I just got my Vandersteen Quatros today. The guys from Stereo Unlimited did a quick checkout with the Vandertones CD and will come back for more complete adjustment when the speakers are settled in.
Until I get my Bryston 3B-SST back from Bryston service, I'm using a pair of cute little Rotel RMB-100 mono amps. I might keep using them; I like the idea really short speaker cables.
The speaker wires shown are homemade in a "true" bi-wire configuration from Streetwires Supercable (14 AWG; hey, it was a pretty blue) and intended for the 3B-SST. Raptor #10 gold barrier spades on the speaker end and Audioquest 5/16" spades on the amp end. Crimped and soldered.
I still have some scraps of Supercable left over for under 3' runs to the Rotel RMB-100s. The Rotels make bi-wiring easy by providing 2 sets of binding posts. These short cables will use #10 ring connectors (just tin) on the speaker side as per RVs preferences and Audioquest 1/4" gold spades on the amp side.
I think after this I need to do some work on noise reduction (I live near a freeway) by adding a second pane to some of my windows.
I had a lot of buyer's remorse after ordering these, and had a lot of time to think about it over the 7 weeks they took to get to my door. $8k speakers!? Are you mad?! But after several hours of listening those anxieties have evaporated. Well, except for being $8k poorer. I'll try to post more about the sound of the speakers after I've lived with them for a few weeks.
180W monoblock tube amps. 4 X KT-88 + 2 X 12au7 + 1 X 12ax7 per side.
Balanced Audio VK-3iX
Includes optional phono stage.
AURALiC Vega
With Sanctuary Audio Processor as heart, AURALiC introduces several cutting-edge technology for VEGA: Megahertz upsampling algorithm up-samples all PCM music to 1.5MHz in 32bit; Femto Master Clock provides an ultimate clock precision with jitter only 82 femtoseconds(0.082 picosecond). Binding with other AURALiC's patented technologies such as 'ORFEO Class-A module' and discrete 'Purer-Power solution', VEGA will bring high resolution music playback experience to climax.
Michell Engineering Gyro SE
With the power supply upgrade, the Orbe clamp, and tonearm decoupler.
SME 309
Magnesium tonearm with detachable magnesium headshell.
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
The transport for my Logitech Media Server system, it replaces a Squeezebox Touch. The Pi runs piCorePlayer.
Benz Micro Ace High Output
An original Benz Micro Ace High Output cartridge (before the "S"). I had put this away, not liking it's overemphatic midrange, but now loaded at 1500 Ohms, it's sounds great.
Wacky and wonderful: I was reading some comments on Dunlavy speakers and thought it might be fun to set up my old Dunlavy SC-IIIs with my current equipment. I'd never heard these with any of my tube gear. Long story short, these sound amazing.
These are difficult speakers to set up in my "common" room because of all the entrances and exits in (two stairways, a hallway, french doors, kitchen, etc). These speakers really need to be close to a room boundary to have decent bass, but they also need to be at least 3 meters apart, since you need to sit that far from each because of the driver arrangement. Luckily I live alone, so it doesn't matter too much that the left speaker is too close to the french doors and the right speaker is at the top of the entrance stairs and in front of a bay window. They can easily be scooched aside in any case.
Yeah, that was one of the reviews that I read before buying the unit. I then went online and was pleased to see that one of the dealers was my favorite San Diego high-end shop. That Bruce, the owner of Stereo Unlimited -- who is not normally a digital guy -- took on the product also influenced my decision.
I am very happy with it, but don't think I have anything to add to the half dozen rave reviews already published.
While I feel the Vega does take my system to much higher level, I don't have any experience with other DACs at this price level. I do know that my previous DACs weren't cutting it (Neko DAC and the Cambridge 840C).
I'm using my Squeezebox Touch with the Enhanced Digital Output app as a USB transport.
I just got a pair of Tung Sol 6V6GT reissue tubes today, and after hours of run in, these really do seem like they are a step up from all the 6V6 I've tried: the stock JJ 6VG-S, the EH 6V6GT and the NOS Sylvania and Pope 6V6GT (the Sylvania were the overall best of this bunch to my ears.) The Tung Sol has the good bass performance of the other 6V6GTs (the JJ's are somewhat disappointing in the mid-bass), but with more air and more saturated colors than the others.
