Floorstanding loudspeakers — Vandersteen Audio Seven XTRM

The Model Seven XTRM is a floorstanding loudspeaker from Vandersteen Audio that updates the Model Seven first introduced in 2009. Every pair is handcrafted at the solar-powered Vandersteen factory in California, and owners of earlier Model Seven speakers within the USA can have them brought to full XTRM specification.

Key specs that matter

The front array uses patented Perfect-Piston drivers with a three-layer diaphragm of carbon fiber, balsa and carbon fiber - a 1 inch tweeter, a 4.5 inch midrange and a 7 inch mid-woofer, the last two on die-cast baskets with neodymium magnets and ferrofluid cooling. Bass comes from two opposing 11 inch side-firing subwoofers with trussed-aluminum cones and copper Faraday rings, and a 0.75 inch ceramic-coated alloy dome fires to the rear. Response is given as 22 Hz to 50 kHz within 2 dB, sensitivity as 85 dB for 2.83 volts at 1 meter, and impedance as 4 ohms. The cabinet is 356 mm wide, 1080 mm tall and 508 mm deep, with the Bedrock base adding 76 mm of height and spikes about 38 mm more. Net weight is 84 kg, or 129 kg with the Bedrock base fitted.

Engineering and use context

A recalibrated linear 400 watt amplifier with a power-factor-corrected switching supply drives the CounterForce bass section, and its 11-band equalizer now reaches further into the mid-bass. Crossover points sit at 100 Hz, 600 Hz and 5000 Hz with 6 dB per octave slopes. The Stealth enclosure uses carbon fiber box-in-box construction with constrained-layer-damped panels, and the included Bedrock base is itself constrained-layer damped for mass loading. Richard Vandersteen spent 10 years developing the carbon cone material. Each speaker is measured and adjusted one at a time with the anechoic response measurement system of the company, then matched to its twin for driver response and crossover accuracy. Finishes come in unlimited colors of high-gloss automotive paint. Inputs are barrier strips that accept connectors up to 13 mm wide.

Pairing

The recommended amplifier range is 40 to 300 watts into 8 ohms. Vandersteen offers the liquid-cooled M7-HPA high-pass amplifier for this series at USD 83,600 per pair, and the M7-HP high-pass filter at USD 3,498 per pair for placing ahead of an existing amplifier to roll off content below the lowest crossover point.

Alternatives

The Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT Evo is a smaller four-way floorstander with a 250 watt powered bass section and dual 8 inch side-firing subwoofers.