Vandersteen Audio VCC-5 User Manual

$5.00

Thank-you for choosing the Vandersteen VCC-5 Reference, a center

speaker designed for the full-range signal of modern discrete multi­channel formats (Ie. AC-3 and/or DTS). With proper care, your new
speaker will provide many years of trouble free, high quality performance.
We recommend that you read this entire manual prior to installing,
connecting or using your Vandersteen VCC-5 Video Center Channel
Dialog Speaker.

Vandersteen Audio

The VCC-5 Video Center Channel Dialog Speaker

is an integral part of a home audio/video system
where it helps localize dialog and other movie
sounds at the TV screen. The VCC-5 is the product
of extensive research into the qualities required for
realistic movie sound reproduction. The engineer­ing, construction and materials of the VCC-5 far ex­ceed conventional industry standards and result in a
level of performance unmatched by other center
channel dialog speakers.
The VCC-5 is a phase coherent design intended to
be used in a high-quality audio/video surround sys­tem in combination with main speakers that have ac­curate frequency response and phase response.
Whether you chose Vandersteen Audio main speak­ers or others with the proper qualities, the seamless

CONTENTS

Vandersteen A/V 2
Connections 4
Phase 4
Placement 5
Balancing Levels 6
Proximity Compensation 6
Amplification 6
Service 6
Packing 7
Maintenance 7
Specifications 7
Warranty 8

VIDEO REFERENCE CENTER

CHANNEL DIALOG SPEAKER

OPERATIONS MANUAL

blend with the VCC-5 will insure maximum intelli­gibility on dialog and superior realism on music and
sound effects.
The VCC-5’s innovative, aligned triaxial design
eliminates lobing effects and allows the VCC-5 to
be placed at any height above or below the screen
while maintaining consistent sound throughout the
listening area. Its adjustable proximity compensa­tion helps counter the effects of placement in a cabi­net or near a wall and insures optimum performance
in any environment. Its pleasing appearance allows
the VCC-5 to visually complement your main
speakers and the décor of your home.
The Vandersteen Audio VCC-5 Video Center
Channel Dialog Speaker is designed and built in the
United States of America.

VCC-5

VANDERSTEEN AUDIO/VIDEO

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 im­pressive picture commanding most of your attention and
manipulating your emotions, it is easy to hear how sub­standard 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 experi­ence the sound effects than it is for the dialog, music and
sound effects to sound real. Theater systems are engi­neered so that the kid in the front row right under the
screen and the guy way back in the rear corner hear ade­quate 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 con­sistency, guarantees consistent mediocrity. Luckily, it is
not a mediocrity we have to live with in our home sys­tems.
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 repro­duce 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 ampli­fier—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 ampli­fier will significantly improve the performance of your
system on both film and

music.

ADD SUBWOOFERS

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 fre­quencies 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 fre­quency sound effects in modern movies can only be fully ex­perienced 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 re­sponse 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 mini­speakers—the small speakers simply cannot reach the re­quired full octave below any reasonable subwoofer crossover
point. Mated with full-range speakers however, powered sub­woofers reduce the demands on the main amplifier as well as
the speakers so that the system's treble and midrange are im­proved 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 be­tween the channels. Stereo subwoofers reproduce all of the
bass information complete with the phase differences. Multi­channel processors sound better with the LFE (Low Fre­quency 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 pow­ered subwoofer is an extraordinary performer in a high­fidelity 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 mo­tor-to-cone-area ratio of the 2Wq’s three 8 inch drivers re­duces 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.

