Years ago I owned the 2Ce and the 3A (preferred the 2Cs). I found Vandersteens very placement critical. My dealer suggested a Spendor floorstander and they did the trick for me. I have been a fan of Spendors ever since ! |
To tomic601. Actually, I thought there was a speaker in Vandersteen line that was about $7000, but was not amplified or had EQ control. Maybe, it was discontinued in favor of making the (big) jump to the current 5a speaker BTW, I am aware of those dealer in L.A. County, but the sales tax is a killer at almost 9% now, so I have to shop for used speakers on AG. New is not an option.. |
The 5a are quite formidable
much better cabinet, crossover, subs and sub amp, 11 bands of analog EQ ( an innovation unmatched to this day to my knowledge by any other designer )
and they went for North of $15 K when finally phased out ( although still available as 5a Carbon at $35 K w filters...
not really a fair fight comparing them to 3a Sig .... imo
( yes I have owned both )
there are several West Coat dealers who carry Magnepan and Vandersteen: San Diego and Tacoma...
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TO cedargrove> For the record, about 5 years ago, I listed to both a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce's and also a pair of 3a Sig. The 3A's were much better sounding than 2Ce's which I thought sounded good but not good enough to buy at the time. The 3a's were too big and also outside my budget range. Last year, I happened to walk into a shop and the Vandy 5a were playing. I was amazed how good they sound compared to the models below them which sat beside them. I did not have the time to do a three speaker comparison, but my sonic memory said the 5a were in another league of both design and driver technology because they did so much right The issue I gathered from even a few of the responses is that a 10 year old 2CE may be or (is not) the equal of latest version from 1 year ago There is a pair on e-bay that look very clean and supposedly a year old but the price is $2000. That may seem like a bargain considering the current retail is $2700. But what other speakers new like the Magneplanar 1.7i for almost the same amount of money may be superior even though they have different design and work on entirely different sound propagation principles. Regarding a more conventional box speaker, the Revel Performa F-206 is repeatedly praised by reviewers in TAS and Stereophile. I briefly heard them and liked them a great deal, but not for $3500, their current retail price. I have rarely seen a used pair under $2600 and their size and weight makes shipping to the West Coast about $200 Another thing I gathered from some of the responses is the that the Vandersteen's 2CE whether a Signature or Sig II has a euphonic tonal character, that is either laid back, soft, warm ( though accurate) as opposed to an analytical sound, that is, bright, edgy, canned and unemotional and some would say just does not "sound like music" If my memory is correct the Vandy 5a's were able to strike an almost perfect balance between these two interpretations of sound quality; the 3A Sigs got close, but ,(in my opinion and keeping in mind the time passed since I heard them), 2CE did NOT achieve that balance and generally sounded soft, and not very engaging. I don't want to try every ice cream stand at the carnival to see which has the best and richest chocolate flavor. This is not the type of merry go round I want to get on in trying to find out which "version" of the 2Ce is the best of its class S.J.. |
I did only see one pair of 2Ce Sig. for sale right now so actually vast majority of the people who bought them are holding on to them. I paid $450 for a pair of 2Ci speakers in excellent condition that I bought locally a few months ago and it’s by far the best money I’ve spent, on anything, period. I would actually not hesitate to buy another newer model if I see one come up for sale locally. They are a bit chunky so they may not fit everyone’s space/decor requirements but I really enjoy their clean, fluid, and most importantly non-fatiguing sound. I’d love to hear the new models just to see how much better they are in comparison to my “vintage” 2Cis.
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you can geddem used for $500 so $2700 is too much. |
@twoleftears
@hifiman5
+1's
Definitely give John Rutan a call or PM him here on audiogon his ID is: audioconnection.
B |
If you're looking to buy a used pair of Model 2's I would look for late production 2Ce Sigs. Richard is consistently upgrading his speaker designs so try to acquire a pair with the latest upgrades. |
Short answer: because there are so many of them out there. If you're seriously interested, talk to Johnny Rutan and get his highly informed advice on which version/iteration to get, and any tweaks he recommends. |
I heard the Vandies after I got out of college in '79. They were so impressive that I still remembered them 40 years later, when I finally got back into hifi.
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+1 tubegroover and gdnrbob. 2ci's were MY first entry into "high end". If you want sizzle, maybe not your cup of tea. If you want steak, OTOH, give them a listen.
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Actually the model 2 started in the late 70's. The 2C was my first effort into serious audio in the mid 80's. I agree with all the positive comments. When I purchased my pair they were retailing for around 1.1k. The fact they are 2.7k 30 years later is remarkable considering what you get for the money. I preferred them at the time over Martin Logan CLS and Sequels, Magnepan 2.6, B&W 801s all well above the 2Cs price point at the time. Your taste and requirements may be different. These speakers should be listened to at a dealer or owner that has them set up properly, there are some excellent dealers that get this important point. I have heard a few demos that were dreadful. They work with a wide range of both tube and ss electronics but certainly they don't shy from some power.
Definitely worth a listen, do yourself a favor and don't worry about how many are for sale, over 100k pair sold . Some find them "boring", regardless they offer a hell of a lot of value in my experience. |
The Vandy 2's have been around since the '80's, with the CE Sig.II the current iteration.
That they have been selling for so long should give you a hint about their capabilities, as well as why there are so many for sale.
And, used 2ce Sig II's go for $1400, even 3a sigs go for less than $2,200.
B
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Speakers are very subjective. One has to LISTEN for oneself to make opinions about sound. Richard Vandersteen is an intelligent speaker designer, but a potential buyer must still have a LISTEN to his speakers before making judgements. Often times, when shopping for speakers, one could make a map of say audio dealers within 90 miles or so of their home to plan many trips to have a LISTEN to many speaker brands and types to see what floats one’s boat with regard to quality sound. Also what cedargrover said. |
I have had the Vandersteen 2CE sig.. They are great, spacious, laid back, capable of bass you can actually feel.’s a very musical speaker, not for someone who likes details on the bright side. I sold mine just because I wanted something different, something more like studio monitor sound, and because they are quite large. I would buy them again. $2.7k, if that’s what they want today, they are still worth it - some of the drivers comve from overseas: Vifa and Seas are suppliers among others. |
no
it competes technically with $5 k stuff Yep, if my budget goes to $5K you can be sure the 2Ce Sig II is on the short list. My pair might be one the OP is speaking of, tho'. I just moved to used Thiel CS2.4SE. Tom Thiel and Rob Gillum may soon have "hot rod" kits that will make these sing even better. |
no
it competes technically with $5 k stuff for a lot of reasons
$ in the drivers not fancy veneer
way down the learning / improvement curce, economies of scale, frugal dutchman running the company...engineers engineer no part makes it way on the speaker if it does not earn its way aboard...
refined design, drivers and crossovers have all changed but not the basic design principles: time, phase accurate, minimum baffle, low resonance cabinet, hand tuning of speaker in anechoeic chamber
with hundreds of thousands sold of course there are speakers for sale used...duh
Factory / dealers just ran a $500 trade in on and C towards Treo or better, so yes older 2’s out on market for sure....
they are also perennial favorites on the Absolute Sound / Stereophile ratings....
company does not chase tail, most if not all the basic design principles in place 30 years because the underlying physics never changed....
go listen
i did
have 3 pair now....
dig the music..
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