What first attracted you to the Vandersteen?

[Brad O]

I read about how many of you bought your first Vandersteen years ago and progressed through products to arrive at your current system.  I am curious as to what it was about the sound that caught your ear initially.  Maybe you even remember the song.  Would you mind sharing a thought or two?

[bkeske]

For me, and my 1C’s at the time, (still have them in my bedroom system), almost immediately it was the tone and timbre that made me sit, listen, and stare. Everything sounded ‘correct’ and natural to me. I was hooked. 

Cannot remember exactly what I was listening to, but know it was a symphonic work, as one of the things that struck me was the representation of the timpani. Not only was the tone and timbre ‘right’ to me, but also its depth on the stage.  And that was the same for all the orchestral groupings of instruments.

Edited May 10, 2023 by bkeske

[stratocaster]

I too am in the 1C group which I purchased in 1999 (still using them as home theater front speakers) from Audiolab, PA. It was Diana Krall's voice coming out of these speakers that just got me completely mesmerized. She had just released 'When I look in your eyes' album... The room was quite big and the speakers looked small but they filled the room with sound and as bkeske mentioned...the sound just made me AND my wife sit down and listen. For someone who had never owned a decent pair of speakers, this was where the buck stopped and the rest is history....

Edited May 10, 2023 by stratocaster

[Holmz]

1 hour ago, Brad O said:

I read about how many of you bought your first Vandersteen years ago and progressed through products to arrive at your current system.  I am curious as to what it was about the sound that caught your ear initially.  Maybe you even remember the song.  Would you mind sharing a thought or two?

It was not really what I would call fun.

I went to some place in Torrance, in a mall, to listen to TTs.
And some other joint in Redondo or Manhattan Beach.
And then Haven and Hardesty on the Seal Beach side of Huntington Beach… In the industrial area.

And some place up in Montrose, Pasadena  or some foothill area.

It was driving around long distances, and carrying around a stack of LPs, and not going to too many places, to often.
I was a bit of a tyre kicker.

I mostly got to listen to the 1B, but I purchased the 2C.

 

What caught my ear, was that there was no real negatives that popped out.
Usually after a while there is a “That’s it there” moment, when something sounded not too great (i.e. bad).

I hate to sound like a Negative Nancy type of downer… but it was more they did “nothing bad”, than doing something particularly great.
They just got “outta da way”. 

At least a couple of times the Mrs has said that, “they do not sound normal, and that you cannot hear the the speakers themselves, and it’s weird and not normal, to have the sound often coming from behind the speakers. It is confusing.”
But to me they seem more “Natural”.

Hence, for me, it was more of a process of elimination… eliminating speakers with flaws that I did not like.

 

The LPs included Howard Devoto, Timezone, a Mozart one, Blancmange, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, The Specials AKA, and heavily steeped in the New Wave genre .
There a couple more.

One I did not have was the Suburbs “Music for Boys”, which I listened to yesterday on Spotify.
(Years later someone explained what the song was about 🤔)
I would not call the YouTube version high fidelity, but it has some horns and woodwinds, so it is a decent mix of sounds. 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Holmz

[Holmz]

Actually let me walk that back a bit.
Almost everyone say “:Dire Straights”.
I like Dire Straights as much as the next person.
I don’t think 80s new wave makes it easy to tell if a speaker is any good… it just informs one whether they like the sound of the speakers for 80s new wave. 
(And most 80s new wave is not a stellar recording.)

And having something that one likes is great.
But give me a piano or vocals, and there becomes a bit more stark, and harder to find cover and hide the flaws.

Maybe Erik Satie piano… but it quickly gets tribal when one talks about particular music and songs, instead of the sonic attributes.
Blue is almost always good.

