Vandersteen 1Ci , your experience?

I have a pair of older 1C’s, not the newest versions, and they are great for the money (paid about $325 shipped). I was immediately pleased with them when first played; they just sounded ‘right’ to me. It was my first personal experience with Vandersteen’s, and I was smitten from the start. After getting them set-up for my room, provided a very nice deep soundstage and imaging. They are, obviously, two way speakers with a transmission line and wide/small ‘slit’ bass port on the bottom rear, which does work well overall to provide a balanced low end. Not at all ‘bright’, and the mid does a nice job of providing both mid an mid bass in a natural way. Set-up is critical for all Vandersteen’s, but the manual is very helpful. But, they do lack a bit of deep deep bass. Some call the 1&2 series ‘veiled’, but I don’t hear them in that way at all. A bit ‘warm’? Perhaps, but that is my preference, so I am pleased. They do need a bit of power to fully appreciate their potential, but I think you should have that if your receiver outputs 100 wpc? But, I will stress; I’m sure the newest 1C’s would out perform my older model.

But.....I liked the 1C’s so much that I found a pair of used 2CE Sig I speakers literally 2 months after I purchased the 1C’s. I liked them so much I wanted ‘more’, and particularly the dedicated mid-bass and mid-range speaker along with the active acoustic coupler on the rear (directly connected to the mid-bass woofer). Essentially a 4-way speaker. I still have the 1C’s, but the 2C’s became my primary speakers immediately and have never regreted purchasing both. The 2C’s gave me more of everything I was hoping for.

I had to send one of my acoustic couplers on the 2C’s to Bill at Miller Sound for repair, put the 1C’s back in the primary locations, and although they are wonderful to have as a back-up, was thrilled to get the 2C’s back up and running with their much fuller sound.

Personally, I would look at a used pair of the Signature series of 2C’s. You can easily get a nice pair of used 2Ce Sigs for the cost of the new 1Ci’s if cost is a consideration.

If only looking at new, yes, there is a big gap cost-wise between the new 1C and 2C’s, but If you have the money, I would consider seriously the newest 2C’s. From my experience with both used, there is a big jump in performance between the two.

Not a problem, and good luck.

I have my 2CE I's in a room approx. 12'-6" x 17'-0". Personally have no problem with their size or output. When I had the chance to put my 1C's back in place, (as mentioned), it was an interested exercise, as I also wondered if they worked better in my room than I had origionally remembered after almost immediately replacing them with the 2CE's. I love my 1C's, still have them, (actually my rears now in HT mode), but as I stated, more than happy to reinstall my 2's into my room as my mains, as they just do so much more of what I want than the 1's. That said, if I only had the 1C's, I certainly would not be disappointed, and in fact, am keeping them primarily just in case at some point I have to downsize and get rid of the 2CE's. 

I guess this is a matter of personal taste, possibly set-up, and some room treatments.

I certainly did not mean in any way to 'diss' the 1C's, they are very nice speakers, but another, as I, may desire more what the 2CE's offer. Or at least consider them as an alternate. 

My my biggest challenge with the 2C’s is getting them to ’disappear’ as well as you can the 1C’s. That is important to me. Do they? Well no, not as easy as the 1C’s in my space, but after much fussing with placement, they are pretty close (source depending, some are easier than other per how the recording was mic’d/mixed). The one thing that made a tremendous difference was both some simple absorption and diffusion panels strategically placed. Actually diffusion works better in some locations to help break-up the sound waves vs absorbing them, creating a much better and wider soundstage which help to ’hide’ the 2Ce’s.

I have no real problem with overloading my room with the acoustic couplers, but as said and again, placement and acoustical treatment help. But, an interesting solution using one of Richards high pass filters. Heck, I also have two powered subs hooked-up in stereo that sit behind and adjacent to my 2Ce’s and adjusted for music, (with absorption panels that surround two sides of them so as not to allow too much pressure to build-up), not HT, so there ya go ;-)