Vandersteen Audio VCC-5 User Manual

     The next time you’re in a movie theater, shut your eyes 
and just listen to the movie.  Listen carefully to the voices, 
music and sound effects with the same critical ear you 
would use to judge a stereo system.  Without the big im-
pressive picture commanding most of your attention and 
manipulating your emotions, it is easy to hear how sub-
standard the sound truly is.  Then try several different 
seats throughout the theater; you will find that they all 
have about the same poor sound. 
     In a theater, it is more important that every viewer  be 
able to understand the dialog, hear the music and experi-
ence the sound effects than it is for the dialog, music and 
sound effects to sound real.  Theater systems are engi-
neered so that the kid in the front row right under the 
screen and the guy way back in the rear corner hear ade-
quate sound even if it is detrimental to the sound in the 
central part of the theater.  The sonic performance for the 
best seats is compromised to improve the performance for 
the worst seats.  Engineering for this extreme level of con-
sistency, guarantees consistent mediocrity.  Luckily, it is 
not a mediocrity we have to live with in our home sys-
tems. 
     During the development of the VCC-5 we had the 
enlightening opportunity to use and evaluate numerous 
theater, home theater and audio/video systems with a wide 
assortment of equipment and configurations. We found 
that certain audio/video systems had better clarity, greater 
intelligibility and a faithfulness to the original sonic truth 
that other systems could not match.  Based upon these 
superior systems, we developed some recommendations 
on building an audio/video system that would allow you, 
your family and your friends to experience videos, laser 
discs, DVDs, CDs, records and even broadcast television 
with maximum sonic realism. 
START WITH A GOOD MUSIC SYSTEM 
     An accurate, detailed two speaker music system is the 
perfect basis for a high-fidelity audio/video system.  
Speakers and electronics that sound real on music will 
also sound real on voices and other film sounds.  Films 
contain many sounds of real life that we hear everyday so 
we instinctively use those familiar sounds to evaluate the 
visual realism. If your system cannot realistically repro-
duce familiar sounds as well as familiar sights, you will 
never be fully drawn into the emotional experience of a 
film. 
     Whether you build your audio/video system from 
scratch or as an extension of an existing music system, the 
performance of the core components—the front left and 
right speakers, the preamplifier and the main front ampli-
fier—will define the ultimate capabilities of the entire 
system. The core components are where an investment in 
better speakers or a superior preamplifier or power ampli-
fier will significantly improve the performance of your 
system on both film and 

music. 

Once you have the core components, the next step in 

building an audio/video system is the addition of subwoofers.  
While subwoofers are optional in a music system, they are an 
integral and required part of an audio/video system.  Movie 
makers take considerable artistic license with the low fre-
quencies to create incredible sound effects that could never 
occur in the real world.  Even with full-range main speakers 
and a powerful main amplifier, the high-intensity low fre-
quency sound effects in modern movies can only be fully ex-
perienced with subwoofers and can actually damage a system 
without subwoofers. 
     To insure proper blending with subwoofers, filter theory 
dictates that the main speakers must have predictable re-
sponse at least an octave below the crossover point.  For an 
80Hz subwoofer crossover point, the main speakers must 
have predictable response to 40Hz or lower.  This is why it is 
impossible to successfully mate subwoofers with mini-
speakers—the small speakers simply cannot reach the re-
quired full octave below any reasonable subwoofer crossover 
point.  Mated with full-range speakers however, powered sub-
woofers reduce the demands on the main amplifier as well as 
the speakers so that the system's treble and midrange are im-
proved along with the bass. 
     There are significant advantages to using two subwoofers 
in an audio/video system rather than a single unit.  Summing 
the channels into a single subwoofer alters or cancels all the 
low frequency information containing phase differences be-
tween the channels.  Stereo subwoofers reproduce all of the 
bass information complete with the phase differences.  Multi-
channel processors sound better with the LFE (Low Fre-
quency Effects) information redirected to the front left and 
right channels where stereo subwoofers are located.  Stereo 
subwoofers are also more linear than a single unit since they 
introduce the bass into the room at two different places and 
lend themselves to natural placement in the corners where the 
low frequency room gain is desirable on spectacular film 
sound effects. 
     Whether you use one or two, the Vandersteen 2Wq pow-
ered subwoofer is an extraordinary performer in a high-
fidelity home theater system where it has the power, cone 
area and frequency extension for you to fully experience the 
most intense low-frequency film sound effects.  The high mo-
tor-to-cone-area ratio of the 2Wq’s three 8 inch drivers re-
duces distortion and provides a more seamless transition to 
the main speakers than is possible with a larger driver.  The 
2Wq features adjustable Q so the bass can be optimized for a 
music or home theater system and tailored to match your 
room and personal taste. In a system where the LFE output 
features and configuration options are desirable, a V2W can 
be added. 

     Now that the core system and subwoofers are in place, it is 
time to provide surround sound capabilities to the system.  In 
a system built around a preamplifier 

and power amplifier,