For a contemporary song, this is a bit alluring in terms of the lyrics, and starts off with vocal and piano, so it is a bit of a stress test.
(The eldest describes his voice as imperfectly perfect, but I like the song and it usually sounds good to me.) 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Holmz

[Steve Edwards]

Great idea Brad!  It was early to mid-80's; I owned a pair of Infinity speakers.  I don't recall the model, they were wood cabinets with the curved, fluted sides, about 4' tall.  While making my rounds as a beer distributor, I was having a conversation with a bartender in Corona Del Mar.  Ironically, the same establishment my wife Karen and I had our first date (but that's another story).

When I mentioned to James that I was considering replacing my speakers, he said "there's a place in Huntington Beach that carries a brand called Vandersteen; you really should go check them out."   Shortly after, with one of my most familiar albums, I headed up to Haven's and Hardesty.  Upon being greeted by Richard Hardesty, I told him I was advised to listen to Vandersteen speakers.  I followed him into the first sound room, where a pair of 2C's were.  I thought the album I brought, the Larsen Feiten Band, sounded pretty good.  But, Richard stated "that's not a very good recording."  He put on a Grace Jones album, Slave To The Rhythm.  The track he played was Don't Cry - It's Only The Rhythm.  Not the most musical piece I've ever heard, but that "right there in the room" sensation just knocked me out.  I think I said to him, "that's the most realistic thing I've ever heard."  

All the way home, I kept telling myself, I've got to have those!  I'm on my third pair now, Quatro fabric.

Play on

[DC-93]

I liked the sound of my Ohm F speakers... everything off of one cone: coherent sound at my seated position!

But I didn't like the placement issues of an omnidirectional driver!!

So, I bought 3A Signatures in the mid 2000s.

As stated above: they did nothing wrong, and I could hear details that other speakers couldn't extract from the musical source. 

 

[Stringreen]

for me..it was at a NY HiFi show...mabe in the 80's.....I think it may have been the original 5's ....but I was able to hear a 3 dimensional placement of instruments....that is what sounded so real.  I don't remember the ancillary equipment, but do remember that the cables were lead encapsulated...perhaps Kimber.

[Oregon]

After spending decades with ARs it was kind of a no brainer to go with the 2Ce Sig. II's. Loved my AR-12's and AR-11's, still, wish I would have known of Vandersteen in the 70's. In the far corners of my music room you can see the AR-11's are acting as faux bass traps. Uh, huh...

[GdnrBob]

I don't think Vandersteen sold until the late 70's.

Am I wrong? 

B

[BKDad]

The model 2 has been in continuous production since 1977, so the web site says. 

Not quite the history as the Porsche 911, but truly amazing for an electronic product.

[Boom Boom]

What compelled me to buying Vandersteens ... The Sound quality. I first learned and later realized the Vandersteen sound had the speakers disappear and flat out get out of the way of the music. The time alignment makes the sound image very accurately and the scale of instruments to singers sound more real. They sound most like live music to my ears, and I could actually afford the 2Cs which just had been released. They were full range enough to capture what I heard live and in really good systems. I had decent enough equipment to get the sound quality that I was hoping for.

As I've upgraded accompanying equipment, the speakers would benefit from reproducing more details and air around the instruments and singers. Vandersteen had come out with even more refined models, which I have convinced myself I can't afford. Lol! I've since acquired the 2C Sig III's.

These days I've been focusing on hunting for music to  play through my system and attending more live performances.

[Oregon]

Have you compared the sound of the Sig II's to the Sig III's? Steve Gutenberg reviewed the Sig III's, he reports the older 2Ce's not sounding as "bright" as early 2's.

[GdnrBob]

On 5/13/2023 at 8:09 PM, Boom Boom said:

These days I've been focusing on hunting for music to  play through my system and attending more live performances.

I just came back from listening to a concert in the newly redesigned Geffen Hall.

Though I don't go to many concerts, the current renovation sounds much better than previous iterations. In fact, while listening, I felt the soundstage sounded a lot like when I listen to the Treo's.

