At Last...

[Stringreen]

My 5A's just weren't sounding right....   I changed cables, sent back the amp who returned it saying it was fine....I described it as a resonance...banged on everything in the room looking for something loose..... The headphones with its dedicated amp sounded fine. This has been going on for years.  John Rutan gave me some suggestion, Richard too and  thought it may be in the crossover.  I sent the innards to Vandersteen for a checkup and 10 year batteries. All was fine.  Vandersteen repair then asked me to send back the midrange driver for checkup...  sure enough....the driver was in need of repair.  At last I can sleep tonight with the assurance, that the cloud will as last be gone.   A heartfelt thanks to Richard and the gang for the many years and continued pleasure from their work.

[Steve Edwards]

Stringreen, I too have had great experiences with Vandersteen service, particularly Ray Etchegoin, the Service Manager.  I had two drivers in one of my Quatros that needed rebuilding.  I'm fortunate to live close enough (albeit 3.5 hour drive) to Hanford.  Wanting to confirm there was nothing wrong with the other speaker, I drove them both up.  Upon completion of the repairs, Ray examined the good one and tuned both speakers in their chamber.  Two weeks later, my babies were back home sounding better than ever.

Play on

[GdnrBob]

@Stringreen,

Do you know/did they tell you why the drivers needed repair?-Overdriven?

Bob

[TomicTime]

awesome ! Ray picked up the phone yesterday 😉 a holiday

[Stringreen]

Never over taxed the speakers.....don't play them loud....amp is 200/200 watts ....doesn't clip.

[Holmz]

Sometimes if the motor gets something in it, then the VC will rub.
There are probably a bunch of things it could have been.

Or a bunch of things other than playing it too loud.

[ctsooner]

Great stuff and thanks for sharing.  You can't be in this type of cottage business and be so successful over this many years if you don't service what you sell.

[Richard Vandersteen]

12 hours ago, Holmz said:

Sometimes if the motor gets something in it, then the VC will rub.
There are probably a bunch of things it could have been.

Or a bunch of things other than playing it too loud.

Our mid-range titanium voice coils are very susceptible to any asymmetrical thrust on the cones.  We use this same motor on the Model 2 and 3 series and rarely if ever have a problem!  We do get one every now and then with the TREO, QUATRO, KENTO and SEVEN....interesting?  What is the difference?  It is almost impossible for anyone (small kid, etc.) to touch the mid-range drivers in the 2 or 3 because it is far behind the grille, which is not removable.  The other speakers are exposed to a slight brush of the elbow or finger during placement without the owner even realizing it.  Next thing we know we have a buzz every now and then on some music for no obvious reason years after they were built in systems that are not played loud.   A very honest person would have no idea why this happened but when Service gets it in it is obvious to us.  I have accidentally done this myself while moving the speakers over the years, more than once!

RV 

[ctsooner]

Thanks for that advice Richard. Glad I learned at age 13 not to touch drivers ever lol. Never take the frills off my speakers as I was always scared that something bad would happen. Being a klutz  I can,t take chances lol. 
 

now I have to be extra careful when dialing the speakers in lol