I've gave up on the Gold Lions. Aside from too much tube rush, they are rolled off and muddy sounding compared to Electro-Harmonix 6922s (just the regular $15 steel pins).
I also treated the tube sockets with Caig Deoxit Gold. Best tweek ever.
Amazing how long I put up with poor sound because I was sure that $45 tubes sounded better than $15 tubes.
I can also report that no KT-120s have blown since I got them. I'm sure I would have blown at least one KT-90 by now.
I changed out the 6-foot runs of Audioquest Slate (in a bi-wire configuration with both "high" and "low" runs in the same jacket) for 3 foot runs of Anti-Cable. These are in a bi-wire configuration that is shotgunned into the spade at the amp end (the Rogue monoblocks).
I asked that the Anti-Cable wires not be woven together. The stiffness of the Anti-Cable allows each wire to be kept several inches away from the other wires for most of their run, as recommended by Richard Vandersteen.
The wires simply go in a short arc through the empty space from the amp to the speaker without touching anything else. I think the wire is stiff enough that this suspension in space would work even if the wires were a few feet longer, so maybe I'll order a longer pair for the Bryston.
The change resulted in a big improvement in transparency, image focus, and bass definition (though I do wonder what cleaning the Audioquest spades would have done; they were pretty dirty on the speaker end.)
I'm also using a Pope 6V6 from Upscale Audio. The 6922s are Genalex Gold Lion (current production). I've only tried a few different 6922s, so I don't think I can name a favorite.
Trying the RCA clear tops (12AU7) again. These have a seductively transparent and articulate midrange, but they are disappointing in the frequency extremes. Their bass is particularly weak.
A KT-90 blew in one of the Rogues, so I decided to replace all the KT-90s with KT-120s. Not cheap, but I'm glad I did. The just give you more of everything: more treble, more colors, more drama. As happy as I was with the original sound of the Rogues, I always wanted a bit more texture and warmth on massed strings, and the KT-120s give you that.
I also just put in some RCA black plate 12ax7s, and they give even more top-end air.
While I was waiting for the new tubes I had a Bryston 3B-SST hooked up. The sound of this amp never seemed as good as it should have been...until I used some pliers to the binding posts. Then it sounded great. So now I have a satisfying "summer" amp.
The trim pots you want to use are marked on the circuit board as R145 (left) and R245 (right).
To adjust the balance, I play a 1 kHz tone on my Squeezebox and then use my Radio Shack voltmeter (set to RMS) to check the output levels at the amp speaker outputs, adjusting the trim pot of whichever channel is has a higher voltage until it matches the lower voltage. You could also check the voltage from the single-ended preamp outputs on the 3ix.
Rather than trying to use the probes that come with the voltmeter, it's easier to use a couple dual-banana-to-BNC adaptors and a BNC cable (some amps will not take dual bananas, though). Or an RCA-to-BNC adaptor if you want to measure the preamp output.
You might also try swapping tubes around to see if that will reduce the imbalance.
I decided to make one last ditch effort to "rehabilitate" the 3ix by buying a quad of Genalex Gold Lion EC88s (6922) reissues. These are pricey current production tubes that have been getting a lot of positive comments about their sound quality. (I also put the Pope 6V6 tubes back in place of the EH 6V6.)
While installing the new tubes I decided to check that I was using the right trim pots to trim the balance of the tubes and -- ho, ho, ho -- turns out I was using the wrong pots the whole time (the inner pots). And it turns out I was really destroying much of the imaging with this mis-configuration. (The correct pots are R145 and R245.)
Now how did I not notice this destruction of the imaging? I can only assume that some changes in my other components added too many other confusing variables at the time I was playing around with the pots.
Well, a lot of my audiophile odyssey has consisted of recovering from my own mistakes and misunderstandings. Par for the course, I guess.
But my system is whole and satisfying again: analog and digital together. Listening to a few records the other day confirmed to me what a great combination the AT33PTG cartridge and the BAT VK-P3 phono card are.
Now it's possible I could have gotten satisfaction from the EH 6922s at 1/3 the price, but I don't feel inclined to swap them back in right now. The Gold Lions do seem to be a big improvement in the fullness of midrange tone, where the EH are perhaps a little dry. I can also report that the Gold Lions are very quiet.
Temperatures have been mild, so I'm back to using the Rogues. Thankfully, because the Bryston was never really engaging. I've also switched over to triode mode, which seems to give me the most air and ambience.
