vandersteen 2ce sig ii listening distance and tilt

You don't do it like that. Place your speakers and your listening chair where you need them to be in your room, and then sit in the chair and run a tape measure to get the distance between your head to the center of your speakers. It's not necessary to form an equilateral triangle. That's the reason for setting the back tilt in the first place.It will vary depending on how far you sit from the speaker. Also, 9 feet apart is probably a bit too far. Start off with the speakers 6 feet apart, from inside edge to inside edge. Move them further apart a little at a time and stop where they sound best. I think I have mine at 7 feet. With good electronics, your speakers can image beyond the outside edge of your speakers.

It takes a little while to set them up the first time. After that its easy.

G19276, i disagree that an equilateral triangle is the best place to start.
Start with an equal-legged T i.e. distance between speakers = distance from mid-point between speakers to your listening chair. This will create an isosceles triangle & will provide better sonics from my experience.
I also disagree that 9' apart is too much - with your Vandersteens 9' should be fine. When I had my B&Ws I had them 10' apart & there was no sonic hole in the middle.
Since Vandys are (also) time-coherent speakers, it would be best, again from my experience, to ensure that your ear is about 1" lower than the tweeter hight. Tilt the speaker or lower/raise your chair as needed to accomplish this.
Also adjust toe-in as needed - I usually had the speakers fire over my shoulders (so that they cross behind me).
This has worked really well for me. FWIW.

thanks both. i think you're both kind of right in that sometimes it is best to try one approach T setup vs equilateral. oh, and toe in definitely changes things depending on a lot on which speaker it is.

so, like i said i started to agonize over whether the instructions meant the T distance, point mid-way between speakers, vs the equilateral.

now, a little more info, my ear height is 42-43". which seems high! and i know again from the manual that non titled speakers are time aligned to 33". i'm a taller person so my only other choice is to get a lower seat which is most likely not going to happen.

"T" distance for me is that 7.8ft and equi distance is 8. well, 7.8ft isn't even on the chart for tilt, it'd be like just over 4" of tilt. whereas 9ft is 3ish or 3.5" of tilt.

and, yes, i'm probably being way to rigid when it comes to this tilt thing, i was trying to find a new starting point.

musically speaking - norah jones nightingale song, sounded so different when i sat on the floor in front of my couch, 2-2.5ft closer (T distance) and ear's 32" off the floor. how did it sound different? it seemed like there was more airy sound with the opening guitar and first few words of voal. mix in with that some "grain" or "texture" or maybe "openess" to the sound. - like a french silk pie made with granular sugar.

whereas up back in my couch with correct time alignment, things seemed smoother and laid back and not as defined, like a french silk pie made with powdered sugar.

so i started questioning - i thought if the tweeter sound got to your ears first it would sound like the "grain" and here i was sitting on the floor, with the midrange sound getting to me first (cuz i didn't change the tilt). to me, standing up always made speakers sound more grain/airy or just plain bright.

does that make sense? oh, and even though i was a lot closer to the speakers than they were wide apart, the image was still smack dab in the middle, like a razor :)

thanks.

Could be the headrest on your chair that is changing the sound also. I've noticed a difference in sound based on reflections off the headrest; thats why I got a saw and cut mine off (headrest, not head).

Vandersteen's are very picky about proper placement. When I had mine I found the set up guide on line and followed that. It was some sort of mathematical equation (maybe someone can chime in here...). It was pretty specific on the distance from the rear wall, side walls and listening chair. Vandersteens bass response is also effected by the toe, as toe changes the angle at which the bass reflects of the rear wall. Also, they sound best bi wired. I noticed that they sounded better,in my case, by using a cheaper bi wire than a more expensive, better, single run.