2. amps-preamps
  3. 1161045144

Trying to extract more from my Vandersteen

I've come to the realization that my ideal system is always 2 steps ahead of whatever my current system is. I am only satisfied with whatever updgrade for a few months, before I convince myself that I need to upgrade again. This is as exciting as it is unsettling.

My current system is as follows:
Vandersteen 2CE sig
McCormack DNA-1 deluxe
TAD-150 sig tube preamp
Eastern Electric Minimax tube CDP
Blue circle Power cords
MIT IC's and speaker cables

I had spent the past two years building this current system, and I had been fairly happy with it. I thank this system for introducing me to the world of jazz. Switching to tubes really helped my Vandersteens "sing". I had entertained the thought of replacing the McCormack with a tube amp, such as TAD-60 or other equivalent, but I never did. I was happy with my system and figured it would remain intact for awhile.

Then something had to rain on my happiness or complaceny. Due to a busy work schedule, I was forced to do most of my music listening either in my office through my old NHT and all rotel setup or at home through my Sennheiser headphones. After a couple months of this, I finally had time to do some listening through my main system. It had never been apparent to me before, but all the music coming out of the Vandersteens sounded "veiled". Before, I purchased my vandies, I read and heard all the criticisms regarding this "veiled" or "shrouded" sound. I never felt this was true about my vandersteen's until now.

So instead of making generalizations, I figure this is a good opportunity to "improve" my system. I am still more than happy with the soundstage, midrange clarity, and bass dynamics. Perhaps what I want to improve is higher frequency extension.

All this being said, I welcome all recommendations and comments that need not be limited to the following topics:

tube-rolling...

Pre-amp...
Any recommendations on pre-amps (tube or SS)?
How about a passive unit (Sonic Euphoria, Placette, Mccormack TLC)?

cables...
anyone recommend Purist?

Amp...
Any good integrated's out there?
What do you think about the Eastern Electric Integrated?
How about Krell KAV 400xi? For that matter, how does Krell match with Vandersteens?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to reading your comments.

Drew
drewyou
drewyou OP
24 posts
 
Update: My system was out of commission for the past 6 months, due to the left channel going out in my McCormack amp. After some discussion with the folks out at SMcAudio, I decided to have my amp fixed there and upgraded to "Silver" (similar to the older Rev B upgrades).

Oh man, what a difference the upgrade made to my system. EVERYTHING improved. Clarity, soundstaging, bass response/tightness... let's just say I am now a very happy owner of a decent reasonably affordable stereo system. Now I wonder what could have been if I had taken the Gold or Platinum upgrade, but being recently married, my budget was capped.

Another issue I've been dealing with is room size as I have moved to a new place, and my dedicated listening room is approx 13 x 13. After some ordeal, I ended up setting up my system diagonally. This seemed to be a great improvement over setting up along one of the walls. 2wq sub placement was difficult indeed. I pretty much slid the sub above every square foot of the room to find the best performance. I ended up placing it in a corner along the foundation wall of the house.

I'm looking to get into room treatment... anyone have any suggestions?
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Diagonal placement was fairly commonplace at RMAF, and there are theories supporting this kind of placement. Good and affordable room treatment can be had at acoustimac.com
samhar
1,048 posts
 
Get the Stereophile Test CD (#1). I use it to adjust the subs, physical placement,Q and db settings, it's a huge help!!! You only need a Sound Level Meter( digital) from Radio Shack for db level readings. There are also other simple test that help in the evaluation of your system.
ig316b
103 posts
 
Drewyou
Glad to hear you are enjoying your upgrades, I have my TLC-1Dlx scheduled for the Gold upgrade along with having the Carbon wire installed. They told me it would be after the first of the year before they could get started on it. I have pair of DNA-1 Golds that I use to drive a pair of 3A Sig with awesome results. I just added a 2Wq with the X-5 crossover a couple of weekends ago and Wow what an improvement but then again you already know this. I'm not sure if you're using the X-5 or the X-2 but I can tell you this much the X-5 will add a whole new meaning to the word clarity to your system. I haven't been home the past two weeks to be able to pinpoint exactly what all the improvement are but that will be the fun of it listening to all that great music. If you get the chance try the X-5 you will be amazed at the what your system can actually present to you.
You should post your system on the system board, I have plans to do that here in the next coming weeks as the cold sets in.
soundbit
62 posts
 
Probably not as sophisticated as many here, but have a pair of Vandy 2c driven by Myryad MI-240 integrated, use anticables for speaker wires and also to my Marantz 4300 (yes - cringe - a carousel) CD player. The Myryad replaced my old NAD 3020 and it is much faster and more accurate. Any tips to improve or balance this system?

Thanks.
More to discover