I'm also back to directly connecting the DAC to the amps and using the Touch's 24-bit digital volume control. This is simply the best sound I've gotten out of my system: the most transparent and lifelike. The soundstage floats free of the speakers.
The 3iX does add some "texture" to the sound, but it swallows too much of the detail and air that gives the illusion of space.
I've spent a lot of time now listening with the digital volume control and have heard no deleterious effects from it. I'll have to get some kind of switchbox so I can reintegrate the analog gear back into the system.
It was getting too warm in the listening room with all the tube gear so I switched to running my Neko DAC directly into the Bryston 3B-SST, using the Squeezebox for digital volume control.
The Bryston has a switch that lowers the gain by 6 dB, and with Neko output being 6 dB less than the typical DAC, that puts my "serious" listening volume at about -10 to -15 dB. However, late night listening might need to go down to -25 to -30 dB. A more ideal "direct" setup would probably involve some stepped attenuators in the signal path.
I was somewhat skeptical of those who say that an SS amp takes as much as 24 hours to warm up, but damn if the Bryston didn't take even more than that to lose a sort of electronic haze it puts over the music. Having sat unplugged for a long time might have had something to do with it as well.
But it does lose the haze and sounds pretty good after that. Going to SS is not all bad. Images are a bit large and diffuse compared to the Rogues, and the midrange is less colorful and a bit recessed, but the Bryston is more dynamic and dramatic, and sounds more extended at the frequency extremes (excellent bass).
I was thinking of getting a Wyred4Sound integrated for next summer. I definitely don't want to pay too much for an amp I'll only need 3 months out of the year.
I've come full circle back to current production tubes in the 3iX. I finally just got tired of the noise from the Amperex tubes, and I just don't want to deal with NOS hunting anymore.
So I ordered EH tubes for everything, the 6922s and the 6V6's. Truth be told, as nice as they are, the Amperex orange globes are a bit closed in on top compared to the EH tubes. The EH tubes are extremely quiet. You can turn the BAT's volume up to 99 and only hear a whisper of steady-state (no crackle) tube hiss at the listening position (the Amperex noise would be a roar at that volume).
The EH 6V6 is also interesting (my BAT originally came with JJ 6V6 tubes). They seems to have a cleaner bass. You hear more very low bass.
Lately I find myself deeply satisfied with the sound I'm getting from the system. I wonder if the warmer weather also has something to do with it.
One downside of the Amperex orange globe 6DJ8s is that I've already had a couple develop a sputtering noise. I wonder if the fact that they are 6DJ8s has something to do with it. The high gain of the Rogue amps doesn't help. Noise from the pre-amp didn't bother me as much with my previous amps.
After running for a while with the RCA VT107A 6V6 tubes, which seemed to have very good dimensionality, I switched back in the Popes, which I hadn't used in a while. These are even better for dimensionality and have a richer bass (rather contradicting my original comments on the Popes above). The VT107A did seem to counter the BAT "darkness" a little more, but I'm very happy with the overall tonality, and the sense one gets of the original recording space is quite striking.
I only had the 55SE for a few days. I thought the midrange was to die for, but the bass was rather flabby and it was too soft on top. I've never heard a Rogue with that kind of romantic midrange, but the bass of the M-180s is excellent, controlled and hefty, and the top end is good, though not "detailed".
No, the Rogues don't run as hot as the 55SE. You could stand in front of the 55SE and feel the heat. You have to be hovering right over the Rogues to feel the heat rising from them. I remember the M-150s run slightly cooler (KT-88s vs. KT-90s.)
Still, in the hot summer months I have a Bryston 3B-SST to fall back on.
Haven't had the 250SE since December. I find it hard to compare them from memory. As good as the soundstage of the 250SE was, the Rogues are still better at evenly filling the space between the speakers.
They sound lovely now, with a broad, even, dimensional soundstage.
The amps came with a quad of NOS JAN Philips ECG 5814A tubes in the 12AU7 positions. I briefly tried some RCA clear tops, but I prefer these Philips tubes for their warmth; the clear tops seemed a bit closed in. For the 12AX7s, I'm using current production Ei Elites (just some tubes I had in my closet) in place of the stock Electro-Harmonix tubes. The soundstage seems more "filled in" and less forward with the Ei tubes. I've been considering trying some NOS 5751 tubes in the 12ax7 sockets.
