Vandersteen 2ce sigs? Beginner needs guidance.


I'm brand new to the Audiogon community, and am so grateful to have found such a fantastic source for thoughtful opinions and information for audiophiles. I am trying to decide on speakers in the 1-2k range for a system I am putting together. This is intended to be my first acquisition in what will become a long-term hi-fi system that I will use for mainly music (85%)and movies on the weekend (15%). After extensive research, I am leaning toward Vandersteen 2ce sigs, as they are by nearly all accounts an excellent audiophile entry point speaker, particulary at the used pricing I'm seeing here on Audiogon. My setup will go into a dedicated 16'x 20' media room, which will probably be oriented along the long wall (i.e., I will have 16' to work with). I listen mainly to alternative and classic rock (e.g., beatles, pink floyd, radiohead) but also to more subdued genres including folk, accoustic, bluegrass, ambient and jazz. I am also looking for a strong solid-state two channel amp in the $600-1000 range that I can use to drive these speakers, and which can also become a long-term part of my setup. I'll run the amp through my current Marantz sr7300 until I can afford a better preamp. I was nearly decided on a Rotel 1080, but am willing to hear what everyone thinks about this. Finally, I listened yesterday to the Thiel 1.6s, which I expected to like. I instead came away feeling they sounded incedibly clean and airy, but overly clinical and somewhat dry. Further, they had nowhere near the soundstage, or imaging capability of the new LSA speaker from DK Design group, which I A/B'ed them against. The Theils were on a full Macintosh setup. So my questions are: Given my tastes and reaction to the Thiels, should I still be considering the Vandersteens? What other speakers should I be considering? And am I off-base in pairing the Rotel amp with my mains? Are there other well-priced two channel solid state amps I should be considering? Thanks very much. -Jonathan
pneumatized
Welcome! Yes you came to the right place. I'm sure there's numerous years of audio experience in this forum.

The Vandersteen's are excellent speakers and a very good buy. You may want to hold of on buying speakers however. If at all possible go listen to as many speakers in your price range if at all possible. Two speakers at the same price point will usually sound different. One may be as good as the other but personal tastes will dictate what you want to take home. Buy USED. You will save alot of money. Speakers last for decades. I'm presently listening to my vintage system which has 35 year old speakers.

The Rotel RB991 or Parasound HCA 1500A would be excellent choices. Be sure to use a decent preamp and source.

Most importantly enjoy your music. A system with Vandy's or another high end speaker is very pleasureable.

The most important thing to consider after speakers is room acoustics. I strongly recommending going and reading about room treatment and correction devices. Audiocircle.com has an Acoustics circle and Audio Asylum also has one. This will affect the sound ALOT!

Here's a good thing to remember. The most important tweak which is also free is speaker position/listener position. This can make a large difference in the balance of the sound.

Best wishes to you!
You might want to look at an Aragon 2002, 4004, or 8008 -- all are very well-made, powerful amps that would rock w/2ce's. But you know what else would sound excellent would be an NAD amp, receiver, or integrated amp (or a pre and amp). I have never heard an NAD that didn't sound awesome. Give them a listen before you drop the change on Rotel, which will likely not sound any better and maybe worse.
You will probably like the Vandersteens just fine. Don't skimp on the amp however.. The V's deserve a really refined and muscular amp with control IMHO.
Right now there is a McCormack 0.5 Rev B amp for sale for $850. It pairs VERY well with the 2ces. A great start on the high end road, although not the best speaker if you really want to rock out. Perfect for jazz, bluegrass, alt country, folk, etc; which is my taste. The 2cis were my first high end speaker and were able to show the benefits of upgrades upstream of them for 10 years. Easy upgrade path via 2wQ subwoofers or 2cesig mod. Very different from Thiel speakers which DEMAND very high quality and high current amplifiers. McCormack modded amps are well known for great support and high quality; the REv B can be upgraded also if you desire down the road.
You're getting some good advice here. I started with Vandersteen 2's before upgrading to 3a's a few years ago. McCormick and BEL amps are good matches for Vandersteens. they're both available at very reasonable prices used here on A'gon. They are clean, powerful, fast and add a nice "jump" factor.

If you like a bit more laid-back sound, have a listen to the Classe integrated amps, don't remember model # CAP151 or 150 or something like that. Nice match and solid gear, available pretty cheap too.

Agree with the comment on the room. Read up on room tuning, it's worth another $1-2k in sound value, for mere hundreds of dollars (or less if you DIY). I learned this one the hard way. Just cuz you bought expensive gear doesn't mean your system will sound good. I was humbled by a friend with an extremely modest system (vintage gear), but well-set up. It sounded much better than mine, at least before I got the room-tuning religion.

FWIW, I've always thought Thiels were sterile sounding unless powered by really high-end gear, and maybe even then too. So it sounds like your ears work fine. Trust them, and take all advice here with a large grain of salt. it's a natural tendency, but folks like to justify their own purchase decisions by recommending them to others. OTOH, it's useful to get vicarious experience from people who actually own the stuff in which you're interested.

For what you've described as your needs, the Vandies sound perfect. The Vandies are much more forgiving of front-end, but the signature editions also will give you good value; every time you upgrade, you'll hear it. Highly recommended! On the downside, you might miss a bit of bass extension, but there's always subwoofers down the road. Vandersteen makes good subs and they're a nice match (I'm listening to one right now).

Hope this helps!