Initial impressions of my new Vandersteen Quatro's in Audi Havana Black


I will post pics when I get more time on them.  I had them delivered and set up by Johnny Rutan of Audio Connections.  He moved them out to the corners of the room and close up against the back wall. I love the look as does my wife.  I also LOVE the HUGE soundstage these things can now throw.  NO SUCK OUT either.  I was shocked at that aspect. I was scared to death when he started them in the corner of the room. I have a very difficult room for bass as it's an open floor plan. I lose a lot of bass on the right channel as it's by a stair case.  I'm putting up a temp wall by the railing.  I am using a screen right now, but I need treatment of some sort still. 

That said, it only has about 30 hours or so and it's already starting to sweeten up.  I'm hearing so many things that I haven't heard in the room before.  I'm hearing bass passages that hasn't been there before.  On one passage of a  Bela Fleck song, the room just moved.  The thing is that I've heard so many of these songs on Wilson's and Magico's and B&W"s and Focals, Paradigms, Legacy's and so many other speakers, but the tonality of the Vandersteen bass is just special.  It's so accurate. What so many don't know is that the way he designed the bass amp, you still have the same sound as YOUR main amp.  Not sure how he does it, but he does.  You don't hear the difference. 


I think that the reason some don't get the Vandersteen's at first listen is because it's not like other speakers.  We aren't used to hearing a speaker that isn't 'hifi' sounding.  Its very organic. To me, it's like analog vs digital.  Both can sound GREAT, but digital is still digital and that's why vinyl and reel to reel are still going strong after all of these years.  Kind of reminds me of a plasma TV vs the LCD TV's when I went to purchase mine.  I was originally taken by the brightest TV's in the showroom, but I keep going back and watching all the Plasma's in the darker room that Magnolia was showing them in.  I wanted the Pioneer, but could only afford the Panasonic's. I have two of them and love them.  People actually ask me why their TV doesn't look as good.  I first ask if they had it calibrated professionally.  The answer is always no and then tell them it's a plasma.  

Set up isn't fun for me, so Johnny does it for me.  I'm digging my new set up and will write more later, but i am Jonesing to go up to the loft to listen some more.  I'm really loving the organic sounds of my system right now.  All genres too which is just awesome.  Not taking any digs at others systems, just loving mine.  We all hear differently and I get that.
ctsooner
@ gdnrbob,

As RV himself told me in an e-mail concerning my used pair of Quatro Woods that are long out of warranty, "You bought them, you own them". I really don’t think he would be opposed to using the fuses but like I said, if your pair are under warranty, I wouldn't do it as I think he would not be too happy for one to disassemble the speaker and would most likely frown upon it, but out of warranty, that is a different ball game.
The OLED's are another story, lol. That's what I would purchase if I was looking today. No questions about it and that's another reason the plasma's are gone.
I think it became cost prohibitive to produce high quality plasma tubes and just like VHS vs Beta what the masses don't know they'll buy for a feature they'll never use. As an Elite Kuro owner I find OLEDs have equally comparable off axis viewing and the 4K matrix will be nice when the media catches up but its still basically an LED with less depth dimensionality and that pesky motion blur.

Similarly, after living with your Quarto's you're listening will become accustom to proper time and phase characteristics and many high dollar speakers simply won't sound quite right.

Enjoy   
Guys, it keeps breaking in and getting sweeter and sweeter. I changed back to my Niagara balanced interconnect and the detail opened up in a huge way. I also have a much sweeter sound with that added silver in the path.  I eventually will try to get a pair or Wild Blue Yonder AQ interconnects and I may even swap out the CastleRock speaker cable with one of the top of the line tree series as I like an internal biwire and those are thicker gauge. I know  dealer with Quatro's who shows with Aspen and said that he may go up to Oak or higher.  Music is sweeter and more detailed with the better cables. It's like complete component upgrade and worth it if you can. 

What are you guys running your's with?
@ ctsooner,

I’m running my Quatro Woods with MIT Shotgun S3.3 Bi-wire speaker cables and AQ Panther IC’s from my OPPO BDP-95 to a Pass Labs Aleph 3 amp.
The Panthers are running 100vdc DBS which makes them sweeter, more open and tightens up the bass a bit.

I do have a pair of AQ Volcano Bi-wire speaker cables but need to send them back to AQ to get reterminated as they have bananas on the speaker ends. I also run these at 100vdc on the DBS.
@ctsooner 
I use a pair an old pair of Rockefeller's. 
I just can't justify the expense of some of these cables. Though, now that I am running monoblocks, I can use rather short runs. So, maybe they can be in my future.
@nmmusicman 
I agree with your stance, but I still think you should share your information with Richard. It might be something he will incorporate in future designs.- And help all future owners.
Bob