A recent change that made a huge difference was adjusting the Vandie tilt by removing a spacer. It seems I got my ear height measurement wrong and have always had the tilt too low.
I also replaced all the 6922 tubes in my BAT 3iX with Amperex orange labels, a definite step up in presence and warmth from the mix of EH and Genelex tubes I was using.
Before the Quatros, I was using the NHT Xd system. I never had the right pre-amplification for the Xds. The NHT Xd dedicated amp has a 10k Ohm input impedance, and the pre-amps I was trying to use with them had too high output impedances. This rolls off the lows and highs. If I'd figured this out, I might have gotten more satisfying sound out of the Xds. Given this, I'm not sure giving some memories of how they sounded would be helpful.
While I wait for my Rogue amps, I dusted off a Bryston B-60 integrated as a backup. Amazing how good this little piece sounds. Overall warmth, with a big, bold colorful midrange. It's lacking some transparency and "refinement", but it's really enjoyable to listen to.
System edited: I've decided to trade in the BAT VK-250 for Rogue M-180 tube monoblocks (on their way). I think I'll also keep the Neko DAC and sell the Cambridge, and am also considering replacing the 3ix with a solid state preamp, preferably passive. So a complete system overhaul is in the works.
This is the 1 volt version, and I have it hooked up directly to my VK-250 amp (input sensitivity: 1.5V). This allows the digital volume control of the Squeezebox to be used without without using very much digital attenuation and without worrying about volume control "accidents" causing damage. The only worry is that I might not have enough gain for some albums. I can always have the unit upgraded to the 2 volt version.
I was worried this set up might be lacking in bass, but bass actually seems to be better than the 840C. Dynamics seem excellent as well.
I also ordered a pair of Genelex Gold Lion 6922s. So altogether I have:
2 Genelex Gold Lion 6922 4 Amperex A-frame 6DJ8 4 Electro-Harmonix 6922 (the brand used by BAT) 2 JJ 6V6-S (original BAT issue) 2 Sylvania VT-107-A (6V6)
After much swapping around I've settled for now on the EH and Sylvania tubes. This seems to give the best combination of depth and transparency, with added warmth and presence from the Sylvanias.
I've only been running them in for a couple hours. They have a big, juicy, vibrant midrange. But are also light in the bass compared to the JJs. Seems I can't win.
I was very disappointed with them. They have a nice creamy top and a clear midrange, but they are bass light and dull, and imaging seemed unfocused. These are probably not the best Amperex tubes, but I'm a little leery of wasting more money on 6922s. Maybe something "cheap" like Rocket Logos?
My experience with the Pope 6v6 was much more promising. They dryness I mentioned earlier worked itself out to a unobjectionable level. They really do brighten up the overal tone of the 3iX. However, they are still bass light compared to the JJ 6v6-S. I've ordered a pair of Sylvania VT-102a to try.
I'm currently burning in some Pope 6V6GT tubes in the BAT 3iX. Compared to the stock JJ 6V6 tubes, the Popes seem a little dry on top and a little lacking in bass, but they do seem to lift some of the midrange gloom of the stock tubes.
The Pope tubes were recommended by Kevin Deal of Upscale Audio.
I have some Amperex 6DJ8s coming tomorrow from tctubes. I'll probably put back the JJ 6V6s so I get a better idea of what's doing what.
Tried the Calypso. In some ways more refined than the 3iX, more extended highs (at least not closed in) and more neutral midrange. The 3iX has a plumper midbass, giving it a more dramatic presentation. The 3iX soundstage seems deeper, more dimensional, and integrated. Despite the flaws, I find myself enjoying sitting in the sweetspot more with the 3iX in the chain. I think I'm pretty happy with what I have and am done with auditions for a while.
If the Benchmark sounded good with the Bryston, it sounds fabulous going direct to the BAT VK-250SE. The dryness and leanness are ameliorated somewhat, and this amp is at a higher level in terms of roundness of tone, immediacy, and dimensionality. A good combo with the fast, clean Benchmark sound. Though there is still a touch of smoothing that seems to be part of the BAT house sound, and which I could do without. This is a good lesson in how much the sound of my system is due to this amp.
Feeding the BAT 3iX using the Benchmark in its fixed output mode, the midbass is still missing the fullness of the Cambridge 840C DAC. So it's actually the Cambridge DAC that is partly responsible for the fuller sound.
