Not Thrilled with Vandersteen 2CE Sigs - where is the first place to work on?

vandersteen's success speaks for itself

older smaller vandy's are 'round' and full sounding speakers but with an open smoother sound, not so much for detail geeks

newer vandy's clearly have more high end energy... some surmise this is a commercial decision to meet modern demand for more perceived 'resolution' - others feel it is due to richard still voicing the speakers himself, his loss of high freq hearing with age has him doing this as a result

i think the op has set up and upstream equipment issues, and also a taste/preference matching issue to boot... what percentage is former vs latter, who knows?

newer vandy's clearly have more high end energy... some surmise this is a commercial decision to meet modern demand for more perceived 'resolution' - others feel it is due to richard still voicing the speakers himself, his loss of high freq hearing with age has him doing this as a result

I doubt this is true. The newest Vandersteen, the Kento, was designed by Richard and his son and gets excellent reviews, and the highly-regarded Quatro and Treo CTs do too. No one accuses these speakers of being too bright or hot, or being badly voiced, that I have seen.

@gjinwi .  I once reviewed a pair of 2Cs and did not like them either, but that may not be your problem, because the APT Holman preamp is notorious for what I will call " long life deterioration".Specifically, the PC boards on which they were built begin to de laminate, as do the leads because of a chemical process in the printed circuit boards used to hold the circuit.  I tried to repair mine, but it soon failed again and I gave it up to another local user of that preamp for parts.  When it was new, it was great, but it is likely not repairable.  Hope this helps.

@patrickdowns 

No one accuses these speakers of being too bright or hot, or being badly voiced, that I have seen.

not what i said

Vandersteen speakers are not woolly or veiled, nor are they hard to drive. I once heard a pair of the model 2(something) in a small room driven by Quicksilver monos which used, if I remember correctly, EL34 PP producing 30/40 watts. The resulting sound was extremely pleasant for an affordable partnership. They are not detail monsters but do entertain for extended listening.

I have heard Vandies many times, one occasion with a pair of huge class A Sugden Masterclass mono amps belting out lovely sound at high level from the model 2 in a large hotel room at the closing of last day at a show. They filled that room beautifully and without any sign of strain.

Take cognisance of the suggestions to improve the source. A computer with Dragonfly output is going to disappoint. Replacing your speakers as some have advised will merely give you a different perspective on the inadequacies of your existing source. The most expensive speakers introduced to your existing kit will simply more accurately reveal your problems.

The Vandies may not be for you but right now IMO you are not in a position to make that call. It's the well known garbage-in-garbage-out story.