Non-Vandie center to match Vandie mains?

I remember some talk a few years back on RAHE about Hales being a decent match for Vandersteen. I personally own 2CE mains with VCC-1 front and VSM surrounds. I just don't like the look of the VCC-1, and find the "choice" of the proximity switch irritating because I constantly double check myself if I want less sound, crisper voices or more sound and deeper (but perhaps chestier) voice. Is the VCC-1 Signature a major step up? Perhaps this speakers design requires $1100 to be a success?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only vandersteen owner who doesn't think much of their centers. Its not so much the quality that concerns me, but the price. I'm on a budget and was able to get the 2ce's for a song (used, of course). However, the centers are difficult to find used and the most recent model costs at least twice what I paid for my mains. On top of that, the original VCC-1 hasn't received glowing reviews from those who have heard it.

As for my setup, they are about 8 feet apart in a small room, so "fill" isn't so much of an issue, I'm more interested in trying to find a good voice match.

A friend of mine that has Vandy 3A main speakers recently sold his Vandy VCC-1 and replaced it with a center speaker made by Mission. He is very pleased with its performance. The main key here is to find a center channel that has about the same efficiency and overall tonal character as the Vandy 2Ce's, and preferably also function as a point source. The specific speaker you should buy is also dependent on who far apart your main speakers will be. The issue here is to find a center channel that does a good job of center fill. If the left and right main speakers are quite a distance apart (say, more than 10 feet), the center channel needs to have a spatial characteristics that will fill in the wide center gap. I own Vandy 3A Sig's and use a Vandy VCC-1 Sig center channel which works well, but my main front speakers are quite close together (small room). Hence, the VCC-1 (which acts like a point source) works fine. The friend I mentioned, however, has a large room, and found that his VCC-1 did not provide enough lateral fill to satisfy him. The Mission center channel speaker seems to do the job well, although there are a number of other models that will prove adequate. One of the speaker designs that might be the ticket are those with a D'Appolito configuration, which features a tweeter flanked closely on both sides by mid-range drivers. The D'Appolito arrangement acts like a point source, but due to the spread 3-driver configuration, they also do a good job of "fill". I'd be interested in hearing from you again, since I know other Vandy owners who are ambivalent about the Vandy center channel speakers, and they'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.