Vandersteen 3A Sig vs. Von Schweikert VR4 Jr.

ditusa: I'm a little surprised by your statements. I own 3a sigs, with a turntable no less, and a Mufi A308 and I can report that the speakers are capable of literally thunderous yet highly detailed bass. From Reference Recording's "Pomp and Pipes," to the Telarc Saint Saens Organ Symphony, or the 45 Rpm Prokofiev Scythian Suite--which delivers slashing dynamics via the Vandy's...I marvel daily. Perhaps your CD player is/was a weak link? I'm an orchestra musician as well.

CBman, as I mentioned, I own the same speaker and marvel daily about they're delicacy as well as they're explosive qualities. I use a turntable to get such results, but I'm now reminded of my search for CD players and how different they all sounded via the Vandy's, especially in the bass/punch department to which you refer. Having auditioned the Rega Planet, the Sony XA999ES, the 1K Marantz, the 3k Marantz SA14 v.2 and the MuFi 308 CD player--all in the home--I finally settled on the Marantz SA14 v.2, which had the best "punch" and bass by far. None of the above came close, though my Scoutmaster handily blew the Marantz away in the end. What CD player do you use? Believe me, I humbly but strenuously suggest that it's *not* the speakers, it's your CD player.

My experience with the 3As is that they produce wonderful, fulfilling bass on their own, and the 2Wqs perhaps improve the bass and a sense of scale a bit, but more importantly, the midrange becomes that much better - it is not just a matter of adding bass.

I think my statement of mushy and boomy was incorrect!! Boomy was mostly my room and the placement of the 3a's I think my saying the bass was mushy was an overstatement of the sound without subs and with subs. I agree with Pubul57 the subs help the sound of the 3a's. It isn't that there is lots more bass there is better defined bass, 3 8" drivers per subs vs 2 10' drivers per speaker. with 300 watts per sub taking some of the load off the amp. When I had 1 sub I removed it and was happy with the 3a's. CBman what amp are you using?

By removing (filetering) low bass from the 3A to the subs, the speakers cabinets of the 3As are exposed to much less internal vibration and this makes the midrange performance of the 3As much better; technically, I think it is a reduction in intermodulation distortion. I found that when the 2wqs were tuned in, you almost could not tell they were on, even if you went right next to the subwoofer; but the whole soundstage and sense of venue opened way up; I suspect that alot of hall or room ambinece from a recording includes a lot of low bass information.