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
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.
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
Kt_88 said :

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.
And ,
40 watts is 40 watts. That's all I have to say.

Kt_88 ,

My amp is 400 watts a side. NOT 40 . Not sure why you think its only 40 w ?????
Tom