For whatever it is worth, my vote is for the Vandersteen. At the price they sell for, they are very difficult to match, much less beat. They are very musical, have excellent tonal balance and great imaging. I should add, that usually you find speakers in this price range "top out" pretty quick as to how far the rest of the equipment can go before you are wasting your money......not so with these. You can spend whatever you can afford, and continue to hear the results on the Vandy's.
Vandersteen 2ce vs. Meadowlark Kestrel
I have narrowed down my speaker choices to these two model as a start in quality speakers. I want a speaker with the 1st order crossover and time coherent design. I live in an apartement right now so which speaker would be a better choice with the following factors considered: 1) can be incorporated into a smaller room apartment sized (difficult setup is a big factor) 2) biggest soundstage, dynamics, imaging and the ability to dissapperar behind the sound 3) which one will be better suited to build a future home theater around (important for my decision!) 4) running with solid state amps 5) will be adding a sub either vandersteen or rel 6) listen to most current music and movie soundtracks (jimmy buffet to van halen suit my taste) Compare the two and opinions if there happens to be another speaker brand that might be ok. The only other model I have thought about even though it is not of the same design is the PSB stratus bronze Thanks, Dillon