Model Seven (Discontinued)

The Ultimate Vandersteen

The flagship Model Seven is both the ultimate expression of the design path that Richard Vandersteen has followed for over 35 years of groundbreaking speaker designs, and the single biggest breakthrough in the history of dynamic-driver loudspeakers. The beating heart of the Model Seven is its patented, carbon-fiber-clad Perfect-Piston™ drivers. These amazing carbon cones realize the dream of true pistonic linearity without the unnatural sonic colorations inherent in metal drivers.

Available Finishes

Click on Finishes to Enlarge

(*) indicates upgrade finishes.

Vandersteen Audio has done its best to photograph these wood finishes on each product page, but please know that while the woods we receive from our vendors are unfailingly high in quality, no two pieces of wood are ever exactly alike. This is dictated by nature. We promise that your speakers will look gorgeous, but not that they will precisely match the photos you see on our website or on our dealers’ in-store demo speakers.

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Our flagship Model Seven 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 Piston's 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'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 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 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, 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.

Model Seven (Discontinued) 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

    Linear 400-watt linear amplifier with a power-factor-corrected switching power supply

Recommended Amplification

40-300 Watts Into 8 Ohms

Frequency Response

22Hz-40kHz +/- 2dB

Sensitivity

83.5 dB, 1 meter/2.83 volt input

Impedance

4 Ohms Nominal, +/- .5 Ohms Minimum

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
  • Sep 14, 2010
    Model Seven (Discontinued)

    "Even in an era in which significant advances in dynamic-driver technology have produced greater transparency, higher resolution, and lower coloration, the Model 7 stands out for its complete lack of dynamic-driver “sound.” The 7 strips away a layer of coloration and artifacts, revealing an absolutely glorious purity of timbre that must be heard to be believed."

    Robert Harley

    See Full Review
  • May 1, 2010
    Model Seven (Discontinued)

    "...the best six-figure speaker you can buy is the $45,000/pair Vandersteen Model Seven."

    Peter Roth

    See Full Review
  • Mar 18, 2010
    Model Seven (Discontinued)

    "This relatively small, living-room–friendly package contains a dramatically graceful-looking, ultra-high-resolution speaker that continues the brand's sensational time- and phase-coherent soundstaging and unbeatable powered bass performance."

    Michael Fremer

    See Full Review
  • Jan 13, 2009
    Model Seven (Discontinued)

    "The Model 7’s sound was extraordinary: coherent, open, uncolored, dynamic, and with a purity of timbre that was striking. But the Model 7 really excelled in resolving very low-level details such as reverb decay and the sense of space around instruments. I’ve heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Couldn’t Stand the Weather on many systems over the years, but I’ve never heard the sense of presence to his guitar, the vivid impression of a guitar amplifier in the studio, and of the fine texture of the instrument’s decay that I heard from the Model 7." 
     

    Robert Harley

    See Full Review