Bob

[Bruskie]

My first Vandy was the 1B bought in1987 at Musical Images in Fresno CA. The owner,Greg, was playing a lot of audiophile labels at that time;  Sheffield, Reference Recordings etc. I never heard such imaging from a stereo system before. I remember one track in particular, Serendipity by Michael Garson. I listened through a couple pair of speakers using a Linn LP12 & Ittok tonearm, an Audible Illusions pre into Quicksilver monos. Greg quickly switched from one pair of speakers to the Vandy 2Cs and I was blown away at how deep the soundstage suddenly became. Then came the purity of the piano & Sax and I was sold on the Vandys. I couldn't afford the 2C at the time so I bought the 1B instead. And here I am 36 yrs. later listening through Quatro CTs.  Life is good !

Bruce

[Holmz]

15 hours ago, Bruskie said:

My first Vandy was the 1B bought in1987 at Musical Images in Fresno CA. …

In that era, a  friend in Fresno said he always had to go to Taft when his car needed servicing and the oil checked.
He said that they had all the dipsticks over in Taft.

[Brad O]

On 5/13/2023 at 2:11 PM, GdnrBob said:

I don't think Vandersteen sold until the late 70's.

Am I wrong? 

B

1977

 

[ctsooner]

I wanted to see what everyone would say before posting.  I met Richard in 1983 in San Diego at Bruce's.  I had already become a customer there with at CJ pre and a Moscode amp and then a Roberson amp (loved that amp).  I got all my Navy buddies to get NAD based systems.  I forget which speakers they all had, but I owned my Polk 10's at the time.  I fell for the 2's with the Sota vacuum table and I think all top CJ electronics.  I didn't have the need for new speakers at that point as the ship was heading out on a year long cruise.  

I moved back to CT in 87 and got married the first time in 90.  We went to Take 5 Audio in New Haven, CT.  I had my dad get his system from them in 77 when they first opened (from Ralph) and I sent a lot of friends there. They had Vandy's and Thiels.  I went there to get Vandersteen's and Ralph started to push Thiel.  I don't think the Steen's were set up correctly as they didn't sound 'right'.  I hated Thiel's as they made our ears hurt (my ex was with me).  I then went to Ocean State Audio where I became good friends with Bruce, the owner.  Brtuce had Steen's, but he loved ProAc, Maggies and Apogee much better.  I fell for the smaller Apogee with the sub for the base of the speaker.  Bruce also didn't have the Steen's set up correctly, so they were out of the running again.  I walked out of the store with a demo pair of ProAc towers that were rewired with MIT wire a Quicksilver, Silver Mono amp that twas prewired with MIT and the full service Quick pre, that was also upgraded along with those new 'caps' that Bruce Brisson was using at teh time.  I had the top MIT 770MH speaker cables in 3' runs to the amps and the 350 interconnects (the wire used was the top wire from MIT and used on his Spectral specialty wires).  I also was using a top Rotel TT for source.  

The rest of my family all followed suit as did at least 20 of my friends. They all got ProAc speakers with integrated amps (the Studio stand mounted ones).  When my ProAc's needed new drivers, I found Rutan. One of my cousins lives in Verona near the store. The family was there for a wedding and my brother and dad went with me so I could buy the new D2 response series Proac's and get drivers or new surrounds ot sell the Towers.  Rutan made us listen to the Treo's before leaving. I said no at first as I didnt' like Vandersteen's at the time.  We were floored by what we heard. I upped how much I was going to spend and got the Treo's and the rest is history.  Up to Quatro's now.  You all know I'm a fan boy.  they just do things in my system, that others simply can't do, or at least what I've heard can't do.  I love the compromises that Richard makes.  That's my journey so far and it's not complete by any means.

[stratocaster]

Based on all the responses here I wonder how much potential business can be lost due to poor setup at the dealers. It’s a shame that the pool of dealers is also shrinking..

