Time to move UP, speaker-wise...

I appreciate the responses, thus far... I've looked back into the Vandy scene, and the price of the new Vandy Treo CT at $9000 and the Quattro at $15,500 is prohibitive. I love Vandersteen, but I'm going to need to draw the line at around $3,000'ish. 

@steve59 - please describe your finding... what makes them 'sweet'?

@ncarv and @fastninja12 - I appreciate the nods in the direction of
Golden Ear. I know the local shop carries GE and I was intrigued, years ago, but never made my way to an authentic audition. I will put this on my list.

@gratefuleric - I have a call in to Tekton, to discuss options. I'm wanting to learn more about the OB Sigma, the Enzo XL, and the Electron SE. Al three are on sale, at this time. 

@coachpoconnor - Have you experience with the Druid Mark IV?

I've looked up PureAudioProject @willfolf and I have seen a review of some of their tech some weeks back, and I recall this as an option that drives expense beyond my limit... maybe they have some sales?

@tomic601 - Which model and do you have any model recommendations, given my price point? Have you compared the Vandys to newer Klipsch or, by chance, Tekton speakers? 

Thanks for hopping into this conversation. I found the guys at the local shop seem far less educated than I would have expected, or perhaps not very willing to share. They carry some decent machinery, but seem hesitant to open up about preferences; I think this is because they fear pushing something on someone when subjectivity is the ultimate rule of law. Still, it's sound-staging and subtlety that I crave, so can't we agree on the notion of a deep or full soundstage and layers of musical information? 

Hello all who are contributors of this thread... I've studied the speakers, but only in text form, associated with each recommendation. Some of the stand-mounts seem to reach into the lower registers, although the Vandersteen stand mounts would invariably require subwoofer support. The top of the line VLR, with the added cost of one or more subwoofers, would push me quickly into the $4K range. The VLR series peters out around 64hz.

The Dynaudio special 40 looks very attractive, but drops only to 41hz, also requiring a subwoofer. I'm definitely attracted to a full-range sound.  
@aexis1 - what is your experience with this speaker and how would you compare it with Vandersteen or Tekton.

@winnardt - love the Maggies notion, but they are coming in, at minimum, around $4k, before any shipping is paid, and then they require A LOT OF JUICE! Currently, I'm running the Nuforce STA200 @ about 80wpc. It's a sweet amp for what it is, but I don't see it pushing big Maggies. I'm not in a position to develop a massive revision of my entire system, certainly not in the short-term. Again, my limit is right around $3000.00 for new speakers.

I will note that I do have a subwoofer, the Martin Logan dynamo 700. I could hazard it as a mate to the Vandy VLR option, but I'm skeptical about the mating and I really do want to land on something of a final solution here. This is why I've pondered the Tekton option, where the double-impact comes in at $3000.00 and is embroidered with two-10" woofers, each speaker. The Electron SE is also on sale, said to drop to 20hz, made of higher grade components. I would love to hear anyone who can speak a comparison between Tekton and Vandersteen. I don't so much need to hear that one is "better" but what characteristics are heightened in the one vs. the other.

@jackd - to follow up, what is your experience with Tekton? You claimed I should stay away - what experiences have you had and with which speakers? Also, I did check out the advert for the 2ce II signature - looks wonderful. The various Vandy comments have definitely ignited some intrigue about what I might be leaving behind there, and I understand the newer iteration is probably quite an improvement over my 1992'ish model. Nevertheless, I don't really need to "stick with what I know" as I often find that unsung avenues are provocative. Which Vandy models have you owned, Jackd?

@gadios - the Sonus Fabers appear to be Italian made, or am I missing something? You seem to point to a discontinued line... the implication that I buy used... apparently this presents me with an impetus to research the line... You mention that these are especially musical speakers... The images of them depict an highly aesthetic offering... What other speakers can you contrast them with?

Finally @luisma31 - I'm working with a Schiit Saga (Tube and SS model), a modi DAC, a Cambridge audio transport and the Nuforce ST200. I had the Vandy 2CI's but found four dead drivers when I opened them up again, after my most recent move. Had them since 1992 and they played well till about 2013. Now, I've got a pair of Klipsch RP280F's and I may have made a mistake with them because I would count them largely responsible for the emergence of tinnitus. I don't play especially loud (at all) but they have a big glare in the upper registers, on some recordings and they almost always cause listening fatigue, even after a few songs. They have some potent qualities - probably to potent - but I think there is a problem with that speaker. 

