VANDERSTEEN 3A - Page 2

The Model 3A contains protection circuits that track voice coil temperatures
and reduce the current from your amplifier to one or more of the drivers if
excessive temperatures are detected. When these devices are activated, the
sound of the speaker will change and warning lights behind the front grille
will glow. If this occurs, immediately reduce the volume level to allow the
components in the speaker to cool down.
Please remember that no protection circuits are 100% effective and that
repeated activation could cause the circuits to fail.
Do not connect the speaker wires until the cones and rear braces have been
installed according to the instructions included with the braces.
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Connecting The Model 3As
The Model 3As are optimized for bi-wiring or
vertical bi-amplification. Separate heavy-duty screw
terminal inputs for the bass portion and tweeter-
midrange portion of the crossover are located on the
rear of each speaker.
Bi-Wiring
Bi-wiring uses two speaker cables to connect each
speaker to the amplifier. The speaker’s internal cross¬
over presents different electrical characteristics to
each cable so that one cable carries the signal going to
the woofers while the other cable carries the signal
going to the midrange and tweeter. The improvements
offered by bi-wiring versus a conventional single run of
cable can be substantial. They are often large enough
that a bi-wire set of moderately priced cable will sound
better than a single run of far more expensive cable.
All the speaker cables in a bi-wire set should be
the same. While it may be tempting to mix different
models of cable to have a cable known for good bass
response on the woofers and a different one known for
good treble response on the midrange and tweeter, the
differing sonic characteristics of the two cables can
seriously affect the blending between the woofer and
the midrange. The imaging of the speakers may be
vague, transparency may be lost and detail and clarity
can suffer.
Research has revealed that much of bi-wiring’s
benefit comes from the physical separation of the bass
cable from the midrange/tweeter cable. Four conductor
bi-wire cables that combine the wires together in one
sheath are better than mono-wiring with an equivalent
two-conducter cable, but they do not offer the full
advantages of true bi-wiring.
Bi-Amplification
The Model 3As can only be bi-amplified passively
with two identical stereo amplifiers, preferably in a verti¬
cal configuration. (One stereo amplifier per speaker.)
For Model 3A owners that already own two identical
stereo amplifiers or can easily acquire a second stereo
amplifier that matches the one they have, bi-amplifica-
tion may offer some advantages over bi-wiring. It
should be noted however, that bi-amplification usually
offers only slight to moderate sonic improvements over
bi-wiring so two lesser amplifiers will normally not out¬
perform a single better amplifier. Unless you already
have two identical amplifiers or easy access to a
second matching amplifier, you are better off investing
in the best single amplifier within your budget rather
than dividing your budget between two less expensive
and inferior sounding amplifiers.
When bi-amplifying, the speaker’s internal pas¬
sive crossover divides the frequencies by presenting
different electrical characteristics to each channel of
the amplifier. An electronic crossover is not used since
the passive crossover in the Model 3A cannot be
bypassed. Use of an electronic crossover would result
in the two crossovers acting in series and would cause
severe phase shift and response non-linearities.
The Model 3As should not be bi-amped with two
different amplifier models in a horizontal mode. (One
amplifier driving the woofers and the other amplifier
driving the midrange and tweeter.) When half of the
speaker is driven by a different amplifier model than
the other half—and in these cases, usually by
amplifiers chosen for the differences in their sounds
rather than the similarities—the blending between the
woofer and midrange is compromised and the sonic
consistency of the speaker is affected. The upper and
lower halves of the speaker will exhibit different
dynamic characteristics, imaging characteristics, tonal
balances and degrees of detail. This will cause consid¬
erable sonic confusion through the middle frequencies.
Vandersteen Audio, Inc. 2