Balance; coherence; bass

Input jacks

There isn't much I can add that haven't been said before about how good these speakers are, except I don't think enough credit has been given Richard Vandersteen for using common sense in sticking with a minimum phase crossover, which I believe is largely responsible for the speaker's coherence, longterm musicality, and commercial success (over 100,000 sold I'm told). I say this because it is a fact that the human ear is not so much an amplitude device as it is a time device.

There are people who think the phase issue is marketing hype. I think these people either don't understand the concept or have never sat in front of a pair of these speakers for very long listening to their favorite music.
Many other multi-way speakers on the market have equally good or better amplitude and bass response, but they don't sound as good in the long run even though they may be more impressive in A/B comparisons in dealers showrooms. It is no accident that most conventional speakers, even very good ones, sound smeared dynamically (often lacking a coherent sonic envelope) after one has gotten acclimated to time-correct designs like Vandersteens, Spicas, Fuseliers, etc, The thing that's gotten me convinced is that I've experienced many instances where music that didn't make sense coming from other good multi-way speakers suddenly make sense when heard through the Vandersteens.

This doesn't mean all phase coherent designs are automatically great, but I do think the Vandersteens strike a good balance that appeals to a wide audience. I must say there is a price for time accuracy is it is for some reason more revealing of hardness in electronics. If these speakers sound hard in your setup, it's probably time to replace the amps.

In all due respect to Mr. Vandersteen, it is time to do away with the bi-wiring option and banana jacks - an approach that at best is one step forward and two steps backward. Bi-wiring doesn't make a big enough difference to justify the added inconvenience and cost for most people, and bananas simply don't make as good a connection as spade lugs. A single pair of good 5-way binding post makes infinitely more sense.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Gold i; NHT 2.9

Seems to get better with every electronic or interconnect upgrade

none that stand out

These are speakers I've had for 8 years and seem to improve with each upgrade I've made to my system. Every time I think I've outgrown The Vandys and begin fantasizing about 'better' speakers, my budget dictates that I make modest, and more affordable, improvements. And, with each of these less costly upgrades, I've found the Vandys to produce siginificantly better and more satisfying sound.

The addition of Vandy stands (filled with sand) brought a significant improvement; then, adding Tara Labs RSC Prime 1000 speaker brought another giant step upward.

But by far the most significant improvement in their sound has been to upgrade interconnects between CD player (Rega Planet) to PreAmp, and PreAmp-to-Amp(Acurus). Replacing the TaraLab interconnects with Kimber PBJs brought a dramatic improvement in musicality and detail. The Kimber Silver Streaks, my most recent upgrade, now make the Vandy's sound like a completely different speaker than the Vandy I started out with - and probably how they were meant to sound in the firstplace - imaging, soundstage and sense of live performance are absolutely stunning.

I've been pretty fussy about the music I like, but now want to listen to just about anything just to hear the sweet, sensual sounds coming from the Vandys. I've gone from a once-a week listener to an every-night-listener.

These speakers are apparently much better than I'd initially realized and appear to keep up with several levels of audiophile equipment upgrades. I recommend them highly for anyone who appreciates rich, satisfying music and who also suspects they could be easily seduced into the audiophile addiction of constant upgrading. At least you wont have to trade speakers for quite some time with the Vandersteen 2Ces

And, if you already own a pair and want a quantum improvement in sound try interconnect and speaker cable upgrades.

Similar Products Used:

Polk SDS

The current incarnation of this speaker is the second I've heard since it was introduced more than four-and-a-half years ago. The first being its predecessor, the model 2Ci, which I've heard for the first time back in the fall of 1990. The very thing I like about this speaker is that even though it doesn't excell in any one particular area, it's a very good speaker when it is taken as a whole. Yes, the top end is slightly rolled off, but to these 34 year old ears, that's a good thing. Also, the midrange is open and transparent and the bass response is extended, but could be tighter. This may have something to do with the amplifiers, front-end components, and/or cables that they're connected to. Overall, these speakers take on a warm, but rich sounding demeanor. Because of this, I'll have to disagree with past magazine reviewers and area dealers in reference to what type of amplification that they should be mated with. Past reviewers and some dealers tend to mate the 2Ce's with tube amplification. I feel that tube amps tend to exhibit a warm, rich, type of sound themselves, further tilting the already warm balance of the 2Ce's. I feel to get the very best from this speaker, they should be mated with a slightly bright and open sounding amplifier with a neutral sounding and uncolored preamplifier and high quality front-end sources and cables elsewhere in the system chain. If this is done, then you'll agree with my assessment. Surely, I've also heard other speakers in this price range that were in one way or another, were better than the Vandersteen 2Ce's. They may exhibit a clearer or more extended top end, a more uncolored or more neutral midrange, they deliver a better soundstage, or they may deliver more depth and hear through quality to the back of the stage, but I have yet to find one that does everything the Vandersteens does in this price range, The beauty of it all is that the Vandersteens don't do anything terribly wrong, and for the price, they're hard to beat. That's why they're going to be my next pair of speakers (they're going to replace a pair of KEF Reference 102's as I attempt to overhaul my existing audio system). They are going to be the cornerstone of my $10K audio system (see dream system "$10,000.00 System Revised Again"). So, if you're looking to reproduce the full audio spectrum from your system and do not want the hassle of trying to match a subwoofer to a pair of bookshelf satelites, then do yourself a favor and check out the Vandersteen 2Ce's. They're very good speaker for the money.
Suggested Retail Price: $1,295.00 + $125.00 for matching Vanderstands.

