Anyone care to share their opinion of the Vandersteen 2ce sig mkII?

But, there is something bugging me about them that I am trying to nail down. 

When on a trip 20 years we were discussing wines that we had tasted earlier. And our favourite one of the day was a Super Tuscan style, which I described as “there is nothing wrong with it”.
The others had super jammy, or this or that, which made them stand out.

If you had some particular songs that give you the bugging feeling, then it could help.
But it is possible that the the bugging feeling is a lack of something overly sharp and exciting?

pkatsuleas

Excellent advice as above per tomcarr.

Happy Listening!

Thanks to all for their suggestions.  It is appreciated!  Below is my reply to JohnnyR over at Audioconnection who was kind enough to contact me directly.  It pretty much sums everything up. 

Unfortunately, no bi-wire cables in house at the moment so I couldn't test that out.

Johnny, thanks for reaching out, it is appreciated. I tried your advice and backed them up closer to the wall. It did good things for the bass of course but I didn't like what that did to the imaging. I am somewhat limited with width getting them max of 7' on center. The room has some treatments with fairly thick floor to ceiling corner traps and first reflection points.

I've moved them around quite a bit as well as my seating position. After app. 6 weeks of listening and experimenting I find that the issue is in the midrange. It is always a little dry and lacking of warmth or sufficient tone. At times even being a bit shouty to my ears. In the end, I think they just are not my cup o tea. Maybe it's my room, not sure. I doubt it's my Hegel or Rogue amps. Could be just be my ears getting older!

Final thoughts: Overall imaging and soundstage very good to excellent. Substantial and well defined bass, smooth highs. Lack of cabinet resonance easily apparent and lending to the speakers neutrality. Impressive disappearing act especially considering their size. Great speakers and great value to be sure. Just a little more tone and texture and they might not be for sale right now.

Do they sound better than my old Snells, VA Bach Grands, or LRS?  In some ways yes, in some ways no.  Overall, not enough to add them to my stable.  YMMV of course.

Thanks again!

Not bi-wiring, and not adding the correct tilt will make them sound less than ideal.

And, you haven't mentioned what equipment you are using.

That, I believe, might be part of the reason you aren't finding them more engaging.

I just ran an audition of Ralph Karsten's Atmasphere Class D amps at Audioconnection. All of us found the amps to be quite good, but just didn't have the upper mid/high frequency openness that the Belles amps we were comparing them to had. The Vandy's sounded good, but not involving.- Which seems to be what you are saying, I think.

Bob

It did good things for the bass of course but I didn't like what that did to the imaging. I am somewhat limited with width getting them max of 7' on center. The room has some treatments with fairly thick floor to ceiling corner traps and first reflection points.

I've moved them around quite a bit as well as my seating position. After app. 6 weeks of listening and experimenting I find that the issue is in the midrange. It is always a little dry and lacking of warmth or sufficient tone. At times even being a bit shouty to my ears. In the end, I think they just are not my cup o tea. Maybe it's my room, not sure. I doubt it's my Hegel or Rogue amps. Could be just be my ears getting older!

I would be looking for a used Vandy 2W (subwoofer) and then you can keep them away from the wall, and still have the sub on the corner for bass.

Maybe dialing the pots on the back of the speakers to find some tone control?

Is it possible that the room was treated with wider dispersion speakers, and now appears to be over damped with the tighter dispersion? And do the treatments do the midrange, or mostly the high freqs?