Paradigm Studio v2 VS. Vandersteen 2Ce Signature ?

VERY different souding speakers. Much less forward, but IMO, more tonally balanced. Paradigms image great but, IMO are not nearly as musical as the Vandys.

The Vandy's are a league above the Paradigm's. I use to own a pair of the Studio 40's v2 and I have a buddy that has the 2 Sigs that I listen to about once a week. The Paradigm metal dome tweeter will run you out of the room if not matched with the correct components and/or your room has less than adequate treatments. The Vandy's are better in every aspect other than looks and sensitivity. Vandy's are 86 and 7ohm and the Paradigm's are 91 at 8 ohms. I don't know the spec's of your NAD mono block's but, I would assume they have more than enough to drive the Vandy's. If you do more than 75% HT I would say go with the Paradigms but, if you are looking for the better music speaker, it's a no brainer, go with the Vandy's

Good Luck,

Burton

During the past three years I have owned the Vandersteen 2CEs and Stodio 60 V2s. The extended high frequencies of the Paradigms wore me out. They came across as brittle while the extended bass response was a plus. Unfortunately when I moved my system into a small dedicated audio room the 60s bass was too much. In fact I sold the Paradigms to try monitor speakers.
The Vandersteens were more to my taste sonically; smooth liquid sound but their overwhelming size was way too much for my listening room. The are extremely large and being oriented the way they are they look larger than they should.
If I had a large room and had to chose between these two models I'd go with the Vandys. My two cents. Good luck.

I'm familiar with the Vandys, but I haven't heard them side by side with the 60s. I did recently hear an old pair of Meadowlark Kestrels next to the Paradigms, and experienced what has been mentioned above. The 60s just drew attention to themselves, trying to sound hi-fi, where as the Kestrels just chilled out and played music. If I put a pair of Paradigms next to any pair of Vandys, I'm sure I'd have the same experience.

Hi there, I'm not familiar with the Pardigm's but I am familiar with the Vandersteen's. You can never go wrong with a time aligned speaker like the Vandersteen's. Do your self a favor and go listen to a pair before you decide.

It all depends...

On things like: Are you actually talking Paradigm Studio v2s or v3s? (Yup, some do think there's a difference and not always that v3s are superior). On how old you are ('cause high-freq sensitivity does steadily drop after ~30, 'specially if you're male), so what's bright to a 25-30 year old is just right to a 45-50+ old fart. On your individual hearing and preferences. And, on your budget. Studio 60 v2's at ~$500-550 used might sound a whole lot better than ~$1500 2CE Sigs.

Both are very good speakers - they're different (at least to my old ears), but each is very good in their own way. You have to go listen to each, to decide for yourself. Everything else is just our opinion, not yours.

Unfortunately, my listening room is small too (my bedroom), so this has been on my mind and may be a major drawback of these speakers. The Studio v3's sound fantastic, but I'm just wondering what the main differences are between the v2's and v3's. To me the v3's don't sound that bright (I'm a 23 year old male, so I'm somewhat sensitive to bright sounding epuipment). I think the warm-sounding Vandersteens would fit me better. There's a dealer listed on Vandersteen's site that's hopefully still in business (on the map it appears to be located in the same spot where an old audio place went out of business). My plan is to put the Triangles up on AudioGon while I go around and listen to other speakers.

Just to clear up what the sound of the Vandersteen Model 2CEs is: They sound like the upstram components. It's one of the most transparent speakers up to $3000 that you can buy. People who think they're mellow/laid back or warm need to listen to them with a good amplifier. I'm running mine on a 3 year old Rotel receiver and they sound very good paired this way. However, I have been known to bring an amp in or to bring them downstairs for listening in the main room. That's when you can really hear what they're capable of. Simply put, they're stunning, dynamic and neutral with the right rig in front.

This isn't to say that they're the ones for you, but I would certainly suggest you give them a serious audition.

Best of luck to you!

Unfortunately the dealer here in the Pittsburgh area that is listed on Vandersteen's site has been out of business for a while now. I should probably inform Vandersteen so that the listing can be taken off of their retailer list. The closest dealer now is in Cleveland.

Ouch...well, if you're in CA I can help out.
I think you should make a point of auditioning the speakers before you buy if you can. I know I listened to my 5s repeatedly in 3 systems before I decided to buy them. Even though the 2s are less expensive it may be worth a weekend trip to check them out and look at some other options as needed.
Good luck!

I'm wondering, for those of you who think the Paradigm Studio series is bright/harsh or whatever, what do you think of PSB's Stratus series? I own PSB Stratus Mini's ( aluminum tweeter just like the paradigms) and to me they sound bright sometimes. I am toying with the idea of getting some older model 2's like these for my living room system -http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1126026794- Iv'e seen even cheaper ones for about $350 a pair, and for that kind of price it may be worth it.

When I first got into hi fi someone recommended these speakers since I listen to a lot of hard rock and bass heavy music. I would go ahead and get them for my main system, but I'm in a VERY small bedroom, and im guessing the model 2's would overwhelm it. I'm curious if anyone has heard the older model 2 series, as well as PSB's stratus series and can tell me the differences. Thanks

I went the paradigm rout and they are a totally different speaker than the vandersteens. After listening to tubes and other high end speakers the paradigm are harsh in the high end and not pleasant to listen to over a long time or critically. Now with that being said I do like paradigm and think there lower stuff is a grate bang for the buck.

I had 2ce sigs and loved them, As far as transparent I don't know if a more transparent speaker in that price range. Had a dennon 3801, switched to adcom amps, big difference, switched to a AR pre amp again difference, went to quicksilver amps and better cables again huge difference. What I am trying to say is the speakers would reflect every change I made in the system and I grew with them allot. Many other brands the changes would of been muted because of the color of the speaker. Now with that being said to some people they sound dull but after you listen for a while you won’t think so they are just natural sounding and 90% of the speakers out there are bright. Oh the other nice thing is you can tune the speakers to the room there are adjustments on the back so if your room is a little bright or dull you can adjust the speaker a bit.

"90% of the speakers out there are bright." Totally agree - Paradigm and others rely on hyping frequencies to make up for a common design.
Band-Aids.

I've got the 2ceSigs paired with the Prima Luna Pro. 2 and the front end is the Cary 308 cdp.The paradigms I had were down scale from the studio series but the Vandys just blew them away in pure musicality.Totally agree that the vandys really will reveal how good the upstream units are

I have a set of Paradigm MiniMonitor V3s with a totally redrafted crossover to balance out that overbright top end. The tech also repacked the enclosure to bring the lower mid and bass more forward. The double bass, cellos, bassoons and bass bassoons just stood up in the room in a way that was comparable to anything I heard at high-end shops. The story I got from my tech is that Paradigm spent the money on the parts - but the marketing department set the sound profile for the speakers. That can be fixed by a competent tech. Why be a passive consumer? These boxes can be hacked. Some of it are worth it. Some not.

Peter

There is simply no better value in speakers today than the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature.

i havent heard the vandy so i couldnt comment on them but the studio 60 v3's are nothing but bright provided the amp you drive them esp with solid state has enough ooomph. 150 watts would be good. They can sound thin with lower power amps, receivers, integrateds, but with a good 150 watter, they can sound full and not bright.