Vandersteen 1 in the nearfield, for rock music?

Well... My 1Cs (each with its own 2Wq sub) are about 7 feet in front of me and about 5 feet apart. I listen to about 65% electronic rock, the balance being jazz and classical. Of any speaker I have heard in its price range, the 1Cs are as smooth as any, save perhaps the DCM TFE200. That being said, my system (posted in my profile) is not at the level where I look forward to listening to 2-channel music, especially rock. Although it may be the fault of source components, cabling or amplification, I find that most rock sounds too bright and etched for my tastes. And even when I play a better recording, my rig is listenable, but less than involving, emotionally. Once you've heard music reproduced in a way that allows emotional involvement, nothing less will do, IMHO.

Thanks, John - Nope. That #$%^&*! RPTV is on wheels, but there is no place to role it to in my basement. Besides, I do use it (guilty, as charged). The high pass I use are the Vandy in-line filters, which are fixed @80Hz anyway. And, I gotta think that, for a price, there are better speakers out there than the 1Cs, however good at their price point they may be.

Unsound - I can sit as far back as 9 ft., but I have found the soundstage and imaging to be better at 7 feet. In my case, remember, the 1Cs are barely 5 feet apart. Of course, YMMV.

Dave - DCM is not, AFAIK, the same company that made your swapmeet speakers. The current DCM builds more conventional tower speakers. Although they claim that the x-over makes them phase correct, I would not say they immitate Vandersteen's designs. I only mentioned them because of how impressed I was by the DCM TFE200s at the HE2007 show in NYC. They are priced right at the same price as the 1Cs (you NEED the bases for the 1Cs), and to my ears, sounded really smooth. I did not, however, directly compare them to the Vandys. I think I generally prefer larger, soft dome tweeters to metal domes like the ones Vandersteen uses. Personal preference, YMMV.