Vandersteen 2CE Signature Speakers

John is the most knowledgeable I've ever met it this genre....Maybe Richard Vandersteen is his equal...not sure.

I'm not Johnny.  I owned the best MIT speaker cable and interconnects made with their 350 cable (interconnects) and their 770 speaker cable.  I got the AQ adn never looked back.  I have had so many name and off name cables in teh system and none have been as neutral as the AQ stuff.  If you are going to use a cable/wire to 'tune' your system, I personally feel that you have the wrong gear.   Using Nordost to lift the highs of a dull amp, still starts with a DULL AMP, lol.  This is just system matching, but for my money nothing touches the AQ cables for sheer neutrality.  JMHO

Yeah, I think that's the same concept over in the analog section where I was asking if it could be possible to go from MM to MC on the cheap by buying over-achievers in their respective price groups. The consensus was that it doesn't really make sense to go MC unless you first make sure that all the other supporting gear/electronics is top notch, if you don't there isn't much benefit and could actually sound worse. I will likely save up for the Vandy subs as my first order of business then let the wallet heal and for bit then buy a pre-amp after that at some point (or upgrade to the 2ce sig IIs). 

Makes the most sense to me.  I personally upgrade the speakers first.  Then the source and then the amps.  Cords and cables are always last.  That's just me. I purchase the best speakers I can afford.  

+1 for building the system around the loudspeakers.

Work the speakers, setup setup setup !!!!!!!
and the room w modest treatments and then cables.

i actually own a shotgun bi-wire set of the Canare and have used them with Apogee Stage , Cornwalls, Vandersteen 1ci
they are pretty good, especially for the $$$
i am using AQ spades and bananas

slightly bettered by a non DBS now ancient set of AQ shotgun biwire Type 6