feet.

Also the recommened wattage is between 40 and 160. So to have them hooked to a 40 watt amp ( and then cranking the volume ) is not going to give much in the way of music. I would never hook them to less that 60.

Another option would have been to go to a more open IC, or speaker calbe. No one ever suggested that either.

But the bottom line was the wattage. That speedometer might say 120 on your 6 cynlinder pickup. But your engine will be screaming and struggling if you try to stay there. But a Corvette will have no problem keeping up that speed :)

Use the speaker for what it was designed to do.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
It's not the speakers but the amp. You need more horsies under the hood.
stumpie OP
23 posts
 
Mdhoover ,, Thanks for your kind words. Its been 10 days since I moved the Paradigm’s in my listening room and I’m just loving it ! They are interacting fantastic with my room/equipment.

Kt_88 , , Every one of your questions can be answered by going to “My System” here on Audiogon . Also read my follow up post here in this thread dated 4-8-06 ,, It will also help you understand. Believe me ,, Its not my amp..

Stevecham , , A McIntosh MC-402 is not enough horse power for Vandersteen 2ce sig’s ???

Thanks again everyone for your input . Some of the speakers that have been suggested will be tried in the future ..

Tom
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