Picked up a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce's (new room)

Beautiful horn. Sold my Mt Vernon Strad many many years ago.

Now, just pretend to play guitar.

 

Imposing is the word I used when I had a pair. Also, FWIW, I found mine worked best with minimal tilt. It was a stand up, sit down test that convinced me.

 

My Elkhart isn't as pretty as the old horns from New York, but I'll take it to my grave for the way it plays.

 

The Vandersteen 2s are without the best value in high end audio. You may buy more expensive speakers (even other Vandersteens) and still miss parts of the Model 2's sound. I replaced by 2 CE Sigs with a pair of Treos, which I also love. The 2's, however, have a holographic image that the Treos - good as they are - just cannot duplicate. Where the Treos shine brightly is detail and especially listening at lower volumes, but that's a different thread.

Regarding your 2s - my suggestion would be to really work at the placement and follow Richard Vandersteen's instructions in the manual, doing the math on your room, your listening height, etc. Use a cheap laser level to fine tune. Don't overdo the toe in - the holographic image will suffer.

If you want to go to the next level, keep a careful eye out for a used Vandersteen Model 2WQ subwoofer. One or two of these (two does not necessarily add more volume, but improves imaging) will transform your great model twos to a true giant killer in every sense. You will need to source a set of high pass filters to match the input impedance of your power amp, but other than that set-up is easy.

 

Here is how mine are set up. My room is about 15' wide and 28' deep (10' ceilings), though the listening location is only back about 10'. Toe-in is minimal. The speakers are about 7' apart centre-to-centre and imaging goes floor to ceiling pretty much and seems to actually go beyond the width of the room on some recordings. Things have moved around a bit since the pic was taken (overstuffed chair replaced by an oak table), but the system and speakers are still in the same locations. I have mine on taller stands as they are often listened to with the majority of people standing and it doesn't seem to have a negative impact when seated.

 

I think you've covered it.

I have owned Vandersteens for about 25 years. I went through a long period where I wanted to upgrade but never, until just recently, heard another speaker that I thought was worth the trade. The replacement? Vandersteen Treo CT.

I know you will love yours for many years to come.

 

I have enjoyed my Vandersteens since the early 1990's. To me, they are a great sounding speaker. They sound even better since I upgraded my CD player, preamp, and interconnects.

For Mrs.Qwerty, they are big and ugly and barely tolerated (e.g., "why do you need such big and ugly speakers?", "why can't they be put in the corner of the room?", etc).

I need to place packaging tape (adhesive side facing up) on top of the speakers to keep the cat off the nice cushioned top.

After shining a light from the back to the front, I'm aware that the internal speaker boxes don't reach the top of the frame - the speaker doesn't need to be as tall as they are. I would have preferred them to be smaller.

 

Just an update been enjoying my speakers for a few weeks now.. I did add some acoustic treatments (bass traps and an area rug) and am even more amazed with these speakers. The imaging with these speakers is REALLY nice! The treatments tightened the bass up a lot as well.. I'm very happy!

...an added note, I can listen to these speakers for hours (at reasonable levels) without any ear fatigue.

 

I bought a pair of 2c's six months ago and I can now stand to listen to more than 20 minutes of rock a day. All my other speakers had too much top end bite with loud guitars to my feeble ears.

 

I saw a pair of Vandersteen Model 1 (no letter in the model number) in a local thrift store today. $300. I passed on them because there are no cash back returns, and before hearing them in my room, there is no way I was going to bite and possibly eat that much money.

right?

I haven't heard Vandersteens before, so I just have nothing to base what they may sound like.

 

The few times I've heard Vandersteens (1c's, and 2's of some version) I first thought they were a slight bit dull or bland; but after listening for a few minutes, thought they were incredibly musical. Plus, they seem to be amp-friendly (I recall one time the 1c's were being driven by a little Rega Brio). Shockingly good value: high-end speakers for very modest prices.

One question: everyone knowledgeable about Vandys talks about how important the setup geometry is, the tilt particularly; this seems aimed at the 'sweet spot' listener. How do they work for listeners sitting or standing elsewhere in the room? I'm not really a sweet spot listener myself, and tend to do my listening all over the room -- at my computer by the window, or in the kitchenette making coffee or a meal -- and in those moments that careful setup of the tilt may be for naught.

 

I have had a pair of the 2ci since the 1980's, and have been very happy with them. I did some research (on the internet), and it appears that the models 1 and 2c have a different technology in the speaker cones, and (from memory) the speaker cone surrounds don't last as long (this may be able to be repaired though). The 2ci's have different technology and the speaker cone surrounds last. I was very relieved to see that I had the 2ci model. Having said that, $300 sounds like a very good price for some very good speakers, at least where I live (they would be more common, and therefore cheaper, where you live).

Manuals for many of their models are available for download from the Vandersteen website, and there is info on how to set them up - how to calculate the best placement based on room dimensions, how to calculate the tilt, etc.

