Home theater setup recommendations?

The Vandersteen have a very unique warm/dry type of sound, mostly due to the combination of a poly mid (warm sounding) and the coated metal tweeter (contributing to the dry sound). If you love that sound, that’s great! The Vandersteen 2c looks to have a used value of $500-600 a pair. The 2ce looks to be $1400-1600 a pair. You don’t necessarily have to use a full range speaker for surrounds, but it definitely doesn’t hurt. You could use two of the VCC-1 center channel speakers for surrounds, but they are $850 each, so you are actually doing better by getting a set of 2ce for surrounds. So, four 2ce speakers would be very nice, and since they are perfectly matching, the sound will be very cohesive around the entire room. As long as you get a matching VCC-1 or VCC-2 center, you are good.

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That being said, the 2ce is a rather low efficency speaker -- it’s only 86db efficient. Also, the impedance drops down to 4 ohms in the sub bass area (30-60hz):
https://www.stereophile.com/content/vandersteen-2ce-signature-ii-loudspeaker-measurements
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If you wanted to go the Vandersteen route, I would highly suggest getting a really good external 5-channel amp because the receiver just won’t have the power supply to push these Vandersteen effectively. Essentially, the receiver won’t get the volume and will suffer in bass power/strength (this may cause you to think you need subs).
For these specific speakers, you really want to get a 5-channel amp that has a massive power supply. I would also not recommend a warm sounding amp because you want the most amount of attack/resolution for home theater (and the fact that the Vandy are warm sounding already). The smaller amps (such as 100 x 5) would not be as good, in my opinion.

Looking at new, the Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 3 is probably the best you will do for the money at $1599. Used, there are options, but they can definitely get expensive. The Emotiva Gen 3 uses switching power supply, but it does have enough current to drive your Vandersteen.


There’s a Krell Showcase 5 on audiogon/tmraudio for $1599. It will definitely be fast and resolving, but may not have the power supply to give you good strong bass.  We can discuss more if you want to explore this direction.

"Running two sets of Vandy 2's, L-R-LR-RR might be amazing and I don't think you'd miss a sub-woofer with a setup like that to keep things a bit simpler."

I used to think like this too until I cobbled together my own HT by starting with my dedicated 2-channel rig.  Having gone through this I will say my strong opinion is that two of the most critical pieces for a truly entertaining HT experience are a good subwoofer and center speaker.  I started with front L/R speakers that went down to 28Hz, and when I added a sub it was a total game changer from an enjoyment perspective.  Plus, good subs these days aren't terribly expensive relative to the added fun they bring to the table.

Similarly, skimping on or buying a compromised center speaker will greatly degrade the whole HT experience as about 80% or so of what we hear from movies comes from the center speaker.  The best center speakers I've heard have the tweeter located directly above a dedicated midrange driver flanked by a couple midwoofs.  I think that's because this configuration tends to sound more uniform from left to right across seating positions, and they extend low enough to forcefully and faithfully reproduce lower mids when called for (think Darth Vader's voice as one example).  Can't tell you how many homes I've been to where if they just ponied up an extra $100 or so for their center speaker their HT experience would be at a completely different level.  Penny wise and pound foolish IMO. 

Lastly, if I'm skimping anywhere it'd be for the rear speakers.  And yes, IME at least one pair of rear speakers is absolutely necessary to achieve a real, immersive HT experience.  However, I've heard several excellent home theaters (including my own) that use relatively cheap monitors or in-ceiling speakers, and they do the job just fine IMHO as long as they're set up properly.  Is it better to use better speakers back there?  Sure, but the dollar trade off gets kinda steep as upgrading another component instead often outweighs the benefits of better surrounds.  Again, just my experience. 

Wow, this went longer than I planned.  Sorry.  Anyway, just thought I'd share my experience as a stereo guy who transitioned to HT in case it helps you make some choices and maybe potentially avoid some costly mistakes.  I've got some specific recommendations I'll add later FWIW. 

I know nothing about Home Theater but found this site interesting, especially given your criteria.

https://www.themasterswitch.com/best-51-home-theater-systems

Daughter is not an audiophile. Dad is not a Home Theatre guy.

Daughter and family are starting here:

"These folks think that hanging 4 inch Bose speakers in the corners of the room with a micro, wanna-be sub is good sound"  

We don't know the room size. We don't know the TV / Monitor / Screen setup. We don't know the seating distance. We don't know the typical family size and seating arrangement when watching movies. We don't know if the room is dedicated to HT or will be a multipurpose room. We don't know speaker placement challenges. We don't know if in-wall, on-wall, on-stand or floor-standers are preferred. We don't know what speaker size is acceptable or desired. We don't know if a center-channel can be properly placed and matched for time and phase coherence with the L/R speakers.

Should I go on? Oh yes... we don't know the budget, and  we don't know if movies sound better in multichannel vs 2 channel.

We don't know how much aesthetics factor in? We don't know what level of complexity vis a vis the interface is acceptable. We don't know what platform (OS) the family uses or prefers to use. We don't know how needs for sound beyond the main room factor in.

These are all relevant and just a few of the questions that need to be answered and addressed before anyone giving you multichannel system advice is actually helping you.

And yes, there are many more issues that need to be thought through for proper implementation and end user satisfaction and contentment.

😊  Tread wisely and all the best with your decisions.