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Other Interesting Tidbits From My Apology To Richard Vandersteen..

Posted by ka7niq (A) on August 21, 2003 at 07:49:43

I spoke with Richard Vandersteen for a good 45 minutes , and he is quite an interesting guy.
We were talking about music and recordings, and to my suprise , made a statement I have come to agree with.
He said it is really too bad that todays high end manufacturers have taken the tone controls off of preamps !
He told me of an obscure, neat piece of equipment I was unaware of that has a tilt control on it , a much better way of making a bad recording tolerable.
And, no , I am not talking about the Quad Preamp , whick Richard is also hip to, and likes.
Obvoiusly, this man likes music , and I did not find him to be arrogant , as some have claimed, in the least.
I was waiting for him to yell at me for slamming his model 5 , and instead, he treated me with kindness, patience , and respect.
He is a strong personality , and I got the feeling he really believes in what he is doing.
Like me , he goes back a long, long time in the high end.
We talked about my B&w 801's , and to my suprise, he did not slam them.
He said they have good drivers in them , but lamented that the midrange was out of phase with the other 2 drivers.
He thought it would be interesting to place a Vandersteen 3a signature next to them, and listen to the differences.
He feels that a first order crossover isnt for everyone , and about half the people are looking for what he calls " sound effects " that I term Boom Boom , Tweet Tweet.
He said that the people who do like the sound of a first order system , will never go back to anything else.
I had a friend , back in the 80's , in Seattle , a music teacher , who had Vandersteen model 2b's , and no matter what I owned , including Quad 63's , 1=1 Acoustats, Ls 3/5 a's , Celestion SL 600's , etc, he always would just smil, and shake his head , and say, " I like my Vandersteens.
He finally bought Martin Logan CLS , and sold the Vandys , but he still yearned for his 2b's , so perhaps there is much truth in what Richard says ?
Richard Vandersreen also told me that a guitar string , and a piano key , according to Helmholtz , resonate at 440 hz , but yet sound different.
He said the reason why is phase of the harmonics.
Anyway, I am rambling now , but I just wanted to mention all of this conversation, for I really enjoyed it , after I apologized, of course.

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