Vandersteen 2Ce Signature II

Still awaiting the January Stereophile . . . So is the midrange from the 3A or 3A Sig? Sounds like the tweeter is ceramic-coated, which means it's different than the 3A Sig tweeter. Anyone figured out the real story?

After a small bit of research, it appears that the 3A Sig midrange driver is not different than the 3A.

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Good point, but I'll be happy to have near 3A Sig performance in a smaller and less expensive package!

I finally got my Jan 07 Stereophile yesterday. Art Dudley's review was very positive. More and more I'm thinking these could be my next speakers. The only thing that gives me pause is the frequency response measurements. John Atkinson found he could geta smooth upper midrange/treble repsonse by measuring on the mid-range driver axis, but that also resulted in a lower midrange suckout. He suggested a higher listening axis would fill-in the lower midrange trough, but in turn causing the treble suckout. Weird. After Richard Vandersteen's rebuttal to the measurements from the 2000 review, I'm surprised that Vandersteen did not specify the microphone height (nor did JA ask, apparently).
I wouldn't really care about this (especially because JA measures at 50" and Vandersteen recommends to listen at >8'), but JA also did an in-room 1/6 octave response: the midrange and bass didn't measure very well. I'm not sure what to make of this other than I need to listen for myself.

Thanks, Ecruz. I agree. I've listened a bit to the 3A Sig and I would rank it among the best I've heard (a list that includes the Avalon Eclipse, Thiel 2.4, Revel Studio, and Wilson W/P 7). At that price, the 3A is quite a value. I would have figured out how to pay for a pair by now if I had a dedicated listening room (those large boxes would dominate my living room - my wife already thinks I'm crazy). Again, near 3A sig performance in a smaller package is very appealing . . . One other thought on JA's measurements: I was amazed at the low freq extension, albeit at relatively low levels.

To Stevesanders: I've heard the Ayre AX-7 drive 3A Sigs, which are 'sposed to be a more difficult load than the 2ce Sigs. I thought it sounded great. I didn't crank the volume, but another Vandy owner told me that the AX-7 will drive the the 3As plenty loud albeit with some compression at high SPLs. I have the AX-7e (I consider it the foundation of my system) and am planning to get the 2ce Sig II next year - hey, that's tomorow!!