Imaging. Overall balance to the sound. I like the idea of "time alignment" and "phase correctness". You can definately hear the benefits.

Takes a little bit more care to set up. Almost requires bi-wiring (I'm not sold on the benefits).

Very nice! I switched from having used Def Tech bipolar speakers for almost 10 years. (BP-20's then BP-30's, always mated with a sub.) The Vandys take a little longer to get set up correctly, but the manual is the best there is in my opinion. (Getting the toe in correct took the longest. A lot less than the DT's.) Once set up, the imaging is incredible. The "wall of sound" from the Def Techs is gone, but in its place, is a lot more nuance, subtleness, and depth to the soundstage. Def Techs have a great sound, but I'm getting the impression now that with the Vandersteens, I'm hearing what I'm supposed to be hearing.

Similar Products Used:

Def Tech BP-20's, BP-30's, Paradigm Ref 20.

smooth balanced reproduction from highs to lows. Image like monitors but with fuller sound. ability to tweak treble and mids will save you much dough in equipment upgrades to fix for room acoustics.

size, weight

I got the black ones with sound anchor stands. I owned 3As before but stupidly sold. Having experimented with different types of speakers I decided to go back to vandersteen, bought them new, and have no regrets. I''ve had six pairs of speakers in my system (see below). Some are equal or different some were much worse (price had no bearing on this!) These speakers are incedible bargains. if you can live with the appearance save yourself a load of money and forego expensive veneers etc for better sound. After a month or so they completely disappear, they are extremely well balanced from top to bottom, and there is no harshness in mids and treble. The ability to adjust mid and treble is invaluable (I have mine down 1 db and 0.75 db, respectively to adjust for a slightly bright room). The best way to describe them is a pereception of effortless, the music just flows with no particular emphasis in any frequency band - no listener fatigue. I know 5 stars should be reserved for the very best, but the performance to price ratio with these is so incredible I could not give them any less.

Similar Products Used:

system: cal dx2 (transprt duty) meridian 563 - bryston bp20 - classe 201 - vandy 2cesigs, ics DHLAbs, mogami both balanced, kimber 4tc. vandersteen 3A (probably better should not have sold) magnap

Detail, accuracy and great bass

Looks

These are one of the best values in loudspeakers I have ever heard. I auditioned at least 10 different pairs of speakers ranging from $1,000.00 to $3,000.00 and the Vandersteens blew away the rest. I heard depth and detail on my CD's that I have not experenced before. Everything sounded open with a vast soundstage. I recommend these to anybody looking for a great speaker in the $2,000.00 range

open sound, clarity and pureness

none

I use these with the Vandy center speaker as the heart of my home system. They are powered by the Acurus 200x3 amplifier, run through an Adcom GTP-600 preamp.

I like these because of their musicality, and sound staging that I don't think you can get from a "boxy" speaker. And for the price, you can't beat'em. I came close to getting some Alons, but ended up with the Vandy's. Never regretted it. They have had four years of hard work, and sound better all the time!

Similar Products Used:

The Vandersteen Center speaker

Imaging, transparency, overall coherence

Not the best choice for headbangers (is that a weakness?!)

The 2ci was the first "high end" speaker I listened to extensively (at a friend's house) nearly 10 years ago. Now I finally have the sound I've always wanted in the latest version of this audio classic, the 2ce signature. My only complaint is that I've lost a lot of sleep in the 2 weeks since I purchased them, rediscovering favorite CD's and LP's. The open, transparent sound reveals details I hadn't heard before on music I'd listened to hundreds of times. Those of you who, like me, listen to a lot of acoustic music and vocals MUST hear these before you make a purchase. Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Diana Krall, Gordon Lightfoot, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Kenny Rankin- they all sound so real and natural on these speakers. Stereophile (although they have had the 2's listed in recommended components for years now) says they have "rather limited transparency" a "forward" midrange. Well, to quote Col. Sherman Potter, horse puckey! The sigs have transparency bettered only by electrostatics, and they are completely coherent from top to bottom-nothing sticks out anywhere. (I never noticed how bad the midbass "hump" was in my old Paradigms until I got these). To my ears, many of the popular high speakers (Thiels come to mind) have overly bright, fatiguing treble (they measure that way, too) but not the Vandersteens! The detail is there, but musical and unforced. Real bass, too-solid and musical in my large (about 27' by 14") room. Probably not the best choice for rockers, but I thought my MCA masters pressing of "Who's Next" sounded great last night! Go thee to a dealer and listen- If your musical diet is anything like mine, I bet you'll be taking them home! I've heard most of the options at this price point and nothing else comes close.

Other components in my system- B&K ST1400 amplifier, Dynaco PAS-4 tube preamp, VPI Jr turntable w/Shure V15 cartridge (latest version), Marantz CD-63 CD player.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm 5se Mk III, Spica TC-50, auditioned many others including Meadowlark, Magnepan, etc

Great sound over the most of the audio frequency range. Clear, transparent and definitely not bright. Terrific on classical with solo violins.

Can benefit from a subwoofer for the lowest fequencies.

Great choice for vocals, piano concertos, and classical music generally. You would have to spend a lot more to better these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned Magneplanar 1.6, PSB Silvers, B&W 604. Vandys were best for the money by far. Maggies were nice, but tended to fade into the background compared to the Vandersteens.

