Bewoods, I have had the same opinion of Vandersteen 2ce & 3a sig for years. I owned a pair of 2ce sigs and the midrange driver just could not handle orchestral works. Gritty strings, congestion and all that, drove me crazy. Tried them with top notch amps, Belles, Bryston, Cary, made no difference. I went to the same dealer to demo the 3A sigs and although they were better, I still was not thrilled with symphonic pieces. I then got hold of ET Lft8Bs and it was a night and day difference in the upper mids and highs. However, they had issues with bass so the seach continued.
Vandersteen
After hearing many good things about Vandersteen speakers I purchased a pair of 3a signatures. They sound beautiful with chamber music or small group jazz but quickly fall to pieces with symphonic works or rock. Have other people noted this deficiency with Vandersteens?