Update: Deep Inside Vandy 2Ce

[jocko_nc]

If anyone is interested, findings inside the popular Vandersteen design...

I have an old pair, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I will soon have an upstairs music room for myself and the kids: Some guitars and amps. PA stuff. Dape decks. Odd stereo equipment. I plan to refurbish the Vandys and use them up there with a 1980's amp SS (Carver or Adcom). It should be pretty a cool spot.

Tearing into them, here is what I have learned about the Vandy design.

8.00 inch, 3-way.
Woofer is an 8.00 Vifa poly with OEM part number.
Radiator is 10.00 actually a full-blown woofer, unknown manufacture. It is not passive, but is electrically damped to the crossover somehow. The motor is wired to the crossover. They glued a mass disc to the cone. I suspect the two are somewhat out-of-phase to cancel interior pressure.
The mid is an odd bird. I think it may be an old Peerless model. It is a 4.00 poly cone, with no rubber surround or any other means of excursion. It is a vibrating panel. It has a cast chamber behind it.
The tweeter is easily recognizable Vifa dome with OEM numbers. They put die-cut matting around the dome.
The bass enclosure is trapeziodal and highly damped with polyfill and matting. All edges rounded.

I am listening to Neil Young right now, with power only to the mid / high portion of the crossover. If I had to guess, the mid supports the tweeter to fill in what would otherwise be a 2-way. I am not hearing a lot of mid, of which the woofer must provide a lot. The paper says 600 Hz and 5000 Hz with first-order slopes. Each driver must be overlapping with the others considerably. The mid is real curious to me.

Both of the radiators are shot. The cloth motor suspension is otherwise intact, but worn out and saggy. When I took these out of service, I thought I was hearing some mid rattle. I think now it was a goofy noise from the radiator, the voicecoil hitting the magnet assembly. I will replace with passive Daytons, it cannot make THAT much difference. It will still be a valid design.

Anyway, here are some pics.

Check out how much dust gets through the cloth sock after 15 years...

jocko