ericshook

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Audio Advice

Summary:
I've been waiting some time to write this review. In that time I've had a chance to settle down and clearly in my head plot without question what I want to say here. I LOVE THESE SPEAKERS! My wife ran over the demo pair the audio shop had lent me over the weekend with her car, because I think she saw they made me smile in a way she never could. The fellows at Audio Advice where shocked but bit the bullet and said don't worry about it. Nice guys. The great news was that I ordered a pair to be built that day and still have them now. Sadly I did not keep the wife. Back to the speakers. They would probably get passed over if my place got robbed, but that's OK. They are sleepers in that since, but everywhere else that are fantastic. I find them not to be short on bass, but just about right for my needs. In larger rooms they may not do so bad, and as for placement I find them rather forgiving compared to other Vandersteen models. I am upgrading to the 2ce Sig Mk2's here in a few months, but will always miss my 1c's. Oh .. and yeah ... I'll miss the wife too. Pssshh

Strengths:
Sweet vocals, even better drums, smooth highs, not fatiguing, and can grow with your upgrades in electronics. You could never doubt this speaker could fit in well with $50k worth of electronics and even then show you what you did wrong.

Weaknesses:
For some people, bass is lacking. I say, go climb a tree!

Similar Products Used:
Polk Lsi9's(best bookshelf I've owned)

View Comments (1)

Would you like to Comment?
Join audioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

abcxyz

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1050.00 from Audio Concepts

Summary:
I am very fortunate to have heard them early in my audio demoing! They became my standard to recognize a quality speaker. Firstly, they are very open and natural sounding. This is due to the multi-directional dispersement of the sound from a cabinetless speaker. Also, the bass is definitely comes out in the music in a very natural but not in an obtrusive way. It is a true full-range speaker that attempts to play all the frequency range from top to bottom in a balanced way. While it is slightly laid-back sounding, that is nice if you listen to music for long periods of time. I feel like I am in the fourth row of a live show when I hear them.

Depending your listening tastes, if you prefer an agressive sounding speaker, ie. Klipschhorns you may not care for the Vandersteens. They do go pretty loud to a point but not insanely loud but probably most of us would not play them at that level all the time anyways.

Nick at Audio Concepts in Houston was really good to me. Although I liked the 1Cs in the first minute I heard them play From The Beginning (by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), I let my CD-R keep going and track after track it was just fantastic on the Vandies. Nick came in an hour later with a big smile and asked how it was going. I knew then that I made the right decision to drive 3 1/2 hours to the nearest Vandersteen dealer to demo them first and make the purchase! (The price was $885 for the speakers and $85 for the stands plus tax.)

Strengths:

-an easy match with any kind of amp at any price level
-a killer deal if purchased used but in good condition
-true full-range sound design
-perfect in a small to medium sized room when properly placed

Weaknesses:
-some may not like their looks but after you hear them, it is pretty easy to get past that even with the wives
-room needs to accommodate the necessary placement of the speakers to sound their best

Similar Products Used:
Vandersteen 2Ce Sigs, 1B, Quad 12L, Decware DM944.

Price Paid:  $750.00

Summary:
This is my third review of these speakers --- why three? With each upgrade made in electronics the speakers blossom more. I now have gone to an older solid state McIntosh amp and upgraded with MIT AVt 3 speaker wire (at $250). These speakers sound excellent, smooth, non-fatigunig, open and rich with cheap electronics -- typical Pioneer, Sony mainstream $150 amps and $200 CD players. But.... if you get a fine amp these speakers can simply be amazing. But the real issue to share is the speaker cable --- going from typical $40 speaker wires to the $250 MIT cables made the 1c's so much more full bodied, and the difference in base performance was staggering (so too was the imaging capability of the system). I was contemplating going to a $700 subwoofer to supplement the 1c's but the cables did the job far better --- allowing you to retain the coherence of the 1c's w/o muddying up things with a subwoofer --- and the cables made these speakers truely full range.