So I'm back to where I started, with the same pre and DAC, but I now have a clearer idea of what's doing what. Of all the pre-amps, I still prefer the presentation of the 3iX. Its covered quality now seems like a more minor failing, and may be in part due to the amp. I think I may still try the Aesthetix Calypso and the Rowland Capri pre-amps. Trying a different DAC or amp (maybe the Rogue tube monoblocks) is also a possibility.
I passed on Endler attenuators for now because I decided to try some active gear first. So far I've had home the following SS pre-amps, mostly tested with the BAT VK-250SE amp:
BAT VK-42SE Gryphon XT (a Danish pre from the mid 90s) Benchmark DAC1 HDR
The VK-42 has more on top than the tube unit, as you'd expect. It'a still smooth sounding and slightly laid back. Well, out of my price range, so I didn't bother to spend much serious time with it (it was a well-broken in unit if you worry about that sort of thing).
The Gryphon is more interesting. It seems to have everything tonally. Vibrant, natural timbres and a big juicy soundstage. However, into the VK-250, it seems a bit too forward, and the soundstage a bit unsettled (this is while being fed by the Cambridge 840C DAC). Going back to my 3iX, I appreciate more the way it lays out the soundstage in a natural manner in both width and depth so that it's easier to follow the music, but I'm still bothered by its covered sound.
Into the Bryston 3B-SST, the Gryphon's soundstage is more laid back, but the sound is much less juicy.
The Benchmark (used as both DAC and pre-amp) has top end extension into the stratosphere, and plenty of sparkle. It really excels in the midrange. Woodwinds in particulary sound breathtakingly pure. However, I miss the lift that the other preamps give to the midbass. Massed strings have plenty of sheen, but sound a little dry. The Benchmark seems to have good synergy with the Bryston amp. The sound is also so clean that it's hard to judge volume without the usual subtle distortion cues.
By the way, the Gryphon has a really excellent MC phono stage. I think the best I've heard so far.
Just for sheets and giggles, I hooked the output of the DAC directly to the amp, using the digital volume of the Squeezebox to control volume. I'm really amazed at the difference. The soundstage is more brightly lit, instruments are more vibrant, massed strings have greater warmth and sheen, and brass more bite. The sound is overall much more exciting and involving. I think the 3iX is just too dark to work with the Vandersteens.
To avoid using the digital volume control I ordered some Endler stepped attenuators. Of course, this means only one source at a time, but I've been listening almost only to the Squeezebox these days.
Well, that's all I'm using right now, the Monoprice "premium" XLR cables. I have borrowed some expensive XLR cables from Stereo Unlimited, and I'm sure they'd let me take home any others they have, but swapping interconnects doesn't really interest me that much.
Back to fooling with the tilt. I think I've got it right this time.
As I've described before, my thick carpet makes it hard to readjust the tilt of the Quatros whenever the speakers are moved (a change of toe-in for example). Every move would require releveling the speakers in both planes, adding back spacers for each speaker.
I came up with a direct way to measure the tilt with a laser level so that I can skip the releveling procedure. You do have to make sure the speakers are laterally level so that the line of the laser level is not tilted. As described before, I use "fender" washers for this.
The procedure is based on reading numbers off the tilt chart in the manual. For example, for a 34" listening height at 6', 12 spacers are required. This is 3 more spacers than the level position (9 spacers). The spacers are 1/16" thick, and sit 18" (1.5') back from the front cones. So the slope of the speakers with 12 spacers will be
3/16" / 1.5' = 1/8" per foot
This can be verified with a digital level. At 6 feet this corresponds to a total drop in level of the laser line of 3/4", which is
(35.5" - 34")/2
Where 35.5" is the on-axis listening height for the Quatros. The calculation is similar for the other lines on the tilt chart. In general, the drop in level at the listening position with listening height h should be
(35.5" - h)/2
Note that this formula is independent of distance from the plane of the speakers. Just don't get closer than 6' as implied by the tilt chart.
So I place a laser level on the top of each speaker, measure the height of the laser line right in front of the speaker, and then the drop in the height of the line right behind the listening chair. This makes it easy to readjust tilt each time. Make sure the tilts are equal by leaving the extended measuring tape in place "upside-down" propped against the back of the chair (you'll want a stiff measuring tape for this) and making sure the height of the laser line is the same for each speaker (or using R. Vandersteen's procedure of making marks on a sheet of paper at the listening position. You can get a very precise and equal tilt this way.
