Model Seven Mk II The Vandersteen Flagship Loudspeakers

Model Seven Mk II & M7-HPA Stereophile Class A Recommended Components, Editor's Choice Award Winners!

" ... high frequencies seamlessly blended with their midrange ... delicious solidity to the sound even when the recording was mono ... true full-range sound, superb transparency and soundstaging, and a magically palpable way with recorded voices." - John Atkinson, Editor Stereophile Magazine


2015 PRODUCT OF THE YEAR- THE AUDIO BEAT

"A genuine flagship performer, regardless of size and price, the Vandersteen Model Seven Mk II takes holistic design to another level." -Roy Gregory,  The Audio Beat


Meet the Model Seven Mk II, the newest Vandersteen Audio flagship! The original Model Seven was introduced in 2009 and remained in constant production for over five years, an unprece- dented run during which it was firmly ensconced as a Stereophile Class A Recommendation, a perennial TAS Editor’s Choice winner and a winner of universal praise from reviewers and consumers around the world. All of which is testament to the fact that the Seven was a tough speaker to improve upon!

However, Richard and Nathan Vandersteen, the architects of this ambitious project found that mechanically altering the “acoustic lens” that surrounds midrange and tweeter aligned the acoustic centers of those drivers just enough to substantially decrease the amount of hand tuning required for the compensation network. The result is even more natural, open sound for a soundstage that is palpably taller, wider and more “3D” in its image focus and specificity.

Although the crucial aspects of the Model Seven’s ultra-rigid carbon-fiber “cabinet within a cabinet” construction remain familiar with the Mk II, the tighter physical integration of the tweeter/ midrange interface creates a more elegant appearance with the grill cloth on, and a look we are pleased to note also increases the visual similarity between Vandersteen’s flagship speaker and the liquid-cooled M7-HPA amplifier.

Further sonic improvement was realized by weaving the voice coil leads directly into the spiders of the push-pull subwoofer cones in the powered subwoofer, strengthening the connection between the Model Seven MK II’s internal power amplifier and the powered sub, allowing increased linear excursion for even greater bass authority in the subterranean (100Hz and below) frequencies.

Of course the beating heart of the Model Seven Mk II is the patented carbon-fiber-clad Perfect-PistonTM drivers that made the Model Seven a sensation. Richard Vandersteen spent 10 years developing these amazing carbon cones, a completely original technology which realizes the dream of true pistonic linearity from dynamic driver cones without the unnatural sonic color- ations inherent in metal driver cones.

The Model Seven Mk II employs Vandersteen’s most powerful and refined powered-bass system. Each speaker incorporates a 400- watt amplifier with a dual-motor, push-pull subwoofer comprised of two 12” curvilinear aluminum cones sandwiched together and 11-band room EQ. A passive, first-order (6dB/octave) high-pass filter allows the main amplifier to perform its best, unburdened
of reproducing deep bass. Passive speaker designs always require placement compromises between the areas in the room where the imaging is best (farther out in the room) and where the bass is best (closer to the walls for boundary reinforcement). The Model Seven Mk II can be placed out in the room where it images best, while the 11-band EQ ensures “unbeatable” in-room powered- bass performance.

Our flagship Model Seven Mk II is entirely uncolored and free of cone-imposed distortions that even the most astute listeners never identified as originating from the loudspeaker itself. The Perfect Pistons’ startling linearity opens an entirely new window on your music collection revealing nuances only heard by the artists and artisans who made the original recording.

The Model Seven Mk II's advances are rooted in our 30 year-old cornerstone concept, which is to design full-range, time- and phase-accurate, minimum baffle, vertical array speaker systems. We introduced this concept with the original Vandersteen Model 2 in 1977 and the fact that narrow speakers with vertically-arrayed drivers are ubiquitous today further demonstrates both the influence and validity of this speaker design.

Everything we do at Vandersteen Audio revolves around one simple precept… serve the source. In the case of loudspeakers this means faithfully preserving the waveform produced by the power amplifier, including all of the delicate time-domain relationships that comprise the recorded musical performance.

We develop and blend both engineering and technology to act as conduit between you the listener and heightened satisfaction from your music collection.

Perfect-Piston™ driver diaphragms. Vandersteen has revolutionized loudspeaker design by combining structural engineering and material technology to create diaphragms that act as perfect pistons throughout their operating ranges and beyond. The unique diaphragm material used to make Vandersteen Perfect Piston™ Drivers marries carbon fiber and balsa wood in a unique 3-layer configuration with the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio available and allows all direct-radiating drivers to utilize diaphragms made from the same materials.

Fusion™ Subwoofers. The unique dual-motor, push-pull subwoofers two curvilinear aluminum cones sandwiched together with an exotic honeycomb material built-in to Vandersteen Model Seven Mk II loudspeakers are unlike anything else on the market. They don’t simply “augment” bass. They extend the low frequency response of the speakers while reducing distortion in the midrange. Bass response and harmonic response are fused together in a seamless blend, maintaining full-range amplitude linearity and phase-response.