FROM STEREO TO SURROUND AND BACK AGAIN

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,

Vandersteen Audio

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VCC-5 Operation Manual

this functional metamorphosis will require an external sur­round sound processor that is compatible with the core elec­tronics, a pair of speakers for the surround channels and an
amplifier to drive them. An A/V receiver based system will
only require the addition of the surround speakers as the
processor and surround amplifier are already built into the
receiver.
In a system with separates, a surround sound processor
that can be inserted into the tape loop of the preamplifier
will allow you to engage any of the surround sound modes
for movie viewing while still being able to switch the proc­essor and other surround related equipment completely out
of the system for listening to stereo CDs or records. This
will give you maximum flexibility since the system is not
compromised to favor one listening mode over another.
There are several performance attributes to consider
when selecting surround speakers for a high-fidelity home
theater system. You are not forced into the compromises of
a theater so you can use uncompromising speakers with pre­cise imaging that enhances the spaciousness of your system
and insures satisfying and stable surround effects. While
small bookshelf surround speakers often have these desir­able imaging characteristics, they do not have the bass ex­tension or power handling capability of larger speakers.
This is usually not a problem with conventional matrixed
surround modes that attenuate the low frequencies to the
surround speakers and keep the levels relatively low, but the
discrete multi-channel modes as well as proprietary ma­trixed modes on many processors send full-frequency infor­mation to the surround speakers. When you consider the
excessive dynamic demands this puts on small bookshelf
speakers, it is easy to see the advantages of using speakers
designed to handle a full range signal.
The Vandersteen VSM-1 phase-correct on-wall speaker
complements our center and main speakers while providing
the benefits of convenient, inconspicuous on-wall mounting.
It is capable of handling a full-range signal and can be
matched with a 2Wq subwoofer since the bass response of a
wall-mounted speaker is very predictable. Once stereo sub­woofers are set-up for the front left and right channels, a
third 2Wq can be used with the VSM-1 to provide true full­range surround capability.
Should budget considerations dictate the use of inexpen­sive, limited-range surround speakers, we recommend that
you select a phase-correct two-way with a five or six inch
woofer in a narrow baffle. Speakers with small woofers and
narrow baffles usually sound decent through the critical
middle frequencies and have good imaging characteristics.
To prevent the small speakers’ woofers from distorting or
being damaged by intense low frequency sound effects, you
can program your processor to limit the bass to the surround
channels or be careful to only use modes where the bass to
the surround channels is automatically limited. If you can­not program your processor to limit the bass and you want
to use a surround mode that sends full-range information to
the surround speakers, you can install capacitors on the

inputs to the surround amplifier or surround speakers to
limit the low bass.
To drive the surround speakers in a separates based
system, choose an amplifier matched to the power re­quirements of the speakers that has similar sonic charac­teristics to the amplifier driving the main speakers. This
can be either a stereo amplifier or two channels of a
multi-channel A/V amplifier.

ADD A CENTER CHANNEL

A center channel speaker and an amplifier to drive it

are the final components you need to complete the audio
portion of your audio/video system. The center channel
speaker will help localize dialog and other film sounds at
the screen for viewers seated outside of the central listen­ing area. During a movie, much of the sound you hear
will be coming from the center speaker so it must be care­fully chosen to properly integrate with the main speakers.
While adding a good, well-matched center channel
speaker will improve the system’s performance for listen­ers seated to the sides, a poor center channel speaker will
completely ruin the sound of the system for everyone. No
center speaker is always preferable to a poor or mis­matched center speaker.

TRUE UPGRADABILITY

By basing your system on a good music system, not

only can you build it piece by piece, you can upgrade it
the same way. You can upgrade the power amplifier or
preamplifier for better sound in a separates based system
or switch processors to acquire new surround modes.
With an A/V receiver, you can add a separate power am­plifier to better drive the main speakers and at the same
time take a big step toward the superior performance of
separates. You can change from small bookshelf sur­round speakers to VSM-1 on-wall speakers and move the
small speakers into a bedroom, den or office system.
Since the system is so modular, it will be easy to make
any changes that future surround modes or technology
will require without having to redo the entire system.
The music system based audio/video system is a good
value. Most of your stereo components will integrate di­rectly into your audio/video system. Every improvement
you make to the core components will increase your en­joyment of both music and film. This double return on
your investment will keep costs down since there is no
duplication of components between separate systems.

PASS THE POPCORN, PLEASE

Setting-up the audio portion of your home audio/video

system along these guidelines will enable it to reproduce
the sound of a blockbuster action movie with the same
ease and realism that it reproduces a chamber orchestra or
solo vocalist. Whether you use a standard size TV or a
ten-foot projection unit, your system’s superior voice in­telligibility, superb musical accuracy and extraordinary
sound effects capabilities will bring your favorite music
and your favorite films to life for you and your entire
family.

Vandersteen Audio

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VCC-5 Operation Manual