Vandersteens and room acoustics


I own a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce sigs with an Anthem power amp and Rogue preamp, and VPI Scout.
The Vandys sound really good but from past auditioning sessions, I believe they can sound better. I'm not sure how I would accomplish that (outside of new equipment) and I'm wondering if there are room treatments that would help in this room.
My listening room is 8W X 13L X 7H, obviously a less than ideal setup. The Vandys and component rack are on one short wall with the centers of the speakers about 5 feet apart.
The backs of the speakers are a little over a foot out from the front wall.
The "out" sides of the speakers are about a foot from the side walls. The best listening position I've found is about 6 feet away. The floor is reasonably thick carpet over cement slab with padding, obviously. The walls are bare.
Are there treatments that you would recommend? I have seen some sorts of traps behind Vandys and other speakers in system pics here, and elsewhere. What change would that give me? What about acoustic (whatever) on the side walls? Thanks in advance for any help.
Ag insider logo xs@2xkmulkey
Impossible Could it have been that you didnt have the woofers hooked up in phase correctly of you didn't let the speakers run in for over 150 plus hours? A properly working pair will measure bass down -2 db at 29 HZ from the sound of it you missed something.
Cheers johnnyr
I had Vandy setup problems in a new house I just moved into. I followed the suggestions by Vandersteen in the owners manual that is on line for all to see. The biggest improvement after setup was the addition of drapes on the windows...more of an improvement than the rugs etc. Also, get some live plants in the corners.
I not only checked phase of speaker connections, but tried working the woofers in good over a few days. Still, the old 2c's had much more balanced and solid bass! The newer Sig's, while better in every other way, were simply wimpy in the bass! I had a hole in the response between 63hz and 100hz that was not subtle! I mean, it was down -across that band almost 11- 12db!!! THAT'S HUGE!!! And it had nothing whatsoever to do with speaker and chair placements, cause Lord knows I tried every possible location in the room!
I highly doubt working those speakers in any longer would have made up that gap! I've been dealing with speakers and audio in general for decades, and have never heard/seen that before!
In locations where the bass was balanced and dynamic with the older models, it was simply "almost, not there" with the Sig's!
I had the client in to not only listen but to look at the measurements, first hand.
The speakers he end up with had no such problems in that same room, set up almost where the old Vandie's were! - and these were brand new in the box also.
So, I dunno what the deal was
No Bass on a pair of Vandersteen 2Cesigs?
Well 2ce sigs could be 3 to 10 years old
2cIs 1989 to 91 2CE 1992-1998 2CESIG 2006 2CESIG2
2007 to current day.
Could it be you had a 2nd hand damaged pair which was not up to spec? something wasnt right if they didnt supply bass and should have been sent back to Vandersteen Audio for repair.
Cheers Johnnyr