Fast, transparent, clean, quiet, musical. Wonderful stage. Plenty of power handling and plenty of volume when desired.

Base is a little soft in my room, at low volumes. I hope to correct this with a cable or amp upgrade, but have Vandy subwoofer in mind if necessary.

I will second most of what you read below, at least all the good things. These speakers have me rediscovering my CD and LP collections, and music in general. They are not hard to set up, using the excellent manual, and when set up properly they deliver. They made the NHTs, which I A-B'd for 2 days, sound like toys. After listening to certain recordings which I used to dislike on my old system, all I could say was, "So that's what the artist was trying to do."
Of course, poor recordings sound terrible.

Got my 2CeSigs for 1450 from a local dealer. Worth every penny. The limiting factor in my $6000 system is no longer my speakers. For what it's worth, my wife likes the way they look as well as the way they sound.

Similar Products Used:

NHT2.5i and 2.9; B&Ws and Martin Logans up to $3000

I've been into audio for 15 years, and I'm only 30 years old.I've had planars (Magnepan)(Acoustat 2+2's)
I've had 2 pair of B&W's CM's and 802's
I've had 2 pair of Spica (Angelus and TC60)
I've had one pair of Vandersteen 2Ce's

Now The 2Ce Signature.

Every speaker I've owned without fail called attention to it's shortcomings
within a month of me owning them, and I always found myself no longer impressed by their strong suit, but constantly annoyed by their bloated bass, lack of bass or their rolled off high end or their lack of midrange due to the accentuation of the bass etc. etc. For me the new wears off a speaker faster than the new car smell leaves a car.

My prior pair of 2Ce's were in my system for 3 1/2 years.
Does that tell you anything?

Finally I had found audio nirvana (The ability to close my eyes and listen to an entire CD without microanalyzing every ingredient of the sound)

When someone offered to buy my 2Ce's after hearing them, I called my dealer (Youngblood Systems in Oklahoma City) and told him I wanted a pair of signatures. I didn't go out on the auditioning rampage I used to, looking for the holy grail of midrange etc. etc. I just said I want these, order them for me in beige cloth, thank you.

When I went to pay for them the next day I did listen to his demo 2Ce's
and I a-b'ed them with VonSchweikert VR4's which I had always heard were great,
and he had a hell of a deal on them since VS is out of business now.

I sat in amazement at how a 1500.00 pair of Vandersteens could impress the hell out of me in every way while the 2800.00 pair of highly reviewed VonSchweikerts
were leaving me flat. The Vandersteens sounded like music and the VS's sounded like speakers, that's as simply as I can put it. I wasn't nearly as pumped on the VonSchweikerts as the reviewers have been and I've noticed A LOT of them for sale. Do not get me wrong, the VonSchweikerts were not awful by any means,
they did sound very nice. It's just that the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature to my ears sounded better in a lot of ways. Put it this way: If the Vandersteens were 2800 and the VS's were 1500, I still would have bought the Vandersteens.

I got mine home yesterday and I've got to say they sound an awful lot like what they just replaced. But then I realized that these are not broken in yet at all and my equipment is ice cold. I think if you ask me in two weeks how they sound, I think I'll be waxing lyrical praise all over these.

I think until the 3Ce Signature comes out, I've found my last pair of loudspeakers.

I give these 5 stars +

Related Equipment:

Threshold S300 II E Amplifier
Audio Research LS-9 Preamp
California Audio Labs CL-15 CD Player
Kimber Interconnects (PBJ)
Kimber Speaker Cable (4TC)

Ditto everything I've read here. Had them for a couple months and love them so far.

Lacks a little of the "punch" you get from a box speaker in HT.

Wonderful sound, fills the gap between box speaker and electrostatic. Great quality and great looks. Not the best I've ever heard, but for the money and sound at that price range I have to give them a 5!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 20's & 40's, Magnepans

Very transparent and precise reproducers

Bit big for many normal sized living rooms. They're also not "high impact" units -- they're not designed to pin you to your seat if that's your preferred listening.

When I went looking for new main speakers I set out without a budget -- listen first, worry about the cost later. The Vandersteens are not impressive to look at but their sound is something else. I used unaccompianied chorale music to check the speakers out since I've always found this type of music easy to mangle with sub-par equipment. The Vandersteens did very well with this, being almost invisible (you didn't hear the equipment, just the singers). The only thing I could fault them on was a very slight problem with strong transients, something that could be caused by any one of a number of things, and something that didn't stop me from buying them.

The Vandersteens were a compromise between a great speaker and something I could live with. I also loved the Quad ESLs that were next to them but they were maybe twice as big and four times the price and their sound, while great, didn't scale to match! I got them home, hooked them up and have been living with them, using them for both music and home theater.

I don't have a very exotic audio setup. Just a bunch of generic Technics equipment, nothing special. Just as listening to my first CDs really set my mind straight about vinyl's precision these speakers really demonstrated that good speakers with even fairly mediocre amplification makes a huge difference. I can't wait to replace the rest of the kit.

I replaced a pair of KEF 124ABs with the Vandersteens. The KEFs, although very high quality units in their day, are about 25 years old so it wouldn't be fair to compare them.