Vandersteen 2CE Signature III — video review on YouTube by Steve Guttenberg (1/15/2023)

@jjss49 I find it interesting that you discuss Vandersteens getting brighter.  One of the great databases of info is John Atkinson's measurements.  I looked through several of them and didn't see the speakers getting brighter.  I am hyper-sensitive to forward and nasal sounds.  My Quatros are certainly more revealing than older designs I have heard.  There is more harmonic information, and the speakers seem to settle faster, I assume because of better drivers and boxes (where there are boxes), but I have never heard them sound bright.  Perhaps the amp matchup or cabling was off when you heard them.  

@jamesbgood

you may well be right

or both points may be true... more perceptibly transparent and also brighter

remember that perceived brightness is a relative balance issue and also related to relative speed of drivers and phase characteristics

no doubt better drivers are being used over time as they become available or available at a reasonable cost ....

I doubt tweeters are getting faster over time.

Cone breakup may be getting reduced, and dome resonances are likely on a general trend downwards. The carbon cones and the “CT” would be some examples why and how.

And on the motor side, motors are generally either getting more linear, or going for longer strokes… and occasionally both… mostly with woofers.
motor non linearity show up as HD and IMD.

Hence without some measurement plot of SPL vs Freq, and the harmonics thrown in there, it is difficult to figure what may be going on technically under the kimono or sock.

One of the “Darlings” on ASR is the Revel F228be.
They conveniently left out the step response, but the stereophile review has it.

Step response of F228be:

I found that the step response of the 30 year old 2c that Erin measured seems to look a bit different:

Step response of 30 year pair of Vandersteen 2C:
(Doesn’t look like it will paste in, but it almost at the bottom In the URL)

https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/vandersteen_model_2/

Stereophile showed it in 1995:

Those two speakers do not look like they have similar step response.

I doubt the newer model differs much in step response, but it could differ in HD profile (Lower, I would hope/expect) and likely the FR is flatter (hope).

I sort of like to see the measurements as going to a shop with the all excitement, their room, gear, and track selection… makes it a bit of magic show. The speakers and systems should not sound bad, but most everything in a shop is set up and demoed to sound pretty good.

No matter how good a random speaker is sounding though, it would be difficult to make a speaker with poor step response become more coherent… an hour in a well treated room may not be enough to hear through with the skipping around of random tracks and salesman blather.

Excerpt: "Note: I know people are sticklers for positioning and a proper listening experience means time should be taken to find the ideal axis to listen at and place the speakers in the room. While I did not have the OEM stands, I did, of course, take the time to try a few positions and sitting heights to find what worked best in-room. Looking around online, I found the OEM stands have a slight tilt to them so I experimented a bit with that as I moved the speaker about the room as well. Though, I do find it odd that so much attention was put into the physical offset of the drivers to time align them via the large step-stair enclosures yet the design still uses a stand that has a physical tilt as well to time align them. Seems a bit redundant to me. One would think you’d have one or the other and not need stands to do what the actual build of the speaker seemed intent on doing"

⏩ It would help for her to have listened to a very recent pair, and also to have read the Vandersteen setup manual. The stands are very important. I have mine weighted with about 30 lb of lead shot for coupling with the floor. And the rear tilt is critical to have the tweeter aimed at the listener’s ear height, and that depends on distance to the listening chair. Toe-in is also important. When Vandersteens are properly set up, the performance is excellent.

@patrickdowns I just sit in the cave crosslegged on the dirt like an ascetic monk.
And use more cushion thickness, if the ears are too low…