Speaker cables you like/dislike with Vandersteen

[VFan]

Would like to hear owners' comments on what you have tried and like / dislike with Vandersteens.  Audioquests seem to be the go-to but what about others?

[GdnrBob]

To be brief, I ended up just going with Audioquest as their cords (esp. the new ones) seem to work well with Vandy's.  I tried Transparent- an abyssimal overpriced failure, and Zu-actually not bad for the price, but AQ always bested them.

I will say the newer Audioquest cables are where you should invest.

I just tried a pair of Sky RCA interconnects and was surprised by how 'dim' and muffled they sounded. I reinstalled the Mackenzie's and was happy again. I then got a set of Water's and was immediately impressed by the increased 'presence'. as well as bass.

All this info probably isn't what you wanted to hear, but I thought I should post anyway, in case it might help anyone out there.

Bob

[Joey54]

I really liked the old Sumiko OCOS speaker cables with my Quatro's (cloth). I don't think they are currently available. I now use AQ Castle Rock with my Treo CT's. I am just getting ready to upgrade to AQ Robin Hood Silver Zero/Bass. 

I have tried Cardas Golden Reference, Tara Master Gen 2 and Audience AU24. I thought the Audioquest sounded best in my system with both the Treo's and my Harbeth's. Good Luck!

 

Joe

[Mr645]

I'm using StraightWire.  I really like them but I can't say I have tried too many other brands or models 

[Tomstruck]

I'm using Rocket 88 double biwire needed ten foot pair once I move I won't need the ten feet I can go up Audioquest line

[Steve Edwards]

Joey54, I have  cloth Quatros.  Please tell me about your switch to Treo CT's, the size of your room, what differences you've observed, etc. 

My room is fairly small - 12.25' wide by 14.33' deep (175.5 sq feet).  I'm sure the mid to high frequencies are an improvement over the drivers in the cloth Quatros.  Do you miss the Quatro's bass capabilities?

I'm pretty happy with my current system (heck, I haven't even performed the 11 band eq drill on them yet!  🤕), but at my age, the higher frequencies are where I most yearn for.  

Play on

[ctsooner]

I posted my cable thoughts on another thread on this forum. Forget which one.  I have had a ton over the house over the years.  Bob has seen all my gear when I bought my Treo's.  No matter what I install, the new line of AQ cables and cords best them all.  Some don't cost nearly as much, but nothing has come close and that includes a 20k balanced interconnect that I put against my AQ Horizon (the first year of the WEL was called Horizon until Bill was sued and forced to change the name).  In a double blind test no one has ever heard a difference between the newest WEL that just went off the market to my Horizon.  I get the new Fire today and will let you know my thoughts.  

Just checked the tracking number and it looks like all my cables and cords show up today.  It's Hanukkah around here!!!!

[Joey54]

Steve, I do occasionally miss the Quatro's and the system and room they were in. But, I sold my house when I moved to Italy and had to sell the system. When I came back I moved into a loft and needed a much simpler system that sounded good at low volumes. My Quatro's needed some juice to sound great. That might have been because of the OCOS and not just the speaker. The Vandersteen's that have the CT tweeter all seem to sound great at lower volumes than the older Vandies that I have owned.   The cloth Quatro's that I had were great speakers though the tweeter could be a little hot with the wrong amps. For me that was Pass Labs. Once my dealer turned me on to Aesthetix gear that was no longer a problem. I currently use the Aesthetix Mimas integrated amp.

My new room is 12 x 21 x 9. The highs are sweeter on the Treo CT's but again, with the right amps and cables you can find a good match for the Quatro's. I still think the cloth Quatro's are a great speaker and are much better than the 3A's, as good as they are.  If I could I might upgrade to the Quatro CT's but as I'm getting older the simplicity and size/weight of the Treo's really appeals to me.

I highly recommend that you have the speakers set up properly. When I had my Quatro's my dealer, John Rutan from the Audio Connection, set them up and the difference from having the eq at neutral was not subtle. It has a positive effect on everything the speaker does, not just the bass.

Enjoy!

[Steve Edwards]

Joe, THANK YOU, you may have just provided the motivation for me to reattempt tuning the eq on my Quatros.  My first attempt ended in my difficulty finding the base point for the SPL meter.  Since then, Richard has posted a detailed video on the entire process, including specifying the particular SPL meter to use (a Radio Shack model), which I have since purchased.   As I said, the system sounds really good to me now, especially since I just had my PSE Studio V mono amps recapped.  BUT, I have heard and do believe in your last sentence.   Eagerly looking forward to tackling that exercise and the improvements it will bring.  

Play on

 

[ctsooner]

They all sound very good, but yes, when you set them up properly and then do the EQ, they are special.  If you ever want a 'Quatro' upgrade from Treo's, you can easily sell the Treo's as they are rarely on the market, or even buy two Sub Three's and get fairly close to Quatro's.  I love Jim White's gear.  He's very much like Richard in that he cares about the best sound and value to his customers.  He also stands behind his gear.  IN A BIG WAY....  I can't share the story as it's too long, but he fixed a Rhea for me that I bought used from a scumbag on Audiogon.  