The current incarnation of this speaker is the second I've heard during the four plus years it was out. The first being its predecessor, the 2Ci. The very things I like about this speaker is that even though it doesn't excell any particular area, it's a very good speaker when taken as a whole. The top end is slightly rolled off, but the midrange is open and transparent and the bass response is extended, but could be tighter. But then again, this may have something to do with the amplifiers, front-end components, or cables that they're connected to. Overall, this speaker takes on a warm, but rich demeanor. Because of this I will have to disagree as to what type of amplification that they should be mated with. To get the best from this speaker, I think it should be mated with a slightly bright an open sounding amplifier and a neutral and uncolored preamp with high quality sources and cables elsewhere in the system chain. If this is done, then you'll agree with my assessment. Surely, I've heard speakers in this price range that were better in some areas than the Vandersteens, but the beauty of the Vandersteens are is that they don't do anything terribly wrong, and for the price, you can't beat them. If your looking to reproduce the full audio spectrum from your system and do not want the hassle of matching a subwoofer to a pair bookshelf satelites, then do yourself a favor and check out the Vandesteen 2Ce's. They're very good speakers for the price.

Clarity, Purity, and Balance

None that I could remember

I don't own these fine speakers, but I had a friend that own them for about 5 years that helped me start my audio-mania. I did the mistake of buying the Polk Audio SDS-2 instead, which were fine at the time because of my limited knowledge, but now I feel that I had missed something all these years. The Vandersteen's were more fine tuded then the Polk's, and one could hear the different instruments more clearly. My friend had the Vandersteens's hooked up to a Carver holographic pre-amp and Adcom amp and we spent many hours listening to them. Later my friend bought the Martin Logan Aerius and I bought the Martin Logan SL-3 and we both feel that we made a leap forward in clarity. I was thinking of buying some Vandersteen's for my bedroom as a back-up speaker, but the local dealer in Orange country went out of business and the wide front cover would not fit well in my room. Lately I have been testing NHT products and I ended up buying the NHT VT-2 (see review) because the 10 inch woofer plays side ways, with the tweeters playing frontwards within a 6 inch wide screen, which makes it easy to place in my bedroom. Therefore it was not sound quality that stopped me from buying the Vandersteens's, but the design of the NHT's that made my final choice. Over all a good starting high end product or back up speaker, and I need a larger bedroom.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan Aerius & SL-3, NHT 2.9 & VT-2, Polk SDS-2

Excellent Soundstaging, Upper registers not overly crisp

Slightly lacking in mid-bass articulation, Low efficiency requires higher wattages for equivalent performance to many other speakers.

Must be considered among the top contenders in the "bang per buck" category. Wonderful speaker for AC-3 when paired with Vandy center, surround, and Subwoofer. MidBass could be tighter, but when Vandersteen's unique high impedance internally-amplified Subwoofer is incorporated into the system, allowing for more amplifier dedication into the 100+Hz ranges, this problem is improved substantially. I currently push mine with a Parasound 140WPC amplifier (L,R,C) and wouldn't recommend much less power for these relatively inefficient loudspeakers. Overall, a VERY impressive product relative to its price point.

there are such extreme differences in the reviews here most are really good with a few very bad, I own a pair of 2ce's and like them. I think they are very accurate and do not have any of the negative characteristics that a few of the reviews state(ie.fatiguing or over stated mid)maybe it would be important to know what is driving these speakers when we are giving our reviews.sounds more like bad amps or recievers maybe. if you have a weak or mid line reciever these probably arent the speaker for you but if you have high end reciever or good amp running these they are very good.all the the reveiws done by diff. mags and people who are in the know usually say these dont have any obvious faults and this is what makes them such a good speaker.I run mine with a yamaha 992 and a sunfire cinema grand amp and couldnt be happier.

