Old Vandersteen model 2 vs. newer model 2

They seem best to me with a few feet of room
(Grabbing the tape measure now…)

It says 45” behind and 55” to the front.

But I sort of moved them around quickly and thought, that seems OK few months ago… So it was not exact by any stretch.

Firstly; I know that the Mrs says that they are always too far out into they room.
Secondly; she often says that the sound is coming from behind the front wall.
And thirdly; that the speakers make no sound, and that all the sound it is coming from between the speakers.

She is an intelligent woman, but the phantom image is outside of her bailiwick of understanding.

…in an 18’ 5" long room. I could stretch that to 13" which is 1/17 the room length…

1/7th of 14 feet is about 2 feet and 1/7th of 21 feet is ~3 foot.

So 1/7th of 18’ should be about 2-1/2 feet I think?

(That is about the minimum IME.)

Many say that they are better.
Usually people that hear my old ones from ~’84 are amazed.

I just changed phono stage, and believe that I can hear it sound better, but god only knows.I know it is in the rack, so I could be heavily biased.

I think that they are around 5k now new. So a 1k used model, is going to be 98% there and not the 20% that the money would suggest.

if you cannot have them a fair way out from the wall, you would be better off considering a Treo model.
A lot of the family doesn’t like speakers out from the wall, so it is not uncommon for them to get sold on the used market just out of decorating reasons.

Plus there were hundreds of thousands of model 2s made, and those owners either eventually upgrade, or leave them to their heirs… etc.

The only thing I have not changed are the speakers and the TT. Adding a sub is a nice help. Like with a 2W.

listening sweetspot, or is it, perhaps to a lesser degree, also throughout the room?  This is an important question, because I do not have a listening room, but an open concept house with a large living area, and my listening sweet spot is in front of a fireplace where there can be no furniture.  Also, this room is asymmetrical in that one side of the room functions as a hall, so that one speaker is placed in a corner and the other 4 feet from a wall which is not a corner.

The rentals were mostly square, the condo for 3 years was assymetric, the house for 10 years was symmetric, the house for 20 was symmetric, then new rental is assymetric, and the new house they are going to is assymetric.

They always seemed pretty good.

My business has been hit hard by COVID, so I can't afford the difference to more expensive Treos.  

If one is on a budget… then I would suggest searching for a used set of 2s and a 2w sub.
There would be little to be bashful about once the sounds starts coming out.

I tried an in store listen to some newer Treos and Kentos… they were good. And easier on the decorating front.

You are never going to get good imaging with two different pairs of speakers firing directly at you. Just a thought....

Have you heard the Moabs? 😉 @ozzy62