Vandersteen

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts

Why don't you answer the questions raised in the replies by describing the rest of your system, how it's setup in the room (including dimensions) and let people try to give you some meaningful suggestions? 

Vandys can rock pretty well IMHE, this might be as simple as tweaking your placement, etc. Cheers,
Spencer

What is the rest of the equipment in your system? What previous speakers did you use?

Vandy's are pretty darn good speakers. There are 4 likely possibilities:

1. Your setup is off.
2. Some other component in your system is causing the issues you hear.
3. Your newly acquired Vandy's are broken.
4. You don't like them.

I've heard Vandy 2's and 3's with large scale classical music and though they were about as good as it gets at their price point.

Most audiophile loudspeakers "fall apart" when trying to reproduce large scale music when compared to their performance of smaller musical groups.  The Vandersteens are no worst than other similar loudspeakers in this respect. 

The owners manual gives very specific setup instructions. Its not difficult, but you need to take the time and do it. Also, move the speakers closer together. Try them at 6ft, 6.5ft and 7ft apart. Measure from inside edge to inside edge. Make sure the contour adjustments on the back of the xovers are set to 0, and carefully check your speaker cables at both ends to be absolutely sure you didn't accidently wire them out of phase.

If none of that helps, list your entire system and a description of your listening room.