[Richard Vandersteen]

My dad often said "Richard the best gift to have been given is discernment," how I do miss him.  It is easy to blame a dealer for poor setup but every speaker in the store cannot be optimized because they have a limited number of rooms.  I have met many Audio Enthusiasts over my 46 years and some of them were given the gift.  They like me can walk into a room and discern if the setup is fair and be especially careful if blown away.  If you hear any product that blows you away that is your first sign something may be wrong.  Tecnology has improved over the years but genuine improvements that pass the test of time are hard to come by.  We need to be actively involved in the design of our systems and our system setup because it makes it easier with the help of a good dealer to put together a great system that performs better than the sum of the parts.  This is the Holy Grail!  When we do our research, we are expecting a dramatic experience and be "Blown Away" as it can be a lot of money and a major investment.  Interestingly these systems are there best the first days and wane over time and don't scratch the itch.  Systems that give enjoyment for years are discovered the second time or more around because they don't call attention to them self's (slow to get the check book out) and just get out of the way and let the music play.  Some discern what is musically correct the instant they hear it and that works for me.  RV

[Ken K]

My first exposure to Vandersteen speakers in the late 90's was not intentional.  I was helping my father find a turntable and a shop in North Attleboro MA (forget the name) where he had purchased speakers recommended Ocean State in Providence RI.  Bruce at Ocean State let us listen to the VPI table he had set up and we listened through ProAcs and then Vandersteen 2CE Signatures.  Audio Research Phono and Krell amplifier I seem to remember.  

I don't know, Pete, if he had them set up differently from when you head them, but when I heard the Vandersteens, I immediately thought -- I've never heard speakers that sounded like that, like music sounds. 

I am a guitarist, at the time mostly acoustic, and listen primarily to classical music.  I have two daughters, one a violist, one a cellist.  Lots of live acoustic music experiences.  No other speaker brand I'd heard or have heard since has come as close to giving me the same sense of, using Richard's words above, "what is musically correct."   We listened to string quartets, beginning with the Borodin playing the Shostakovich  6.  All it took was the opening repeated notes by the viola.  My father actually walked between the speakers, so convincing was the sense of musical instruments in space.  The demonsionality was uncanny.  

My father bought a VPI that I have since inherited.  After that, I listened to as many speakers as I could, but never heard that sense of rightness, of music.  I returned to Bruce and found that he was dropping the Vandersteen line and was selling his 2CEs that I had listened to.  I bought them and lived happily with them for over 20 years.  I don't replace components often, but with each upgrade I did make, the 2CEs faithfully reflected the changes.

The ProAcs (a monitor, I don't remember the model) were, in their way, spectacular, disappeared, impressive soundstage and dynamics.  Just not for me after hearing the 2CEs.

About four years ago I made my way down to John Rutan's (I live in CT) to audition the Quatros,only to realize my then current monoblocks were far outclassed by the Quicksilver V4s.  I heard some of the best sound I'd ever heard -- Quatros, V4s, AR Pre, Rotel CD and, of course, vinyl.  I purchased the V4s then and, a few years ago, a pair of Quatros.   Samir worked his magic on the set up -- placed almost exactly where I had the 2CEs.  I hardly ever think of the system now when I listen.  

 

 

[ctsooner]

Ken, where in CT are you?  I love that you used to go to Bruce's. I'm still in touch with him every now and then (He moved to CA).  He was just putting the Steen room together. If it was late 90's, it was in his new shop and not on Angel St???  He always was showing the ProAc Studios or the Response series.  He and Dwight loved those.  Great stuff!

 

[Ken K]

I'm in Glastonbury, Pete.  I bought the speakers in April 2000 and Bruce was still on Angel Street.  The next time I visited, he had moved to Cranston.  I liked his shop in Providence.   Some of the best listening experiences I've had at a shop.

[ctsooner]

I agree on this Angel St shop. I met him two shops prior when he was moving from the store front on the main drag.  That's why he sold me my gear as demo's. He wanted the cash and didnt' want to move more gear, lol.  I loved eating up there (Brown campus for those of you who don't know Providence).  I'm in Berlin.  

[BKDad]

It's really odd that the general Providence area is pretty much bereft of audio stores.  Just is, though.

That part of Angell Street in Providence isn't very oriented toward anything retail these days, either.  Except for food, it would seem.