Vandersteen 2CE or 1C for small room?

Cutterfilm, you can handle the 2's.

I've heard the 2's in a lot of different setups. They are room sensitive, and not just in the bass. As good as they are, they can sound down right bad, in either too small a room, or with poor placement.

What's the budget? Yes.

The Vandy 2's are certainly strong contenders. If you like what Vandersteen does, though very different in some ways, these share some characteristics: Dunlavy SC IV's, Meadowlarks, Thiel CS 3.5's, and though I haven't heard them, the Green Mountain's belong to the same school of thought. The Thiel 3.5's, have a different perspective, would cost less, but the savings would have to go towards amplification. Though later Thiels could be found in your budget, I believe the amp requirements would bust the budget. In any case, I would reccommend some absorbing room treatment directly behind the listening position for your layout.

If your placing the speakers along the long wall, with appropriate speaker placement, your head will probably be close to the opposing wall. Therefore, you will in all probability need some absorbing room treatment behind your head, as is true with most speakers that work best with some space behind them.