Natural, balanced, cost-effective, honest (if that is a way to describe audio products), suprising strong bass.

Size, looks. At this price point, there are no complaints about the sound.

This a review for the 2Ce or 2Ce Signature.

There is almost no way to compare these speakers to others. Why? These speakers are accurate in time and phase. All others speakers (except Dunlavy, Thiel, Meadowlark, and maybe one or two others) are not. Comparing time and phase aligned speakers with non-aligned is like comparing apples and oranges. Most people will tell you time and phase do not matter, and on first listen the Vandys may seem dark or distant. After many hours (not A-B comparing, but solid listening) the difference starts to show. From what I have heard, after many months, it is like night and day. Why are most people not satisfied with there insanely expensive speakers? Why do people always feel the need to upgrade components to get audio perfection? One reason is they never considered time and phase as important parameters. Please refer to Vandersteen's website for more on the importance of time and phase to our ear-brain mechanism.

So let's try to compare a $2000 B&W speaker (I forgot the model number) with the $1600 Vandersteen 2Ce Signature (the non-signature I bought new is a long story, only the Signature is sold now). Both are detailed, have suprisingly deep bass, present a wide sound stage, etc. After about 20 minutes with the B&W's my tenitis (ringing ears) was killing me! They sound very bright to the point of harshness. The Vandersteens at first seem a little warm and fuzzy. They appear fairly bass heavy and dark in the treble. Hold on, all the treble is there... the frequency response is actually flat (+- 1.5 dB) to 20kHz. What the heck? Five hours later, my tenitis is not bothering me and I have tears on my face from a very moving classical piece I just finished. My wife was even impressed by the sound! With the B&W's I always had a sense I was listening to speakers. With the Vandersteens, I heard music like I have never heard before. The difference...

The B&W's time and phase is REALLY off. Almost the opposite of the 2Ce sig. Look at Stereophile's website and examine the step response of any B&W and any Vandersteen. On the B&W the tweeter hits your ear fist followed by an out of phase midrange and a very slow woofer. Hence the harsh brightness and apparent crisp detail. This lack of unified presentation tells your brain "speaker." The 2Ce sig has all of it's drivers hitting at the same time (along with a few other things like physical alignment) preserving the time and phase of the music. This allows the speaker to disappear. It sounds "dark" because we are so used to the tweeter hitting first instead of the tweeter, midrange, and woofer hitting at the same time. Don't lsiten to those "rolled of treble" or "univolving" critics. When you get past those intial reactions and let your mind settle into the music, all you will hear is beautiful music. The sound produced by these speakers is so natural and balanced, every instrument and voice sounds live (assuming you have a good recording).

Is this speaker perfect? No, but all the imperfections are so well spread out, none stand out enough to even mention. At this price, I challenge you to find a better speaker. I do not like the size and looks though. There are fairly large (about 4 feet tall, 1.5 feet wide, and 1 foot deep) and need room to breathe. This is OK is a decent sized room. My room is 14.5 feet wide by 21 feet deep, so they don't overpower the room. All my components are humble in appearance, which I like, but the Wandys can be a tad ugly. If I had a choice between a higher price with better looks or what I have now, I would keep what I have.

There is so much more to say about Vandersteen reducing cabinet reflections and such, but this review is long enough. Do yourself a favor and reasearch before you listen. Go to www.vandersteen.com and www.audioperfectionist.com. Be warned, those websites make so much sense you might never think the same about audio again.

My System
Vandersteen 2Ce
Tara Labs (model?) speaker wire
NAD C370 integrated amp
NAD T531 DVD player
Straight Wire Symphony 2 interconnect
Some other stuff that is irrelevant to this review

Similar Products Used:

I auditioned the following in deatil before buying: B&W, Martin Logan, PSB, and Paradigm.
Have owned a long tiem ago: DBX, Inifinty, Bose.

Vandersteen 2Ce
Nice natural highs,good mids and bass

needs to partner it with good amplification,preferably tubes

experiment with the toe-in,sometimes a 45 degree toe-in might work better

than the suggested 5 to 10 degree toe-in

I just bought a new pair of vandersteen 2ce speackers but i'm having a hardtime looking for a good quality and compatible amplifier. Considering the
budget at list range from $500-1000. Hope you could answer to me immediately.
Im considering Bryston amp.4B-ST 250watts, with pre-amp Bryston also 4B-ST.
thankyou and hope to here from you.
But i found that 2CE or nothing else.