Embarrassingly, the sonic problems I alluded to earlier seem to have been a speaker wire connection problem. When I replaced my homemade double bi-wire cables with some Canare wire I had lying around (using just bare wire), the sound was radically better. And when I put my homemade pair back it was still better. The connection to the amp was apparently not seated well. The 5/16" spades I had on the amp end are obviously not ideal for the 1/4" posts on the BAT.
Because of this episode, I finally broke down and ordered some commercially finished wire, some Audioquest Slate bi-wire cables, just to see if they would improve on my amateur hour cables. Slate is the cheapest they make, I think. Audioquest claims that the lower and upper frequency runs are magnetically independent, so they should have the same advantage as double bi-wiring, supposedly. I don't really believe the technical bafflegab that's used to justify bi-wiring, double or otherwise.
Thanks. I rarely use that lamp except when I'm messing with the turntable or checking the condition of a record. I should probably switch to an LED lamp for this.
The main sonic problem I'm having now is that the right side of the room is noticeably overdamped by the heavy curtains I'm using to reduce road noise (with only mild success). Once I have double-paned windows installed I should be able to use some lighter drapes.
A few days after buying the amp above I got a call from my bank. They thought the charge must be fraudulent. The lady read out the amount charged by the stereo store with a rather incredulous tone. Well, I can't blame her; who spends that kind of money on stereo equipment these days. ;)
Well, I figure this will be my only amp for decades.
I've been schlepping the Quatros around to various locations in my room since I got them, never quite satisfied with the bass difinition or the stereo balance. They ended up again at roughly the same position shown in the pics above, but I could still only get copious bass with annoying resonances or soft bass without them.
Yesterday I decided deal with this once and for all. Using the Room EQ Wizard (REW) measurement tool and my Radio Shack meter, I noticed a deep dip in the left speaker frequency response in the 100-120 Hz range. I took the spikes off the speaker and slid it around, watching the display on the REW real time analyzer until the dip shallowed out. This put the speaker about a foot further out from the wall. I redid the bass EQ, but this time instead of turning the contour control up, I left it all the way down and turned the overall bass level up +1.
Together with the BAT amp, I'm now getting excellent bass definition and impact without any annoying resonances. Apparently the "Q" of my room is such that it's best to leave the contour control all the way at the bottom setting.
The imbalance issue turned out to be tube related. Swapping driver tubes around in the preamp reduced the imbalance to a negligible level. The 3iX also has gain trim pots on the circuit board if that doesn't work. The first thing I'll check from now on if the balance seems off.
I was starting to despair that these speakers we just not going to work in my Dr. Seuss-like room, but I'm now getting the fabulous Quatro imaging and excellent bass. So I'm happy a happy camper for now.
Bought a BAT VK-250 today after a 2 day home audition. This model has the BAT-PAK. And according to the guys at the shop this one is very special. No, not this model, this particular amp that they sold me! ;)
The 250 is, well, very balanced sounding. Great grip on the bass, a well-rounded midrange, and smooth but extended highs. It is, perhaps, a little forward sounding, which does seem to complement the Vandies. Also, I'm probably hearing the true character of the 3iX with an amp that's not loading it down too much.
I've found that the Bryston amp, with an input impedance of only 10K Ohm/phase is a poor match for the BAT pre. I was going by BAT's stated minimum input impedance, but apparently that leaves the bass (and perhaps the midrange?) too much on the lean side.
I have a BAT VK-55SE tube amp home for audition, and while it does sound wonderful, I wonder how I'm going to feel about it when Summer temps go over 100 F.
Please ignore the posts about using the laser level to find the right tilt. The slope of the top of the speaker does not seem to correspond to the tilt needed per the chart in the manual. I was trying to be too clever. Stick to the chart.
I now just use a torpedo level with a digital reading to make sure the speaker is level on my thick carpet, then shim up or done by the number of shims that would be needed from the level position according to the manual's tilt chart. The digital output makes it easier to check that each speaker has the same tilt.
For toe in, I use a ruler and a laser pointer to get a precise angle. When laid along the front top edge of the speaker, the laser should point at the same distance back on the other speaker. I only use a slight toe in to strengthen the center image a bit.
