Old Vandersteen model 2 vs. newer model 2

listening sweetspot, or is it, perhaps to a lesser degree, also throughout the room?  This is an important question, because I do not have a listening room, but an open concept house with a large living area, and my listening sweet spot is in front of a fireplace where there can be no furniture.  Also, this room is asymmetrical in that one side of the room functions as a hall, so that one speaker is placed in a corner and the other 4 feet from a wall which is not a corner.

The rentals were mostly square, the condo for 3 years was assymetric, the house for 10 years was symmetric, the house for 20 was symmetric, then new rental is assymetric, and the new house they are going to is assymetric.

They always seemed pretty good.

My business has been hit hard by COVID, so I can't afford the difference to more expensive Treos.  

If one is on a budget… then I would suggest searching for a used set of 2s and a 2w sub.
There would be little to be bashful about once the sounds starts coming out.

I tried an in store listen to some newer Treos and Kentos… they were good. And easier on the decorating front.

I have the 2CE Sig II speakers and yes they do sound better when out into the room and away from side walls. I added stereo Rythmik subs and that really increased the bottom end (but they were already very good). IMO the 2CEs are the best bargain for high fidelity that Vandersteen offers. They really start to go up in price after the 2CE. To me the Treos, Quattros and up... are too expensive but they do sound very good. There are just too many other speaker brands and designs that one could choose from at the higher price points.

I’m not convinced that an older pair of 2cs will be an upgrade over the NHT 2.9s. You might wish you hadn’t done that.

Edit:

After reading the description of your living room, I strongly suggest a nice pair of headphones......

Ozzy, Your comment got me thinking more that i have not thought this through at the system level.  I did not mention that back when I was trying to decide between the NHT 2.9s and Snell Es I discovered that creating an offset "linear array" with the Snells on a high shelf above the NHTs sounds the best.  They are both bi-amped, so I drive with 4 amps total.  Now that I think about it, this will probably mess with the imaging of of Vandersteens, unless i ditch the Snells.

Right now it sounds quite good despite the room, though imaging could be better, but maybe only in theory, not my room.

I would not be trading tne NHTs but would end up selling what ever speakers are 2nd best after testing.  The vandys are going to have to sound a lot better for me to win over my wife given the decorating downgrade.

You are never going to get good imaging with two different pairs of speakers firing directly at you. Just a thought....