Scott and I both like to post on these Vandersteeen questions. Scott always makes good points and knows his stuff.We have similar tastes. I have a different view on the answer to this question though. Scott is right that the 2Ce is not a 5. The thing that strikes me here is that if your budget is not in line with the 5 don't sweat the difference. A pair of 2Ce's will sound better with(you don't mention what you plan to run them with)more budget minded front end gear than the more revealing/demanding 5 or even the 3's that Scott recomends.I would rather listen to 2's with a great CD player than 5's with a lesser source. Even a pair of vandersteen 1C's and spending a bit more of that budget on the rest of your stuff(the best source you can afford)would sound better than 5's run by a less than great budget solid state integrated amp and decent but not world class CD player. Even vandersteen 1c's by themselves or with a 2Wq and even better yet two 2Wq's as Scott mentioned can be great with better fornt end stuff.
Scott makes a good point about the bass EQ for the 5, but you need to realize that to get the most from the 5 you need to place it where the mid range and highs sound best, this isn't always the best spot in your room for bass. That is why the 5's have the EQ feature, and the set up of that alone is a bit more complex. By seperating the low bass from the mids and highs using the seperate subs you get some flexability of placement that other full range speakers don't usually have. The 2Wq can be placed where it workes best,(in my case it is in the corner of the room) or where it can fit in less than ideal conditions and still not compromise the mids highs. This gives you more options and the main speakers can go where they need to go to sound their best. I can have my main speakers closer to the back wall than I would be able to without the woofer and not get boom(the low bass is filtered out of my main speakers).
As for the sound quality of the 2Ce, again I will say it isn't a 5 or a 3A Sig, but I have yet to run up against it's limits or in other words their ability to show the improvements of parts of the system up stream from them. What I am saying is that the rest of my system improves, so does the sound that comes from the 2's. As I refine everything from amps and CD players to power cords to AC outlets, to isolation devices, the 2's are there letting me hear the improvements very clearly. My point is, as I have said before in other posts, to quote myself,"speakers IS dumb", they just reproduce what you feed them. Send a great speaker an OK so-so signal and you will get an OK so-so sound back. Now take a quite good speaker and now feed it with a great signal and you can get very good sound back. By the way, the 5 will not be louder than 2Ce' with 2Wq's. The sensitivity is the same for both.
The whole point of my post is get it right from the source and work from that point. Anything you loose from the start is lost for good. Spend less on the speakers to start with and buy the best CD palyer(or TT) you can get your hands on and buy the Vandersteen that fits into that budget. Great speakers dont=a great system. Great speakers finish a great system.
