@gjinwi . I once reviewed a pair of 2Cs and did not like them either, but that may not be your problem, because the APT Holman preamp is notorious for what I will call " long life deterioration".Specifically, the PC boards on which they were built begin to de laminate, as do the leads because of a chemical process in the printed circuit boards used to hold the circuit. I tried to repair mine, but it soon failed again and I gave it up to another local user of that preamp for parts. When it was new, it was great, but it is likely not repairable. Hope this helps.
Not Thrilled with Vandersteen 2CE Sigs - where is the first place to work on?
Trying to build up the system this year, bought some Vandy 2CE Sigs. Have the anchors, following instructions for placement, built bass traps and a couple of acoustic panels in my medium-sized but odd-shaped basement listening area - still not thrilled. Using laptop with Tidal and Dragonfly Red - and some stuff sounds GREAT (Steely Dan, SRV, Beck, Dire Straits, Wilco) - but disappointed in a lot of other stuff. Some objective opinions on where my issues might lie? Expectations too high? Hearing the truth of production variations? Running an NAD C272 at 150WPC and an original 1979 APT Holman Pre Amp. Not MAC, Bryston, etc - but was expecting more. Thoughts? Rebuild/recap the APT? Amp upgrade? Where might the low-hanging fruit be?