Vandersteen 2CE Signature II: Is it worth the price of $2700? Why are so many for sale?

Sunny, I sold my Treo's to Bob and I LOVED them.  I now own the Quatro's and I listen to everyone's 35k or down speakers and still went with Quatro's.  Coherency, tonality, extension top and bottom, yet warm enough and smooth.  Tons of micro and macro detail give you teh emotion that most speakers are missing.  

As Tomic stated above, they use very expensive components and don't worry about the cabinet in the 2 and 3's.  If you set them up properly they crush most of the competition that can cost twice the price of each.  Not everyone gets them as they don't smear and are time and phase correct as folks have said.  They are as true a point source in a conventional speaker as you will probably hear.  Feel free to PM any Vandersteen owner on here as we will probably tell you teh same things. Older ones are usually sold as folks move up, like I did.  

Since the 2's are the best selling high end speaker of all time and have been on the market since 78 I believe, there will be many for sale.  Most are in great shape if taken care of, but if someone can afford the 2700, the newest ones are SOOOOOOOO much better as they have trickle down drivers and components from the original Treo's ;)....Yes, they are that good to most ears.  JMHO

I know that when I've head the Simaudio gear in a few dealers show rooms as well as at a buddy's house, they were forward.  I've heard the whole Vandy line and forward isn't a description I would use as I've never heard them not have a fairly large soundstage with good imaging.  My Treo's and Quatro CT's throw a realistic stage if it's fed that.  I've had a lot of gear in teh house and I've heard the soundstage change with each different piece.  That's just me.

As for the ET's, I"ve been hearing them since the 90's and have always heard them set up properly. As has been stated, you just need the right room.  If you have that and you have very good amps with a lot of power, you will get very good sound.  The only problem I've had with them is a bit of coherency issues integrating the bass with the panels.  It can be done, but it can cost a bit.  I like Vandy's as you can easily run them on good NAD, Rotel or Belles or many of the other nice sounding amps from 500 to whatever and keep getting better and better sound.  

I promise you that the Sim gear will move any stage forward.  That's part of what they do and why some who love the front row seats, like the Sim gear.  It's a different taste deal. 

That said, I've heard Sim separates on the Treo's that I used to own and the stage still started a bit behind them.  I also felt that it extended very deep, but I was using a Basis TT with a Rhea phono stage.  I didn't like the Sim with anything digital in my system and I was using an Ayre QX5 that I'm now selling.  It's a great DAC and matched well with the Sim.

As for the Treo vs the 2's, I haven't heard both in the same system in the same room to be able to really say.  

Agreed, but tell that to Audio Doctor in NJ, lol...sorry, couldn’t resist. I agree though. Dealers need to disclose and also not sell. Nice of Rutan to offer to help even though he isn’t selling the guy anything.

Kharp, call Johnny and get those things set up correctly before letting them go. You will lose money if you have to resell and if you liked them in teh store, they should actually sound as good or better in your home. Did you use your own electronics in the store or something else?

Oh, guys, I just realized that the OP is @sunnyjim was a Vandy dealer and lost the line.  He has an AX to GRIND, so I guess he goes on sites like this and bashes them.  What a tool!

I totally agree with Tomic.  There just aren't a ton of audio stores around anymore.  They only sell the less expensive models.  I would still drive 3 hours to a dealer if there was one around (I have one about 2hours away).  I doubt that they have taken much away from a dealer to be honest.

I've had the older ET's in the house for long periods of time and loved them.  I heard them vs the original Vandersteen Quatro adn felt it wasn't even close. For the price back then, it shouldn't have been close, but the ET is a very good value. It's just a hard sell for dealers for many reasons.  

I have not heard it vs the new 2's though.

The EQ made a world of difference in my room to say the least. 

Tonic likes chasing the cat when it’s let out of the bag.  If you ask anyone of us who own the bassEQ, I would bet that 100% would tel you how worth it it is. I’m really looking forward to hearing it with a pair of Quatros lol. 

SJ, good luck wiht recovery.  Totally sucks. I have heard the small Maggie on many occasions and if set up properly, they rock.  Just very good speakers.  The small KEF's just need to be uses with very good electronics to sound their best in my humble opinion.  if you have the right gear, they could also do the trick nicely.  Great recommendations by Tomic as usual.

Actually in speaking with Richard, time and phase correct speakers should never be used with spikes/stands that move at all (ie polymers and rubber).  He even makes special spike shoes that have a special felt on the bottom for speakers that are on solid surfaces like hard floors or granite (I use granite on my Quatro CT's).

If you love the sound with the rubber pad that's cool and how you like your ice cream, but I'd typically tell someone who's trying to set them up the way they are designed to try that first.  Can always try the rubber pads and see which flavor of the rainbow they like.  

Just another thought.  All good and love seeing how others set them up.