best budget hi-fi speakers for my specific system

I would recommend the Totem Hawk Speaker. The Hawk speaker images well, produces a large soundstage, is very transparent and musical, and detailed. Very difficult to find another speaker in its price range. The Hawk speaker is affordable and plays much bigger than its price and size. Lastly, the speaker goes well with solid state or tube gear.

I have owned Vandersteen 2c and 2ce's for many years. I also currently own an Audio Refinement Complete ("ARC") but it would not be my choice to drive the Vandersteens 2c's with it. I mainly preferred tube amps or hybrid amps with the Vandersteens. I downsized my system last year and the ARC amp was part of that move. I originally tried the ARC with a small pair of Monitor 4 speakers that I had been using with an NAD receiver and the NAD was a better match. I had the same problems you describe with the midrange. This led me to sort of a temporary fix (until I have more time to audition more stuff), B&W DM 602S2, which work ok with the ARC for now. Once broken in, the B&W's are a richer sounding speaker than the above mentioned Monitor's. You might be able to drive a Vandersteen 1 with the ARC as the Model 1 is a more forgiving speaker than the 2c (and a used pair should be in your price range). Many people (myself included) read the reviews of the ARC which claimed it to have the qualities of tube amps. The ARC has a lot of good things going for it but it does not sound like the tube amps that I have used (Quicksilver, Berning, Moscode).

I would recommend giving the speakers @ least 300 hours of playing time before drawing any conclusions as to their sonic signature (the little $300 AE's take this amount of time (plus) to run in and afterward they evolve into great sounding budget speaker). The speakers should also play much louder, without straining (or closing in) after this period of time. In the meantime, do not push them too hard. If you do not care for the sound @ this point, then look elsewhere, but @ least give them a chance. It would also seem to me that a metal dome tweeter might be a decent match with and AR Complete integrated amp and CD player (if these are the components which you own) as the conbo is not at all "hot" in the HF's (I have owned the player myself and have listened to the amp).

I change my recomendation! No Vandersteens! Buy from anyone else! And if you do make sure you have good dealer support because if you ever call the factory with a question you will get to talk to "Dick" and it is an experience that I would rather not go thru again. Buy from a company who knows how to treat it's customers with some amount of respect!

Dekay's recommendation makes sense. These speakers do take a while to break in, I think. Ezmeralda's comments about metal drivers are nonsense. - "this is why they just don't sound good" The AE-1 minimonitor was rave reviewed and has many fans who think it sounds pretty good. Same for the Joseph Audio line with aluminum woofers. And even the lowly AE Aegis Ones sound good to many people who have actually heard them.

Your speakers may not be for you, but it isnt because of the aluminum woofer.