Amp for Vandersteens 2ce sig 2's

Price range?

Samhar,

Used or new up to 3,500...

Uhhh not $3500 unit unless you plan to upgrade speakers.
McCormack amps would mate great with Audiable Illusions and Vandys.

Don't be fooled by the price of Vandersteen 2Ce Sigs. It has been my experience Vandersteen speakers will continue to improve as the associated equipment is upgraded. Audio Research tube or solid state is a good match with Vandersteens as well as Quicksilver Audio amplifiers.

The only Vandy's I like is 1c for about a year before I sold them. Other Vandy's can only play orchestral music and very bad for rock or instrumentals that I mainly listen to.
While 3,4,5 series impressed me on orchestral music capabilities(especially with brass), 2Ce Sigs did not impress me on any kind of music at all with any kind of amplification: slow and undefined bass, the drum sounds longer than it should, piano sounds very dull... The good part of this speaker is tonality, detail. There are lots of folks that didn't like them which makes a good used bargain for those who likes.

I don't agree with Marakanetz. The Vande 2ce is an excellant speaker that will mate well with almost any decently powered amplifier (depending on how loud you plan to play them, and how large the room is that you are trying to fill). I do not own them personally but have auditioned them several times in the past and have heard them in a friends home as well. If you are not trying to "rock the house down" I would recommend choosing the highest quality of amplification you can afford (up to $3500 is a good budget)rather than a number of watts. For example a high quality 50 wpc amp rather than a lower quality 250 w/chl amp. Rrog has given you good advice. Lots of others too if you don't care for those. If instead, you actually are trying to "rock the house down" a Crown Macro reference may be what you are looking for.

I think Plinius is a dandy combination with the 2Ce Signatures.

Pretty much, I just enjoy the great sound and never worry about tweaking.

Ayre and Vandersteen play very well together. I've read that ARC is another good match. I agree with Mcfarland that you should focus on quality, not quantity, of watts. The Sig IIs are *really* good. IMO, you'd have to spend >$10K to get something signficantly better. They desrve to be partnered with quality electronics.

Music Reference - RM9, or 200 would be great!
Heard a 2c and RM9 system for a while and loved the sound.

Happy Listening

I am having great musical success with an SMc Audio modified McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe with my Vandy 3A Sigs. I have yet to read any correspondence about unsatisfactory results with such a combination. Either a DNA-1 or DNA - .5 should do the trick.

There are a couple of Modwright KWA100-SE's for sale on Agon right now for around $2900. That is an incredible amp, and would match very well with your tube pre-amp as well as Vandersteens. Designer-owner Dan Wright is a big advocate of pairing Tube pre-amps with high quality SS amps, and designs accordingly. Check out this 6Moons Audio review, and good luck!

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/modwright6/kwa100.html

Vandersteens and Audio Research have long been a successful pairing, especially models of that vintage. I personally feel Vandy's need to power/current to strut their stuff. A great combination would be a used ARC 100.2 ss amp, one of the company's best solid state creations.

You can probably find a used one for $1,000-1,500. Get it and never look back

It all depends what you plan to spend I agree with the above quicksilver v4 are my favorite but the 2ce sig you can hear a difference in most amps so spending 3k, 6k etc you will hear a difference it is a very transparent speaker. I had that speaker for a long time and settled for the v4 myself.

I've beem using the Audiable Illusions Modulus 3A with a Music Reference RM9 MK II for about 15 years. I've settled on 6550 tubes but the KT88 is tempting. I like the Chinese 6550 as much or more than, the Winged SED 6550 when listening to overly vivid recordings... but then, excellent recordings sound a bit muffled. I hesitate to upgrade to the Modulus 3B and the RM200 Mk II because I'm afraid I wont like them as much. I've used NewForm,Maggies,Totem and now, modified NewForm's...Tiare, with great success. Hope this helps.

Classe is very fine with Vandersteens. I used to have them with my CAP 151, right now, they are hooked to a NAD 50 watter in the den with tv/movies and really, they sound quite good.
Ayre is also very nice, my dealer uses this with Vandersteen a lot.

I would go Vincent Audio sp 331, or 331 mkII hybrid amp,would take large amounts of cash to beat this amp for the price.

Recently puchased used Belles 150A Hot Rod from Audiogon.
It's really my first soild state amp as I have several tube
amps. The match with the Audible Illusions 3B is awesome.
Makes me wonder what the Belles 150A Reference sounds like?
I do like tubes..but, this is a great match.

Might be a little over kill but, I now have a pair of the McIntosh MC601 mono block (600watts ea) all I can say is WOW! my 2ce sig 2 really woke up. Bass got tighter and deeper, soundstage got deeper and wider, and way more cleaner and clearer. I'm also using the McIntosh C2300 tube preamp with Telefunken tubes. I tell you, the 2ce Sig 2s are way underrated. I had compared them to speakers that cost 5 times the cost and the 2ce sig 2s are either sound better or just the same. I also noticed that Vandersteen speakers are amp friendly, any good amp will make the Vandersteen sounds great.

You don't want a warm sounding amplifier on the Vandies, something like a McCormick will make them shine...

Well three years later, I tend to agree with Wig.

Quicksilver Silver 88 or the older Silver 90 (mono) are magical on this speaker. Holographic, extension at the top and bottom. Great synergy.

You might consider looking at some of the offerings from Rogue Audio. I've read 2 lengthy interviews with Mark O'Brian, the owner of Rogue who says they've had a long successful relationship with Vandersteen.

When asked why, Mr. O'Brian remarked, "Because Vandersteen's don't really do anything wrong"

Currently I'm running my Sig 2's with a Rogue Cronus Magnum. After a bit of tube rolling, I've found the sound I've been looking for. Couldn't be happier.

I've heard the 2CE Sig's with Cary tube amps numerous times and the combination is darn near magical.

I'm a long-time Vandy owner, progressing from the 2C to the 2Ci and 2Ce, then to the 3A, followed by the 3A Sig's (a great speaker, AND a great value). Today I have the 5A's and love them. Throughout my journey up the Vandy model line, I have used mostly Bryston amps with them, including the 4B-SST2 in my present system. I think that the current Bryston amplifier line is a fine pairing with Vandy speakers, and recommend that you audition them.

I agree with Yerguy .... Rogue Audio amps and Vandersteen speakers are a perfect match. For many years, my system sang sweet music with a Rogue Audio Cronus (non-Magnum) driving a pair of Vandy 1C's ..... Sublime ! With the increased power demands of the 2Ce Sig 2's, the Cronus Magnum, the Sphinx, or the Pharaoh should be perfect !

And many years later, I can say that, regarding my circa 2006 2ce Sigs, when I upgraded my amplifier to a VTL S200 a couple of years ago the sonic rewards were enormous. The Vandersteens scaled up nicely with the VTL. I am pleasantly satisfied; for the time being at least.