[jeffreybehr]

Will be retrieving them Thursday the 6th in New Jersey and will have them home by Sunday the 9th.  Have purchased a new set of tubes from Tube Depot and will send them to VS to verify they're within biasing limits.  I'm a firm believer in isolating speakers and electronics from the always-vibrating concrete-slab floor, so after initial placement probably will have them on ISOAcoustic Gaia Is.

Am really looking forward to hearing these.   

[jeffreybehr]

Home, happily running, and sounding fabulous they are!


The trip to and from Newark (Metuchen), NJ was mildly exhausting, but my adult daughter and I got the 2500-mile job done.  The VERY nice seller sort-of-insisted that we put the amps in their crates, so those 2 took more space than I had planned in the Pathfinder I rented, but we got them in.  We wrapped the speakers in two thick furniture blankets, duct-taped that all together, and slid them into the back on their sides.

Here's an amp.  FWIW, mine run quite hot.


In the top pic, the screen is 'down' in movie-watching position; I usually chain its bottom to the front wall for music listening.  The system is the most resolving I've ever heard.  My fellowaudiofool goodbuddy and I got the bassamp adjusted, but altho the speakers are measured to be the same (= within 1/4") distance from my nose, the speakers are pointed only generally; I plan to ask our former VS dealer if they still have the measuring equipment and will come to adjust them properly.

Meanwhile, beautiful music.

FWIW, I still have a pair of Aethetix Atlas Eclipse monoamps coming probably next month; they're the ones with the variable-frequency hipass filters; we'll see how they sound with the Sevens.

[JackD]

Congrats on getting them home Jeffrey.

[jeffreybehr]

Congrats on getting them home Jeffrey.

TY, Jack.

[jeffreybehr]

...which is somewhat of a project with the 7.2s' 9/16-18 spike threads.  Already had these spike bars...

...which I easily attached with 1"-long* capscrews (and double flatwashers) screwed into the original spike holes in the bottom of the bottom plate.  The bars have 1/4-NC threads for the spikes, and the Gaias come with that size stud adapters, but the quarter-inch screw looks quite puny for the weight of the speaker.  I'll be drilling and tapping the holes to 12M-1.25 to use the full-diameter (= no stepdown of diameter) stud supplied with the G-Is.  The rear will require a special 9/16"-diameter stud with M12-1.25 male threads on its bottom to screw the Gaias onto; that's in process.

Moved the poweramps, too.


* that is the maximum length that will enter the two blind holes at the front of the bottom plate.

[jeffreybehr]

Had a goodbuddyfellowaudiofool over to hear the Sevens; he thought it was the best my system has sounded...EVER; made me feel good.

[jeffreybehr]

Got the spikebars drilled and tapped to the 12mm threads that are native to the Gaia-Is; they look MUCH better to me, and I know they're stonger.

Also received the smaller spikebars (for the rear) from AudioExpress and will have them done in a week or so.

Received the AQ Dragon PCs for the M7s and Blizzard Extreme PCs for the bassamps; wiring looks MUCH better now and is easier to keep isolated.  Am plugging these PCs into the wall outlets fed by my two 20A. dedicated lines. 
 


Will be having the 4 AQ Edison 20A. duplex outlets...
https://www.audioquest.com/ac-power/ac-power-outlets/nrg-edison-duplex-wall-outlet
...installed this week.

This Vandersteen system continues to sound EXCELLENT!      

FWIW, I'll soon be cutting a largish rectangle of carpet away from the front wall so that the system-backend-equipment lowboy and speakers, etc., will not have carpet under them.  Will also be building a new lowboy cabinet much like my current one but which will have 3cm (c. 1.2")-thick granite shelves instead of wooden ones.

[Rocket]

Hi,

Enjoy your new speakers. I just checked the price out in Australia and they are over 100k. I bet they sound superb.

Cheers Rod

[jeffreybehr]

News, FINALLY, on the Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse poweramps I ordered in July--they indicate they'll be shipping them to me in two weeks.. We'll see.  I'm anxious to get them broken in and evaluated when driving the VS 7.2s.. I chose these amps based on (1) two glowing reviews on sonic quality, (2) each uses a 6SN7GT for Voltage gain, and I have many premium versions of those, and (3) each has a variable-frequency hipass filter for VS and similar speakers.


http://www.aesthetix.net/atlas.php?aac_mobile=no