All this fussing would probably not be necessary on thin carpet over flat, level flooring.
I think you're right about the bass, but I'd still suggest getting both subwoofers for the Xd system. It would make it easier to smooth out the in-room bass response.
My Xd experience was generally positive, and I have a review up at audioasylum. However, I never could get the right sound for massed strings with the Xds, even with tube rolling. The Vandersteens are really wonderful with massed strings (the Xd system did start out at $6000, so it's not unfair to compare it to the Quatros). I still suspect that just a bit of tweaking with the Xd filter files to bring the upper midrange up a tad would do it, but that'll always be a "what if" with the system discontinued.
I've had a Squeezebox Duet hooked into the system for several weeks and have been really enjoying it. I use an S/PDIF connection from the Squeezebox player to one of the 840C's digital inputs. The music files are on an Ubuntu system in my loft, inside a very quiet Antec case.
I looked into building my own wireless transport based on an embedded Linux platform, but I never saw anything with both wireless networking and digital outputs in such a tiny box.
For classical music, there is some work in setting up the server and then tagging files so they are easier to browse in the Squeezebox remote controller. In fact, I ended up writing my own application to do the tagging as nothing else seems to support custom tags like WORK. But it's nice to have so music available without hunting for a CD. And kudos to Logitech and the Squeezebox community for a flexible system that allows for the 3rd-party plugins needed to accomplish this.
If you're interested in a Squeezebox, I suggest waiting a little while for the newer models that will support high-res files without downsampling.
System edited: I played around a bit with the tilt of the Vandies today. To be honest, while the speakers had pretty good "tone" and awesomely deep and accurate bass, they did not sound up to what I expected from my $8k purchase. They were not very involving most of the time and a bit dull. I started out by just putting 9 spacers to a side, which is supposed to be the vertical position for the Quatros. Turns out neither speaker was level front to back on my carpet in this supposed vertical position. So I used a Craftsmen laser level on top of each speaker (just the bubble level in the top initially) to level out the speakers by changing the number of spacers on each back spike. Once each speaker looked level with the bubble level, I turned on the laser and measured the laser line height in front of the speakers (44.5") and at the listening position. The measurements at the listening position were about right and within about a 1/4" of eachother. Then I reasoned as follows: 35.5" is the optimum listening level when the speakers are vertical. 35" is my ear height in the listening chair. Therefore the tilt should be set so that laser level line is 1/2" down at the listening position as well. So I used the necessary number of spacers on the back spike to make the laser level line match up at the listening postion to 44". The reward was a much more involving 3-D soundstage and sense of presence. The speakers really do sound fabulous now.
System edited: The panels are 4" thick ATS Acoustics panels. These have wood frames all around, wood backs, and are very cost effective. These are a psuedo-suede, though now that I have them, I wonder if I wouldn't have preferred a weave fabric. I haven't hung them yet, it requires some drilling into the sheetrock. I have a variety of other room treatments: a couple EchoBusters quarter rounds, two Echobuster panels, some mytheater panels, and some Auralex foam. But I've found that too much of this stuff just dulls the sound.
System edited: Got my Bryston 3B-SST back from Bryston US service today. Incredible turnaround, they must have only had it for a day. The Vandersteen high-pass filters need to be readjusted for the input impedance of the 3B-SST, after which I checked the 3dB down point with a voltmeter and some tones from the Vandertones CD (the voltage at 100Hz must be about .707 the voltage at 1000Hz.) Interestingly, the big Bryston seems a little more forward, so I moved my listening postition about a foot back. Soundstage depth is excellent. But this is all with levels unmatched.
System edited: Made and installed the shorter speaker cables. This is not bi-amping; the Rotel mono amp has 2 sets of binding posts to facilitate bi-wiring.
George told me that they plan to set up a room for the Quatros with Electrocompaniet electronics. I did not get to hear the Quatros with the big BAT tube monoblocks (they were hooked up to CJ electronics), but I did hear the 3As hooked up to the BATs, which I think what really sold me on the Vandersteen line.
These are the first really full range speakers I've ever had. The NHT Xd system I had before, with one subwoofer, was experiencing a deep 40 Hz null in my room, which is probably where a lot of the musical action is in the low bass. So I'm hearing things I've never heard before. The Bis CD of Papa Järvi conducting the Sibelius Four Legends has scary amounts of bass.
