A month ago I would have agreed with many of the original statements regarding that perhaps the Vandersteens are veiling the overall sound. I would have been making that statement based on my past experience with the Vandersteen 2C's (and subsequent incarnations) and from experiences with my 1C's going in and out of my main system over the last few years.
However, after selling my Magnepan MG3.6r's and while I wait for my Ridgestreet Audio Designs Sason LTD's, I once again inserted the 1C's into my my main system and I have been immensely impressed with the sound of the 1C's. There is a great deal of air and hf extension through the 1C's (not on par with the Magnepan's, but certainly not "rolled off" sounding either). The 1C's are not what one would typically mate with the rest of my gear, but I think the results indicate that the 1C's (and I would certainly assume the 2CSigs even more so) will play glorious music if fed a good signal. My main system:
Esoteric UX-3 with GNSC Statement mods
BAT VK51SE
Atma-Sphere MA1 MkII.3
1m Purist Museaus XLR from source to pre
7m Purist Museaus XLR from pre to amps
2m Purist Museaus speaker cables.
Incidently, this same system with the exception of Parasound JC1 SS amps in place of the Atma-Sphere's was not as extended with the 1C's and, surprisingly, the bass was not as realistic either. This was surprisingly true on the MG3.6R's as well. My friend and I both agree that the insertion of the Atma's resulted in an amazing amount of natural detail (from lows, mids, to highs) being passed to both the Maggies and now the Vandersteens.
Drew, I think you should be able to get the Vandys to sound VERY good without spending a great deal. I would join in on recommending some experimentation with gear and cables in the same price range you currently have. It may be that what initially drew you to the Vandys (BTW, I too was drawn to them upon first hearing them ~20 years ago and still enjoy what Richard's speakers do today) was their way with the mids and lower hf? If your choice for cables and equipment were influenced by that, you may be guilty (I've done this before) of trying to overemphasize a particular freq region through cables and equipment and lost the balance the Vandy's are capable of producing? Anyway, sorry for being so verbose. Good luck!
Jordan
However, after selling my Magnepan MG3.6r's and while I wait for my Ridgestreet Audio Designs Sason LTD's, I once again inserted the 1C's into my my main system and I have been immensely impressed with the sound of the 1C's. There is a great deal of air and hf extension through the 1C's (not on par with the Magnepan's, but certainly not "rolled off" sounding either). The 1C's are not what one would typically mate with the rest of my gear, but I think the results indicate that the 1C's (and I would certainly assume the 2CSigs even more so) will play glorious music if fed a good signal. My main system:
Esoteric UX-3 with GNSC Statement mods
BAT VK51SE
Atma-Sphere MA1 MkII.3
1m Purist Museaus XLR from source to pre
7m Purist Museaus XLR from pre to amps
2m Purist Museaus speaker cables.
Incidently, this same system with the exception of Parasound JC1 SS amps in place of the Atma-Sphere's was not as extended with the 1C's and, surprisingly, the bass was not as realistic either. This was surprisingly true on the MG3.6R's as well. My friend and I both agree that the insertion of the Atma's resulted in an amazing amount of natural detail (from lows, mids, to highs) being passed to both the Maggies and now the Vandersteens.
Drew, I think you should be able to get the Vandys to sound VERY good without spending a great deal. I would join in on recommending some experimentation with gear and cables in the same price range you currently have. It may be that what initially drew you to the Vandys (BTW, I too was drawn to them upon first hearing them ~20 years ago and still enjoy what Richard's speakers do today) was their way with the mids and lower hf? If your choice for cables and equipment were influenced by that, you may be guilty (I've done this before) of trying to overemphasize a particular freq region through cables and equipment and lost the balance the Vandy's are capable of producing? Anyway, sorry for being so verbose. Good luck!
Jordan