Vandersteen 2Ce Signature vs 3A

The 3's might be better, but, IMHO the 2's are a beter value.

With all due respect I have to disagree with "almost any size room will work for the 2s." The 2's can be very sensitive to rooms and placement. For example, for many years Sound By Singer in NYC demoed the 2's in a tiny room. Just plain awfull. Yet in an appropriate room, properly placed, they just might be the best speaker value available, bar none.

I don't know how Vandersteen suggests measuring listening position from the speaker. Dunlavy and Thiel suggest measuring directly from listening position to the the center of the woofer (though their phiolosphies part ways in other regards). I think Green Mountain suggests measuring from the listening position to the the center of the distance between speakers "equi T". If Vandersteen's suggestion is similar Dunlavy and Thiel, your Vandersteens should fit in comfortably. If Vandersteen's suggestion is like the "equit T" things might get a bit tight. Having heard many of them, in many different situations, I personally find Vandersteens to be very sensitive to rooms. I don't know if there is any correlation, but, since Thiel followed Vandersteens lead in using passive radiators, they too now seem to be garnering this reputation. This was not as much of an issue previously with Thiels (though associated gear, especially amplification has always been a concern). All in all I think you'll be OK. I strongly suggest you give Vanersteen a call. Richard Vandersteen has always been a straight shooter.

We have discussed your room's ability to allow for appropriate speaker placement in the room and listenig postion for proper driver integration. We have not discussed the issue of the size of your rooms ability to accomodate bass frequencies. While the 2's have almost the same bass extension as the 3's, that little extra bass the 3's have may be pushing the limits of what your room can handle.

Bi-wire them. I'm not sure I buy into the reasoning, but with Vandies it sure does seem to help. BTW, seperate runs seem the best way to to appreciate the benefits of bi-wiring.