Vandersteen 2CE Signature III — video review on YouTube by Steve Guttenberg (1/15/2023)

It would be pretty nice to see some frequency response graphs.
The only ones I know of are few from Stereophile many years back, and “Erin’s Audio Corner” measured an older 2C ~ a year ago.

As for other speakers; not seeing the step function response, or a step function response which is at odds with how the sound pressure hit the microphone… just bugs me. And therefore it excludes most speakers I look at, or consider looking at.
(I kinda like them to be technically correct as an opening bid.)
^That^ excludes a lot of (on the surface) seemingly nice sounding speakers pretty quickly.

Steve gives them an excellent rating

I’d expect nothing less.
But since he rarely gives a negative review, it is a low bar for entry, and doesn’t tell us much. If he said something negative it would make people sit up like the dead in a horror film.

Whether or not you think Vandersteen models are getting brighter will depend on how far you go back with the company. I bought my first pair in 1996 and my last pair in 2014, my 4th, and they were voiced differently to my ears. I always suspected it was finally a reaction to the reviews.

I got mine a dozen year earlier… so I go back further.

I would expect that they would gradually get more neutral over time from available XO parts, an upgraded XO design, and likely drivers that have less ringing and resonances.
And it is possible that the early days they could have been a bit “toned down” for SS equipment that was overly bright. (Dunno, but it could be possible??)

So being as they were on the warm side earlier (40+ years ago), then anything more towards neutral would be viewed as brighter in comparison today. And maybe less so over a 25 year span.

Also, I do not understand why they still dress them up in socks. They could look decent undressed, with a good coat of paint, black white red or blue, whatever.

I suspect you are an orthapedic surgeon or like to look at X-rays 😎

I like to peek inside a kimono as much as the next person, but I would also suspect that without the sock people would obsess over dust/etc and start poking the drivers.
Or a cat would jump in.

I currently have the Vandersteen 2ci and do agree with everyone here that they have a rolloff top end. I also read that the tend to be on the warm side but i dont know if that is true. I personally think that the older are voiced to be a balance speaker.  When I did a room response, I hve notice that it starts to roll of gradually maybe 6db/oct at about 8k. 

It was not the downward slope that I was referring to, which is somewhat minor.
It was the lumpiness of frequency response through the middle.
But probably as good as anything from the era??

In the HT AVR I entered in the PEQ values that make it a bit flatter across the middle… and the room does some of its stuff as well.

It would be pretty nice to see similar analysis of the models.
One can see near the bottom of the link, that there is step response and compression. (Most of the manufacture data for speakers with higher order crossovers leave out step function response.)
Frequency response is talked about as being more important, but it is not a crime to have textbook step function response.

https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/vandersteen_model_2/

@patrickdowns I just sit in the cave crosslegged on the dirt like an ascetic monk.
And use more cushion thickness, if the ears are too low…

I doubt tweeters are getting faster over time.

Cone breakup may be getting reduced, and dome resonances are likely on a general trend downwards. The carbon cones and the “CT” would be some examples why and how.

And on the motor side, motors are generally either getting more linear, or going for longer strokes… and occasionally both… mostly with woofers.
motor non linearity show up as HD and IMD.

Hence without some measurement plot of SPL vs Freq, and the harmonics thrown in there, it is difficult to figure what may be going on technically under the kimono or sock.

One of the “Darlings” on ASR is the Revel F228be.
They conveniently left out the step response, but the stereophile review has it.

Step response of F228be:

I found that the step response of the 30 year old 2c that Erin measured seems to look a bit different:

Step response of 30 year pair of Vandersteen 2C:
(Doesn’t look like it will paste in, but it almost at the bottom In the URL)

https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/vandersteen_model_2/

Stereophile showed it in 1995:

Those two speakers do not look like they have similar step response.

I doubt the newer model differs much in step response, but it could differ in HD profile (Lower, I would hope/expect) and likely the FR is flatter (hope).

I sort of like to see the measurements as going to a shop with the all excitement, their room, gear, and track selection… makes it a bit of magic show. The speakers and systems should not sound bad, but most everything in a shop is set up and demoed to sound pretty good.

No matter how good a random speaker is sounding though, it would be difficult to make a speaker with poor step response become more coherent… an hour in a well treated room may not be enough to hear through with the skipping around of random tracks and salesman blather.

I have always been curious about Vandy speakers because they consistently get great reviews.  All Models it seems.

Therefore, is it worth buying any of the higher end models?  Or just buy the 2Ce sig 3 and be done?  Are the Treo TC or the Quatro worth the money?  Anyone heard all 3, or 2 of these 3 and made a comparison?

@tubular1 
It depends on what you want. If you want more bass then you need a sub or to move north of the Treos.

The Treos are way more expensive that a 2C, but the WAF ends up with them usually saying get the Treos.

There are so many factors it is not just an easy answer.

I am not a card-carrying fanboy, blindly loyal, but I have found Vandys to be speakers I can live with for a long time, and I don’t have the money to scratch every itch and jump from brand to brand. Vandys are extremely musical, for lack of a better term, and let you forget about them and just enjoy the music. For me, that is the goal. GOOD LUCK!

The pair in front of me were purchased in ‘84.
I’ve been watching the TV with them more lately as the TT is being rehabilitated.

I forget that they are there.

 

Thank you guys!

 

Would the Treo CT mate well with a McIntosh MC275 VI? Just looking at the sensitivity.

@tubular1 I would say no one general principle 😙, but @tomic601 runs some McIntosh and generally is pretty factual. 😁
 

Back in the 1980s both Optimal Enchantment in LA and Havens and Hardesty in Orange County frequently demoed the current Model 2 with top of the line Audio Research electronics. Some people questioned if that made sense, until they heard those systems.

@pryso I’ve been to both of those places, and was at the ballet studio almost exactly a year ago.

God save the generally factual !

And save me, on the generally hyperbole end…
@tomic601 you took the bait.