[GdnrBob]

Mmm, a Quatro upgrade...

But, my Treo's are squashed as it is (Ask Johnny). so that won't happen.

Thankfully, my Sub3's get me pretty close.

Bob

[Tomstruck]

Hi Steve I had John at Audio Connection originally tune my Quatos but sense then I have add amp ,preamp ,power cords and granite bases sounded great could not believe how good it sounded if somebody can tune Vandersteen's it John until I had Samir from Audio Connection  tune them the eases way I can explain it before Samir tuned them I was getting about 75% of the performance out of my system  which I didn't know until he tuned it now it sounds like I'm getting 100% unbelievably how much better it is  you would think I add a new pair of speakers or a new component  and its the cheapest upgrade with the biggest return you will get I'm lucky to live close to Audio Connection but I would pay Samirs fee and his travel to have him tune your system  it was worth every penny

Enjoying the Music 

Tom

[ctsooner]

I may be inviting the two of them up to CT in the near future once I get everything back in place. I have virtually a whole new system other than the Quatro's.  New cables and cords came yesterday.  Had an issue or two, but worked around that.  Even the granite plinths have thrown things off a tad.  

[DHilton]

About a year age I sold my Acoustic Zen Adagios and got Treo CTs (what an upgrade).  Recently changed speaker cables from Acoustic Zen bi-wire Hologram II's to Duelund Coherent Audio DCA12GA. The thought the AZ's had excellent speed,  articulation and clarity until I inserted the DCA's.   Duelund Coherent Audio DCA12GA speaker wires are 12ga tinned-copper with a baked oil impregnated cotton dielectric.  They are connected bare-wire without any connectors.  There said to sound better that way.

These cables/wires sound better to me than the Acoustic Zen's in terms of musical realism.  They have a rich, relaxed overall tonal balance and fulness yet retaining everything that the AZ's brought. Resulting in a more natural life-like tonality.  To top that off they cost about 1/6th the cost of the Hologram II's.  

.

[Steve Edwards]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the confirmation regarding the benefits of correctly tuning Quatro speakers.  Though I find Richard's instructional video clearly informative, I would like to have it done by an experienced individual.  I bought mine from one of John Rutan's customers and John was sooo helpful getting them out to me.  I've gotten to know him pretty well, albeit 3,000 miles away.  I have often thought  ..........  what would it take to get him (or Samir) out to the West coast?

What I'm thinking of doing is contacting Bruce at Stereo Unlimited in San Diego.  I have not met him or been in his store, but he is only about an hour's drive from me.  MAYBE ........... for a reasonable fee, he would be willing to make the trip and get my system really dialed in.

Play on 

[ctsooner]

I bought from Bruce when I lived in SD in the early to mid 80's.  I still have a Stax amp for the electrosts I bought from him to play my Sony 501ES (the first ever CD player that I bought on the ship 6 month prior to CD;s being released in the US I was told.  I asked the ships supply officer to get me one along with every CD released.  Cliff kept buying all the CD's.)

[TomicTime]

Steve, chat with Bruce and IF that does not work, I can give you a hand after 4/5, my second vaccine shot.

Jim

253-431-6tube 7tube 3tube 5tube ( subtract out tube )

Your friendly 24/7/365 Vandersteen Support Docent. *

* good luck getting in touch with me during fishing season May- September

[Steve Edwards]

Jim,  your offer is sincerely appreciated, thank you.  Though I will reach out to Bruce, I may take you up on it.  Are you in So Cal?  

My second shot is 4/8

hifimanor@gmail.com   949 439 4646

Trabuco Canyon, CA

 

[Daverz]

I use homemade bi-wire cables made from 14-gauge zipcord.

[Richard Vandersteen]

If your happy,  I'm happy.  Oh, the blessings of sonic bliss!

RV

[grue2cesig2]

audioquest is a great cable, i ended up going with kimber kable 12tc for speakers and hero balanced for source to preamp. to me the KK is a little drier, in comparison. maybe other words would be texture,  maybe grain(?), maybe edge? KK is like running your finger tips over a very fine coated photographic ink-jet printer paper that just has some texture to it.   audioquest is like the first time you tried dom perignon.! a different type of texture too :)

[Steve Edwards]

VERY small bubbles  :)

[ctsooner]

I still have my Kimber speaker cables in teh closet.  I know many who use it, but it's never been for me even when I owned it.  Others love it.  Great to have flavors.

[grue2cesig2]

4 hours ago, ctsooner said:

I still have my Kimber speaker cables in teh closet.  I know many who use it, but it's never been for me even when I owned it.  Others love it.  Great to have flavors.

i know. what's so cool about this, once you get a base on your main components that are good enough to reveal things, you can totally tune to what you like the best!

[ctsooner]

Agreed.  I tend to go with how Richard likes his music.  I've noticed that a few times when listening with him.  I am one of those who realizes we all hear differently for a multitude of reasons.  That's probably why I love the AQ cables even with totally different types of systems and that includes some very expensive horn systems with tube amps.  When tubes are done correctly, they sound fast as heck and have a proper tone for my ears.  That said, I run Richards amp and no pre right now. I may end up buying a tub pre soon though.