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Set-Up Advice for Vandersteen 1Cs

I'm beginning to piece together a system and having previously owned a pair of Vendersteen 1Bs back in the late 90's before I sold all my equipment I purchased a pair used 1Cs for $299 and $80 shipping... hopefully this was a good price.

I have a small apartment and these will be in the living room with the TV and I would like the sound from my TV, Cable, Apple TV or Roku 3, Blu-Ray, a DAC connected to my ipad/iphone/macbook pro, and eventually a turntable to be able to play through this system. I plan I have zero interest in a surround sound system, so multichannel is not a concern.

My understanding is that I should probably get an HDMI switch with audio out since things like the Apple TV and Roku 3 don't have audio out and I'll want the audio from those to play through the system. This area is new to me so any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

To complicate things I would LIKE to have a tube amp if possible. I am willing to go solid state, but I would much much prefer tube.

My budget is somewhere in the $500-$750 range. I am planning on buying used equipment to get the most bang for my buck. Something with a phono input would be best, but obviously I can't have everything.

I've been completely out of the loop and this was totally a spur of the moment purchase for me but I don't have a tremendous amount of time or disposable income so I'm looking to greater minds than my own for assistance.
greatwhitebat
greatwhitebat OP
35 posts
 
Are they the black pair on ebay last week? I bought a pair a while ago for $265 with free shipping. Was the only bidder, felt like that was a bargain.

Yep. I would have loved to have found a pair as cheaply as you did. There are some 2Ci that just sold in Indy for under 300 for pick up only, but the looked quite marked up and didn't have stands. I considered those, but thought these might be in better condition and they included the stands.

I have been looking at the amps from china and one big question is how low powered can I go on these?
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"I have been looking at the amps from china and one big question is how low powered can I go on these?"

Pretty much as low as you want. The 1C's are very easy to drive. You would have no problem with a well made 20-30 watt/channel tube amp as long as the room isn't too big and/or the volume too loud. From the 2's up, you would probably want more power but not so with the 1's.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to them yet, you're in for a pleasant surprise. I put my 1's next to some very well regarded speakers that cost a lot more and thought the Vandersteen beat them easily. The cheapest speaker that I could find that I like better are the 2's.
timrhu
2,778 posts
 
So you're in Indy? I live in Brownsburg.
Howdy neighbor!
greatwhitebat OP
35 posts
 
Most TV's have audio outputs. You can just go from the out on the TV to one of the inputs on your pre/integrated. You'll still be able to bypass the speaker on your TV.
It does have a SPDIF out, but that's the only output. I suppose I can get a sort of converter for that... I'll continue to look into it.
I'm currently using a pair of Dared VP-20 mono amps. They only allow for a single input and only produce 18 watts each; probably not for you. Hopefully some other owners of these products will chime in.
How is that 18W working for you?
Pretty much as low as you want. The 1C's are very easy to drive.
Yeah, I had no problem with the 1Bs on the 35W the NAD 304 produced. I'm just wondering how low I can go... like below 20? It's a relatively small room, 11'9"x14'4.5", though it is partially open into a rather small kitchen/dining area.

I'm looking at some Yaquin integrated amps that seem nice.
greatwhitebat OP
35 posts
 
So you're in Indy? I live in Brownsburg.
Howdy neighbor!

I live in Dayton Ohio, but I used to live in Indy. I wouldn't mind driving there to pick something up, so I was browsing in that area, and always expand my searches there since it's not a bad drive and I have friends there.

Howdy nonetheless.
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