Thanks so much for all the thoughtful feedback and I'm certainly open to hearing more. I think I'm a little caught in the Tekton excitement, but I want to ground that in some honest feedback (from owners), wherein a contrast can be made to other speakers, as a result of direct experience. I like the idea of something fresh (the Tekton's) but then the new 2ce is obviously quite fresh, some twenty-seven years later. I'm not particularly impressed by the lower efficiency of the Vandy - I had run my old one's off a paramount HCA1200ii @205 wpc and they were happy, but with only 80wpc now, I keep feeling the pull of efficiency, as I see in the Tekton... 

Thanks again, people. 

Four drivers were found dead, across the two Vandersteen 2CI's. I could have had them repaired but I doubted that the investment would return the sound to its former glory. I did send them in to the local shop and the cost of repairs would have been quite a bit higher than I could justify, given a now twenty-seven year old set of speakers. I thought it best to take the money and apply it to something new... 

The newer Vandersteens are highly attractive, but the Treo, new, comes in around $9000.00. That's quite a jump, from my $3000 limit. I have always been able to do amazingly well in the lower price ranges, and as I don't have buckets of cash and no longer believe in paying for things (except for cars and homes) on credit, I will bide my time until the right choice emerges. 

I did strongly consider fixing the blown drivers, but that possibility has now passed. The speakers were "donated" to the repair shop in my city. 

On other fronts, I spent about three hours "dynamating" (not dynamiting) my two RP280F's. The sound has improved. Glare has dropped away, at least by 30-50%, maybe more. Some 'glare' now sounds like the very instrument it had been hiding. I am going to play a bit more with positioning, which has always been huge in pulling the best from these speakers. They are dynamic, but I had an experience yesterday, on XMAS, that left me pondering a stronger midrange speaker voicing.... I went home visited the family, and a guest was in attendance who happened to be equipped with her violin. She's a professional violinist, and as she pulled out her instrument I asked if she could play any one-stringed Paganini; he was known to notch strings and play the final minutes of his presentations furiously on one-string, a kind of rock-n-roll style climactic event. The request was more to boast a finely (self-regarded) detail in memory than any sort of comprehensive appreciation for violin greats. Still, she quickly sat and immediately played two section of two Paganini pieces. The vibrancy of the instrument in the room put the reproduction of violin work in a CD I listened to today to shame. The violin almost didn't need to be in the recording, so subtle a position did it occupy. I feel that a more vibrant mid-range section would entirely change the character of the music I"m hearing. By contrast, I took "New Moon Daughter" (Cassandra Wilson) to the local stereo shop and played it on a pair of Forte III's and the midrange popped. the relationship between the acoustic instruments and the vocalist swapped places entirely. It was not a small change from my RP280F speakers... 

I am enjoying the journey, and so here's an update... after more hours than I want to admit, I've made a decision. The Tekton Moabs. Yes, the ring of "please please please" make sure to listen to them before buying was in my ears and yet I don't have a reasonable way to make that happen at this stage in the game. What I did accomplish was three talks with the six moons reviewer of the Moab, who has also reviewed most of the speakers in the Tekton line-up. He's also a fan of CODA amplification, as well as ARIC amps/pre-amps. He purchased the top end Tekton flagship model, the Ulfberht, but claimed the Moabs are perhaps better in many applications. The somewhat novel technology (numerous small weight drivers 'tuned' in consideration for the moving mass of possible instruments) makes some kind of sense to me, but not as much as the crossover design and time symmetry of the Vandersteen made sense to me, back when I bought the 2ce's in my 20's. I keep looking at other speakers in contrast to the Moabs and I find the "lack of risk" factor that I DO NOT find in the Moab. They cut something of an edge, both as unusually tall and wide, which must convert into soundstage impact. Four twelves, aimed in my general direction, for example. THIRTY, highly tuned tweeters, aimed at my face, for instance. There will be drivers come up from below, coming down from above, all in one package, standing 69" tall. Someone called the 2ci's polite and I think that's right, and I also think that while I was often impressed by the clarity of the 2ce soundstage, and I would find myself sizing up things within the sound field, there was definitely a sense of removal, of NOT being there. I want to "BE" there, with the musical event, for a NOT insane price, but a touch nutty.  

Just this last weekend, I sat in a jazz club, on the coast, THE SOUND WAVES COMING OFF THE cymbals were pure... 

By the way: anyone have an appliance dolly, I can borrow.?. Moab weights - 135lb each.