VANDERSTEEN 3A - THE CONTOUR CONTROLS

The Contour Controls
Two contour controls are located on the aluminum
dress plate at the rear of the Model Three. The upper
control adjusts the tweeter level and the lower control
adjusts the midrange level.
The contour controls can be used to compensate
for a bright or dull room that can not be corrected with
speaker placement, acoustical treatments or other pas¬
sive means. The controls are limited in their effects
and even at maximum rotation they will not take the
response of the speaker out of a plus or minus 3dB
envelope. Changing the contour controls will not affect
the detail, imaging or phase performance of the
speakers due to the unique incorporation of the con¬
trols into the crossover circuitry.
When using the controls, we recommend that you
start with small adjustments and only change the
midrange controls or tweeter controls before listening
to the effects of the change. By changing only one pair
of controls at a time, you will be able to easily deter¬
mine the effects that each pair of controls have upon
the sound of the speakers in your room.
Design And Specifications
A precisely aligned dynamic design, blending com¬
mon sense innovations with proven technology, gives
the Model 3A many advantages:
• Computer optimized driver placement and cabinet
design virtually eliminate the interference patterns
usually associated with multi-way speakers.
• The lack of out-of-phase rear wave cancellations and
interpanel interference allows many placement op¬
tions in the listening room.
• The basic design concepts produce extended
dynamic range and a point-source wave front for
correct soundstage replication.
• The overall polar response pattern resembles the
studio microphone pick-up pattern for better imaging
and a broader listening area.
• High efficiency and a smooth impedance curve pro¬
vide unlimited amplifier compatibility.
Acoustic Long-throw, dual-spider active 10"
Coupler: with a critically damped ultra-rigid cone
and heavy-duty 1.5" four-layer voice
coil on a ventilated aluminum former.
Range of operation: 26Hz to 35Hz
Woofer: Long-throw 8" with a die-cast basket
and curvilinear polycone. 1.5 inch, two-
layer voice coil on a ventilated alumi¬
num former. 40 oz focused-gap magnet
structure.
Range of operation: 35Hz to 600Hz
Midrange: 4.5" with a patented, low-diffraction
magnet and die-cast basket, linear
surround and curvilinear polycone.
Ferrofluid voice coil cooling.
Range of operation: 600Hz to 5kHz
Tweeter: 1 " critically damped, dual chamber
metal alloy dome with ferrofluid voice
coil cooling.
Range of operation: 5kHz to 30kHz
Crossover: 600Hz and 5kHz.
First-order, 6dB per octave. Dual inputs
allow bi-wiring with a single stereo amp¬
lifier or passive vertical bi-amplification
with two identical stereo amplifiers.
Impedance: 6 ohms nominal. 4 ohms minimum.
Efficiency: 88dB, 2.83 volt input at 1 meter.
Response: 26Hz to 30kHz ± 3dB
30Hz to 22kHz s 1.5dB
By FFT step function.
Amplification: 100 to 200 watts per channel into
8 ohms. The amplifier should be stable
into a 4 ohm load
Physical: 48” high x 16” wide x 10.25” deep.
89 pounds net, 102 pounds gross each.
Specifications and design subject to change without
notice due to our continuing research and development
programs.
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Model 3A Operation Manual