Stealth™ Enclosures. The structure or body of a musical instrument, like a piano, violin or guitar, is designed to add rich and pleasing resonances to the sound of the strings. Any sound created by the structure of a loudspeaker is distortion so all resonances should be eliminated. Vandersteen Stealth™  enclosures eliminate these distortions by virtually eliminating resonances, minimizing baffle dimensions and covering the remaining surfaces with non-reflective materials, and carefully contouring all edges. Vandersteen speaker enclosures are acoustically inert. All structural panels are made from proprietary constrained-layer-damped materials and heavily braced. Vandersteen Model Seven Mk II speakers have additional carbon fiber layers applied inside and out with a high-pressure, high-temperature autoclave.

cohesive by design…

Creating and integrating the finest components is a start, but not good enough. Equally important is the abilty for those components to perform as desgned in the presence of other elements – Vandersteen loudspeakers have established the ability to perform with an organic ease and pace, with natural timbre and tonality, without cmpromise.

The custom laser tool shown above is part of the dealer installation kit used to precisely adjust speaker tilt and toe-in, along with bass equalization.

400-watt amplifier. In each Model Seven Mk II, Vandersteen integrates an ultra-high-current 400-watt amplifier with power-factor-corrected, regulated power supply. The Eleven-band bass equalization, plus master level control, along with Adjustable“Q”™ allow bass response to be perfectly tailored to a myriad of speaker positions in a variety of rooms. Vandersteen’s phase coherent bass EQ is unique because it affects low frequencies only; there is no processing in the signal path above bass frequencies all within the analog domain.
We are very proud to introduce the Model Seven Mk II, the newest Vandersteen flagship! The chief improvement in the Model Seven Mk II was achieved by mechanically altering the "acoustic lens" that surrounds midrange and tweeter, aligning the acoustic centers of those drivers just enough to substantially decrease the amount of hand tuning required for the compensation network. The result is even more natural, open sound for a soundstage that is palpably taller, wider and more "3D" in its image focus and specificity. Additional improvements were realized by weaving the voice-coil leads directly into the spiders of the push-pull subwoofer cones in the powered subwoofer, strengthening the connection between the Model Seven MK II's integral power amplifier and subwoofer, allowing increased linear excursion for even greater bass authority in the subterranean (100Hz and below)

Model Seven Mk II Specifications

Tweeter     

1” Patented Perfect Piston™ Tweeter with 3-Layer Carbon Fiber/Balsa/Carbon Fiber Dome, Aerodynamic Neo-Magnet Assembly

Midrange     

4.5” Patented Perfect Piston™ Midrange with 3-Layer Carbon Fiber/Balsa/Carbon Fiber Cone, Die-Cast Aerodynamic Basket with Neo-Magnet Assembly and Ferrofluid Voice-Coil Cooling

Mid-woofer     

7” Patented Perfect Piston™ Mid-Woofer with 3-Layer Carbon Fiber/Balsa/Carbon Fiber Cone, Die-Cast Aerodynamic Basket with Neo-Magnet Assembly and Ferrofluid Voice-Coil Cooling
    

Subwoofer     

Dual 12" Trussed-Aluminum Cones, Dual-Motor, Push-Pull Driver with Die-Cast Aerodynamic Basket with Precision-Machined Opposing Magnet Assemblies with Copper Faraday Rings

Rear-fiiring Tweeter     

.75" Ceramic-Coated Alloy Dome

Subwoofer Amplifier

    

400-Watt High-Current Power-Factor Corrected Amplifier

Recommended Amplification     

40-300 Watts Into 8 Ohms

Frequency Response     22Hz-50kHz +/- 2dB

Sensitivity     83.5 dB, 1 meter/2.83 volt input

Impedance     +3 Ohms Nominal, - 1.5 Ohms

Crossovers     100Hz, 600Hz, 5000Hz, 6dB/Octave

Input Terminals     Barrier strips, 1/2" max width

Dimensions (WHD)     14" x 42.5" x 20"

Weight     170 lbs. Net

Country of Manufacture     Made in the USA

Please note the "Standard" Finish for this speaker is "Any Automotive High Gloss Paint Color". Please read full description below carefully:

Standard finishes are no additional charge. Speaker finishes vary in availability practically daily. Please contact Sound Reference Melbourne, who will work with Vandersteen Audio to determine up-to-the-minute market availability on your desired finish and provide an accurate ETA quote.

Model KĒNTO Carbon Loudspeakers and Model Seven speakers are offered in gorgeous “cut and buff,” high-gloss automotive paint finishes. The automotive paints shown on those product pages are some of the most commonly ordered colors, but Vandersteen Audio can obtain virtually any automotive paint finish available, the customer only needs to supply the make, model and year of the automobile.

A note about finishes: Vandersteen Audio has done its best to photograph these finishes on each product page and in each sample, but please know that while the wood we receive from our vendors are unfailingly high in quality, no two pieces of wood are ever exactly alike. This is dictated by nature. Any Automotive High Gloss Paint Color does not have this issue except online image colour may not exactly match real world colour. We promise that your speakers will look gorgeous, but not that they will precisely match the photos you see on our or any website or on in-store demo speakers.

Choosing a non standard finish might result in an extended wait time before delivery - for more information contact us on 03 9495 6500