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

@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.

@ OP,  just noticed this from Absolute Sound, where your speakers feature :

50 Greatest bargains in high-end audio

 ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEMS

Naim Mu-so 2, $1695
KEF LS50 Wireless, $2199
Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo, $4000

ENTRY LEVEL

PSB Alpha P5 and T20 loudspeakers, $399/$649
Magnepan LRS loudspeaker, $650
NAD C 328 integrated amplifier, $599
Schiit Audio Mani phonostage, $129
AudioQuest DragonFly Red and Cobalt DACs, $199/$299
Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital DAC/preamplifier, $499 p.180 Bluesound Node 2i streaming DAC, $549
Grado Prestige Black2 phono cartridge, $75

A STEP UP

Polk L100 loudspeaker, $1199
Magnepan MG 1.7i loudspeaker, $2295
JL Audio Dominion D108/D110 subwoofers, $900/$1100
Odyssey Khartago stereo power amplifier, $995
Marantz PM7000N integrated amplifier, $999
Parasound Halo JC 3 Jr. phonostage, $1495
Technics SL-1500C-K direct-drive turntable, $1199
Audio Technica VM540ML and VM760SLC phono cartridges, $249/$649

MID-PRICED

Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 loudspeaker, $2500
Monitor Audio Silver 300 loudspeaker, $1999
Vandersteen Audio Model 2Ce Signature III loudspeaker, $3279
REL Acoustics T/7i subwoofer, $999
NAD M10 BluOS streaming amplifier, $2749
Schiit Audio Yggdrasil DAC, $2449
MoFi Electronics UltraDeck+ turntable with UltraTracker cartridge, $1999
Hana SL phono cartridge, $750

Wow - thanks to all for the feedback/input. John Rutan was very kind in reaching out to me - we've burned a couple of hours of his personal time on placement changes based on my not-so-perfect space with SIGNIFICANT improvement.  Kudos to John - super helpful, super nice.  We've talked through many details and following through with a needed repair/upgrade on the Apt, cabling improvements, etc. - going to knock off variables and stay the course for a while.  I highly recommend John - he's really helped me in re-learning this hobby after being away from it for many years.  Thanks to John and everyone that has chimed in - hope you all continue to enjoy the journey.