That is the bottom line. Read the reviews below and you will see that the midrange, the clarity, the dynamics, the imaging of these speakers are competitive at 2 - 3 times their price --- most $2000 speakers have nothing on the Vandersteen 1C's other than low frequency extension and rythem and pace at high volume. But, with good cables (like the MIT's) the low frequency extension of the 1c's can improve -- dramatically --- and the rythem and pace can as well. You do not need a subwoofer to get great base out of the 1c's --- just invest $250 in MIT speaker wires (which is way cheaper than a sub) and you are golden.

One other suggestion --- the vertical dispersoin in the 1c's is not very good when you place the speakers on the floor. I put mine on cinderblocks elevating the speakers 18 inches so that the tweeter is ca. 4.5 feet off the ground. By doing this the speakers are much bigger sounding and the soundstage is full size --- this too is a cheap tweak that elevates the !C's performance.

Strengths:
great imaging, smooth, full bodied and, at the price point simply outstanding. There is a reason that Vandersteen is a 20+ year major player in an industry where companies come and go in a few mere years --- great performance anf greater value.

The ability to play well on cheap electronics and play superbly with good electronics.

Weaknesses:
low frequency extension, for an $800, is very good --- but on the absolute scale is aweakness (relative to say most 2K speakers). However, the low frequency performance can be wildly enhanced with good cables (speaker wire).

Price Paid:  $725.00

Summary:
This is my second review of the Vandersteen 1c's --- I write this second review to inform 1c owners of a way to vastly improve to sound of the 1c's. The 1c's are smooth, non-fatiguing, rich sounding speakers that image well (with one major flaw), are fairly transparent (if you have a decent amp), play beautifully at low volume, provide gorgeous vocals and are simply outstanding at this price point --- literally being competitive , very competitive, with speakers at twice the price. I have had mine for 7 years now and love them --- now more than ever. The flaw eluded to earlier regarding imaging is that the 1c's have severely limited vertical dispersion --- it is as if the musicians are all 3 ft tall --- and this really hurts any sense of realism. Richard Vandersteen says not to place the 1c's on stands. I have, nonetheless, placed the 1c's on cheap stands (four cinder blocks per stand, placing the 1c tweeter a full 18 inches higher than without the stands). What a difference! Vastly superior! The sound stage is so much larger and the other attributes of the speaker seem to be enhanced as well. So, try it. It is cheap and the speakers sound, literally, night and day better when the tweeters are at ca. 4.5 ft off the ground rather than at 3 feet.

Strengths:
great imag depth, smooth, non-fatiguing sound, great timbre, plays well at low volume

Weaknesses:
poor vertical dispersion --- but when on stands this problem disappears

Similar Products Used:
Epos
KEF
Paradigm
Magnepan

Leslie

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Audio Dimensions

Summary:
A wicked speaker for a smaller room. Performance far beyond what most people are accustomed to in this price range; when properly set up mass market competetors from the big box stores such as infinity or bose are left in the dust.

Strengths:
These speakers are time and phase linear (a vandersteen standard for all models) which allows for breathtaking imaging. Very strong bass for a two way that will suprise most listeners at this price point. An almost complete lack of any kind of box colorations will make other offerings seem well, boxy as an old table radio! Addictive sounding, these will satisfy someone looking to get a taste of the high end without going overboard on the price. I can't wait to hear a pair of the larger 2ce signatures in my room. I'm never going back to the mass market dreck again.

Weaknesses:
The biggest "weakness" if it really is one is the size. These are large somewhat heavy speakers that aren't going to help win any awards for interior design. They also require carefull setup and should really be in a dedicated room for best results. These are most definetly "not for the kids". Excellent response usable in a smaller room down to about 35hz, but may require a sub in a larger room for the lowest bass. Probably not ideal for large rooms or if you have to comprimise for looks or size. If you have a small to medium room and are a serious listener than these are for you.

Similar Products Used:
compared to speakers from B&W, KEF, Paradigm, JBL, Infinity, Bose, Magnepan. All fell short in comparison. Either not enough low end response or too much cabinet coloration plagued competition at this price.