I've recently been playing around with the placement, tilt, etc. Since I moved many years ago it's been something I've been meaning to get around to doing. Unfortunately, room furniture prevents me from getting the left/right placement according to their dimensions, but I can do the front/back. The calculated position was very close to where I had them, but I didn't notice a huge difference in sound. I've been meaning to do Steve's midrange purity test with his Bing Crosby CD (search for the thread on this site), but haven't had the time to do so.

I also set up the tilt correctly. My speakers came on metal stands which raise them 7", so I only needed the 1" tilt back. The manual gives a tolerance for the tilt, and where they were were within that tolerance, so I didn't need to do it, but I did.

So to answer your question, there is a "sweet spot" for these (and most other speakers), but I have found them immensely enjoyable without critical setup, and listening from other parts of the room.

The big difference in sound quality, from my recent experiments, was with how they sit on the floor. My previous locations were in rooms with carpeted flooring, so I used the spikes which came with the speakers/stands. My current house has them sitting on floorboards. The underside of the stands have nuts for the spikes which sit proud of the surface, and I was aware that they would damage my floorboards. So I put several layers of felt floor protector dots underneath the speakers to raise them a few mm so the floor wouldn't be scatched, as a temporary measure (by temporary, I mean 10 years!). At the hardware store I came across rubber vibration-control squares (for washing machines, etc), and thought they may be better to rest the speakers on to raise them off the floor (and also as a way to experiment with tilt-back). The improvement in imaging was amazing.

After a few weeks, I thought more about the rubber, and wondered if sitting them on something firmer would be better. The manual suggests that if you have floorboards using coach-head bolts is an alternative to spikes which won't leave marks. The spikes have a 1/4" thread, which made it difficult to get imperial coach bolts in a metric country, and couldn't find much online. So I tried bolts with a head slotted for phillips-head screwdriver. Big mistake for the floor - our softwood floor was quite maked by these bolts and the weight of the speakers. But the sound was improved compared to the rubber. And it was possible to use the bolts to adjust the tilt-back correctly. To get around the floor damage, I got thick plastic disks, and hollowed-out a recess for the bolt head to sit, and used a small amount of blu-tak so they wouldn't get separated moving the speaker to adjust placement (and when the speaker needs to be moved to access the power points). So I recommend anyone having these wonderful speakers to have them sitting on spikes or bolts.

 

Here is a link to the Stereophile review of the 2c from 1996 -
Vandersteen 2C loudspeaker

I will also add that in addition to listening to music (with great detail) I use these speakers with the TV for watching movies. Movies really demonstrate the great dynamics of the speakers, and can give an opportunity to appreciate how low these speakers can go with ease. Makes a video sound like a movie theatre.

 

Here's my experience and as with anything YMMV. My 2ce's we're very picky about setup and positioning and after a lot of experimentation, I found they sounded better to me with less tilt than recommended. That said, the manual available online is for the 2ce signature and not the plain 2ce's that i have. That said, at this point they sound excellent!

There is definitely a sweet spot and in my case, I can move my head around 6" to either side to stay in the sweet spot otherwise imaging suffers, especially vocals but they still sound good. Where they don't really sound impressive is if you're doing chores around the house. If you're not in front of them, they sound pretty bland. Again, this is in my room and YMMV.

 

Has anyone compared the older Vandersteen 2ce with the latest 2ce sig II? Any input appreciated? (I'm on a budget)

 

The current model is a lot better. But the older ones are still very nice to listen to and are essentially the same design. If you find them at a good price locally where you can check condition and function then don't hesitate to get them. They are bargains at the prices I see them listed at on Craigslist all the time.

 

I recently went from a '97 era 2CE to the 2CE Sig II (two months ago). The differences are pretty big. The Sig IIs still have that Vandersteen sound
but the mids and highs are much more airy and extended. That vail that many mention with Vandys is reduced. The tweeters extend to much higher frequencies, making the speakers sound a bit more revealing (but still not upfront). There is also a significant increase is upper bass and dynamic slam on the low end - so much I'm not even sure I need my ACI Titan sub hooked up anymore (well, I keep it there for rock cds that don't have great mastering in the low end). Definitely enjoying rock recordings with good bass players. I don't notice too much change in the imaging. Biggest difference is the mids. Voices sound much more "real". Huge upgrade there. For classical music, the Sigs definitely get you closer to the stage. I'm very happy with them and glad I upgraded (found a very nice pair used - Thanks Humbuster!).

 

It's surprising that the Vandy 2CE Sigs don't get more attention. Everyone who has 'em seems to love 'em.
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Absolutely true. With every new thing we tend to forget the products that have been delivering the goods for decades. What a great speaker at a great price. Really all the speaker most of us would ever need. Have heard them with Audio Research tube and solid state gear and the quality of the sound/music was superb.