[ylee]

I own a pair of Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT speakers that I bought in September of 2013. I decided on it after a 3 hour audition at a local dealer close to where I live, comparing it to the formidable Magnepan 20.7. Since then, I've come to really value Vandersteen's approach to bass reproduction in his top three models - the Model 7, Model 5, as well as the Quatro Wood CT.

While the Models 7 and 5 have 400 watt/ch class-B amplification for their in-cabinet subwoofers, my Quatros have a 250 watt class-B amp for the subwoofer in each speaker. This alone gives me a 250 watt/ch bump in power, which complements medium power amps nicely. Each built-in amp has an 11 band equalizer (at 20Hz, 24, 30, 36, 42, 50, 60, 72, 84, 100, 120) along with adjustments to fine tune the bass Q factor and loudness. I came to appreciate this adjustability when I recently cycled my Classe CA-2200 amplifier out of my primary system for a new Benchmark AHB2, which has half the power of the Classe (100 watts/ch vs. 200).

The Benchmark is a lean sounding amp relative to the Classe. Given half the latter's power output, this is somewhat to be expected. The AHB2 is fantastically quiet (the second quietest amplifier on the market I'm aware of, after the Ayre MX-R Twenty) and highly resolving. Having 100 watts/ch coupled with a slight leanness could be problematic for some highly resolving speakers that have smaller enclosure volume. With my Quatros, the settings that proved right to my ears with the Classe sounded pretty lean. After measuring "Vandertones" thru the AHB2, I found the bass frequency response curve from 20 - 120 Hz to be identical to the Classe, which is a good sign for both amplifiers. That said, I found adjusting the bass volume and Q-factor necessary to add a touch of warmth with the AHB2 and maintain much of the bass slam I had with the CA-2200. In fine tuning these two settings by ear, I was able to get a very satisfactory tonal balance out of my system. It sounds better than ever. Bass is extremely important, but not just for the reasons most people think it is. Bass has a profound influence on our perception of the recording space and the size of the bodies of singers and instruments. Being able to adjust this to our taste as well as using live performers as reference points gives Vandersteen's upper-range models a unique selling point.

I loved my Quatros before, but with this newfound appreciation for bass adjustability I think I'll stick with Vandersteen speakers for a long time. Add to the above the time coherent nature of the design and the stiff yet light properties of the cone drivers and you have a very natural sounding speaker that soundstages incredibly well. There are a few things I own that give me very high pride of ownership. My speakers are one of them.