If you are on a budget these are good to listen to. PSB's and the Paradigms are also must hears in this range.
People, please reserve the 1's for the likes of Bose. Please don't pollute this forum with your stupidity.

A 4 for price and 3.5 for sound ( 5 being very hard and expensive in most cases to reach)

5 though to ofset the moron factor here.

I have these paired with a BK 10 pre and a AMC 2030 poweramp.The combinationought to be outlawed since its very reasonable and puts alot of pricer stuff
to shame.I've also powered them with a Hafler DH 200 with good results.Ther'e
not in production now and should be cheap.They were replace by the new 1C's
which the audio mag scribes are ooing and ahing about.

I have the 2Ce's withthe Vandersteen center and rear speakers. Using them for a home theatre and the combination is awesome. Good solid, full sound great for theatre use.

I heard these in a hi-fi store, not necessarily the best environment, but withdecent source material. It was possible to A-B with other speakers(Paradigms and the other Vandersteens) at a matched level, which is the bestway to compare speakers, regardless of what the golden-ears (golden brains)say. These were much more colored than any of the other speakers. All theParadigms, including those at a lower cost, blew them away. I was surprised,given how nice some of the other Vandersteens are.

Auditioned the Vandersteens for HT. Excellent but out of my range. The 1Cs, sides and sub comes to $3,000. Settled for the B&Ws.

hate ricki lee jones material

hate ricki lee jones material

Hey BBW, anybody that listens to Rick Lee Jones doesn't
deserve these speakers. You can revert back to your
crappy "factory" speakers while those that know the
"real Deal" will be forever grateful of their acquisition.
Later moron,

Let me start this by saying that before I got the 1Bs I was not an "audiophile" (although I did get lucky some years earlier with the purchase of an NAD 3240PE in high school). I ran into the 1Bs used and was very impressed with the demo in the store. I had no idea at the time what my $400 would get me into! It didn't take me long to start reading the audiophile rags and realize that there are other people out there who hear things like "imaging" and "soundstage".
Over the next 8 years I have been upgrading my system (backwards!) around the 1B and after putting fairly serious high-end stuff in front of them they continue to rise to the challenge and make me happy with every upgrade. (Currently I am using a Linn LP12, Black Cube, and Sonic frontiers amplification...and my 1Bs!!)

The stengths of the 1B are excellent soundstaging and an incredible open and smooth midrange. When these two strengths are combigned with a good analog recording of a male (Nat King Cole) or female (Ella Fitzgerold, Billie Holliday) voice the results are simply breathtaking!

The thing that the 1Bs do well but do not excell in are the frquency extremes. If you like cannon fires and freight trains you can probably do better than the 1Bs. I have never had a "full range" speaker (ie to 20 Hz) in my house before and so do not miss the "bottom octave" that is supposedly missing. The bass I do get is reasonably deep with the magnitude and control varying widely depending on amplification. With a good solid state amp it is very tight and satisfying. I currently use tubes (for the midrange) and sacrifice some control (but not extension) but the tradeoff is worth it - remember the breathtaking voices!

The major weakness of the 1B is that they do not handle an orchestra or complicated popular music very well. You can loose the ability to follow individual instruments at crescendos.

So to sum up: 1) an outstanding open midrange 2) excellent imaging 3) bass extension that is not full range but with good control (dependent on amplification) 4) tendency to get congested when faced with a crescendo.

Did I mention the magical midrange and clarity? To me this is the heart of music that the 1Bs do soooo well. Thats what makes me say that these are simply amazing speakers - and consider that Mr. Vandersteen has raise the price an astonishing $20 over more than 10 years!!

gfgfgfgf

i found these boxless wonders to be able to make you forget about stereo and allow ella, louie armstrong or dire straits to claim the moment truly special.

I purchased a pair of 1bs and a pair of 1cs. In side by side comparison the 1bs sounded much better. The problem with the 1cs was that they had a harsh sibilant sound that caused listener fatigue in a short while. Richard Vandersteen said I probably didn't have them set up on the stands to create the correct sound dispersion (this cound be true because the stands had spikes on the bottom that the wife didn't want on the hardwood floor).
The 1bs sound much better and don't need stands.
In addition the 1bs were less then the 1cs.
Four stars for the 1bs.
If you like a mellow open boxless sound you will like the 1bs.
In addition they sound good with mid range receivers.
Thansk Jim (Low)