Vandersteen Quatro driver placement

[luvdunhill]

Just curious, does anyone know where the two 8" drivers on the Vandersteen Quatros are placed, and what the box design is? From looking at the front of the newer wood models, the 8" must either be rear-firing or down-firing and I'm curious how this can maintain time-phase response, as all the Vandersteen speakers proport to do.

Thanks!

[David Gatti]

Have you read stereophiles review?

I'd think all drivers are mounted on the front. The baffle is 10" wide.

[luvdunhill]

yeah, it just doesn't add up right. Look at this picture of the Quatro wood:

http://www.vandersteen.com/images/QuatroWood.jpg

The total height is 43" and let's say 50% of the front baffle is dedicated to the speakers (yet, it's obviously less than that from the picture). So, we have to fit a the following on the front: two 8", one 6.5", one 4.5" and a 1" tweeter... I cannot imagine these fitting, even if the 8" were side by side.

[David Gatti]

Hmmm, they could be on the back as per the model 3A or on the bottom as per the model 5. I think the latter given the apparent slots on the sides. Here's the model 5 drawing :

[luvdunhill]

very interesting! So, I'm somewhat surprised that such a configuration doesn't effect the time/phase coherent nature of the Vandersteens. Perhaps someone can explain that a bit to me?

Also, in general, what does one have to worry about when considering down-firing, or even rear-firing subs in a three-way design? Are these equivalent to forward-firing designs?

[David Gatti]

At 100Hz, the wavelength is 3.3 metres, so the 30-50cm increased path length from a rear or bottom-mounted bass driver is less significant and can be compensated for, somewhat,by the crossover. Still, its a bit of a compromise and I prefer the Thiel approach of having all drivers on the front baffle.