Trying to extract more from my Vandersteen

So I hear Audioquest good, and Audioquest bad.... a new pair of Quatro Wood speakers are on the way to my dads and I hope Audioquest sounds good, it will be a real bummer to have to replace 3 month old Mont Blac speaker cables and Niagra IC's.

A month ago I would have agreed with many of the original statements regarding that perhaps the Vandersteens are veiling the overall sound. I would have been making that statement based on my past experience with the Vandersteen 2C's (and subsequent incarnations) and from experiences with my 1C's going in and out of my main system over the last few years.

However, after selling my Magnepan MG3.6r's and while I wait for my Ridgestreet Audio Designs Sason LTD's, I once again inserted the 1C's into my my main system and I have been immensely impressed with the sound of the 1C's. There is a great deal of air and hf extension through the 1C's (not on par with the Magnepan's, but certainly not "rolled off" sounding either). The 1C's are not what one would typically mate with the rest of my gear, but I think the results indicate that the 1C's (and I would certainly assume the 2CSigs even more so) will play glorious music if fed a good signal. My main system:

Esoteric UX-3 with GNSC Statement mods
BAT VK51SE
Atma-Sphere MA1 MkII.3
1m Purist Museaus XLR from source to pre
7m Purist Museaus XLR from pre to amps
2m Purist Museaus speaker cables.

Incidently, this same system with the exception of Parasound JC1 SS amps in place of the Atma-Sphere's was not as extended with the 1C's and, surprisingly, the bass was not as realistic either. This was surprisingly true on the MG3.6R's as well. My friend and I both agree that the insertion of the Atma's resulted in an amazing amount of natural detail (from lows, mids, to highs) being passed to both the Maggies and now the Vandersteens.

Drew, I think you should be able to get the Vandys to sound VERY good without spending a great deal. I would join in on recommending some experimentation with gear and cables in the same price range you currently have. It may be that what initially drew you to the Vandys (BTW, I too was drawn to them upon first hearing them ~20 years ago and still enjoy what Richard's speakers do today) was their way with the mids and lower hf? If your choice for cables and equipment were influenced by that, you may be guilty (I've done this before) of trying to overemphasize a particular freq region through cables and equipment and lost the balance the Vandy's are capable of producing? Anyway, sorry for being so verbose. Good luck!

Jordan

Germanboxers: Great contribution!

I have the Vandy 3 Sigs. I've had various McCormack amps on them.. 0.5, then a pair of 0.5's, then a 1 RevA Gold with every update. Then I tried a Channel Islands D200. It was like the speakers had a blanket over it the whole time and then removed. Sold the McCormack and never looked back. I don't know about other class D amps, but for me this is the right combination. They are capable of much more. I don't think cables alone will bring that out.

I have heard the McCormack DNA 0.5 and 1, both Deluxe and non-Deluxe versions. While a good amp with a nice bottom end and good dynamics, I felt that it was a little rolled-off in the highs. I own a Vandersteen 3A Signature and confirm that the setup is very difficult for these speakers. I would expect the same with the 2CE's. Tilt-back is very important and it will take a considerable trial and error before you get things right. I agree with the strategy of making the cheaper changes first: setup, then cables, then amp, then speaker. I think interconnect between preamp and power amp is more important than speaker cables. As far as speaker cables are concerned, I like Kimber 4TC. It is a bargain and if you don't like it, you can resell it easily. It is very neutral and full-range and I've used it with very good equipment and it doesn't seem to lack for transparency, smoothness, or anything else. Also, don't forget the power cord on the amp. Sometimes, this can breathe life into a system which is too dark. Also, upgrades to this amp by Steve McCormack are widely purported to take the amp to another level. You could consider the upgrade path, assuming Steve McCormack is still in that business. There are plenty of posts on what upgrade levels are available and what the sonic benefits of each are. This might be cheaper than buying a considerably better amp. Since your budget is kind of limited, check on the cost of the upgrade and what this does to the resale price of the amp. My recollection is that you might be able to get the price of the upgrade back in reselling the amp, or at least that was nearly so a few years ago. If amp replacement is on tap, it would be great if you could borrow some equipment before committing to making any purchase.Don't be afraid to move the speakers around after each change.