There's a Fi review for the 1C by Wayne Garcia out there if you search a bit. I own the new 1Ci, and having stepped down from the 2CE Signature II to buy them, I'm very pleased with them. I think it's a fantastic speaker for the money, and with real bass extension down to below 40Hz it outclasses a lot of stand-mounted 2-ways up to 2K or so--some of which I've also owned.
The sound is full-bodied and a little laid back, with excellent soundstaging when set up correctly (especially with some distance to the wall behind them). Compared to the 2, they're a little less resolving in the midrange, don't go quite as deep (though bass drum and bass guitar still have impact), and aren't quite as dynamic. They also harden up just a touch in the mids/highs if you push them at loud volumes (for me, over 85dB), probably because, even though they use the same tweeter as the 2 and 3A Sig, it has to cross over much lower to mate with the 8" mid/woofer. That said, I do think that at normal listening volumes the treble is sweet and well-integrated. I can and often do listen to them for hours without fatigue.
One thing the 1Ci does much better than the 2CE Sig II (and a big reason I've come to prefer them) is sound good all over the room, standing or sitting. All Vandersteens have a pretty narrow vertical listening window, and with the 2 when I stood up or sat in a higher chair across the room the mids and highs got very hashy--a consequence of the 1st order, time-aligned design. The 1Ci stays better integrated. I like being able to move around or stand and play along on my guitar and still have the speakers sound good, without shifts in timbre.
That's my 2 cents. If you've heard and liked any other Vandersteens, you'll probably like them, too.
The sound is full-bodied and a little laid back, with excellent soundstaging when set up correctly (especially with some distance to the wall behind them). Compared to the 2, they're a little less resolving in the midrange, don't go quite as deep (though bass drum and bass guitar still have impact), and aren't quite as dynamic. They also harden up just a touch in the mids/highs if you push them at loud volumes (for me, over 85dB), probably because, even though they use the same tweeter as the 2 and 3A Sig, it has to cross over much lower to mate with the 8" mid/woofer. That said, I do think that at normal listening volumes the treble is sweet and well-integrated. I can and often do listen to them for hours without fatigue.
One thing the 1Ci does much better than the 2CE Sig II (and a big reason I've come to prefer them) is sound good all over the room, standing or sitting. All Vandersteens have a pretty narrow vertical listening window, and with the 2 when I stood up or sat in a higher chair across the room the mids and highs got very hashy--a consequence of the 1st order, time-aligned design. The 1Ci stays better integrated. I like being able to move around or stand and play along on my guitar and still have the speakers sound good, without shifts in timbre.
That's my 2 cents. If you've heard and liked any other Vandersteens, you'll probably like them, too.