Vandersteen Model 2CE Speakers

[Cylon]

Hello Audiophiles,

I’m inheriting a system my Dad built over the years. Part of it is 2 Vandersteen Model 2CE speakers we bought in the early 90s. They sound great in the system he built, but they are several states away, so I don’t have the option of testing them out with my system. I’m guessing they won’t voice match my current system, so I’m trying to figure out what to do with the speakers and system as a whole. I prefer to keep them in some capacity for sentimental reasons.

I’m debating adding the speakers to my current surround system, using them separately for 2 channel music in the living room, or setting them up in my bedroom as zone 2. I might also, just keep the inherited system separated altogether and use it nostalgically for analog media.

Part of what I’m not certain of is the sound quality of the Vandersteens vs the MartinLogans I currently have. I’m guessing the amps are of a good quality, suitable to take a load off my AV receiver. Not sure if the Soundcraftsman preamp would be useful, unless I maintain a separate analog system.

Inherited System:
2 Vandersteen Model 2CE
2 B&K Components ST2140 Amplifiers
Soundcraftsman SP4002 Preamp
CD Player, Turntable, Tape Deck, Tuner

Current system:
Receiver: Denon x4400h
Left/Right: MartinLogan 35xt
Center: MartinLogan 50xt
Atmos (front): 2 MartinLogan Motion LX16
Rear Surround: 2 MartinLogan Motion 15
Sub: MartinLogan Dynamo 700

 

[Pogre]

Huh. This is interesting.. You could try and integrate with what you have, but like you said that would render some pieces pretty much useless, and unless you really prefer the Vandersteens not likely to improve much. I think the idea of setting it up in another room separately and keeping it all analog for nostalgic reasons might just be the way to go. Then you'd be using everything and have a connection with your father's memory

The amps would take some of the load off your receiver but won't really have any impact on sound quality unless you're hitting limits now. I think what you have now and what you just inherited are both nice setups.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd also do the separate room setup and just put it to use....

 

[KNOTSCOTT]

Sorry for your loss, but congrats on inheriting a great system. The Vandees were the cat's meow in their era....way, way ahead of their time. Richard Vandersteen was a legend. I'd be surprised if you didn't think they sound pretty amazing. The BK amps were also top performing value amps in high end circles. Was he bi-amping with the two amps? I'm not familiar with the preamp.

At the very least, I'd hook up your Dad's system as a tribute, enjoy it for a while and get familiar with its sound signature, then decide how to implement it depending on your opinion of each of the components.

 

[Pogre]

The Vandees were the cat's meow in their era....way, way ahead of their time. Richard Vandersteen was a legend.

This thread piqued my curiosity enough to do a little dive into the 2CEs and they appear to still be very well respected speakers. Interesting design goals with more focus on quality parts and top notch engineering over aesthetics. The main claim to fame appears to be the minimum baffles and spot on time alignment. I'm curious which model year @Cylon inherited.

 

[KNOTSCOTT]

This thread piqued my curiosity enough to do a little dive into the 2CEs and they appear to still be very well respected speakers. Interesting design goals with more focus on quality parts and top notch engineering over aesthetics. The main claim to fame appears to be the minimum baffles and spot on time alignment. I'm curious which model year @Cylon inherited.

The first time I ever saw and heard a pair of Vandersteens was in a very high end store next to a very expensive pair of Martin Logan Statement electrostatic speakers. They were "at home" next to just about any speaker of the time, and had a huge following.

Edit: As I was contemplating Richard Vandersteen's contributions to the advancement of speaker design and engineering, I was reminded that he started out as a truck driver with no formal education, and built speakers to fund his racing endeavors. The road less traveled, for sure.

 

[Cylon]

This thread piqued my curiosity enough to do a little dive into the 2CEs and they appear to still be very well respected speakers. Interesting design goals with more focus on quality parts and top notch engineering over aesthetics. The main claim to fame appears to be the minimum baffles and spot on time alignment. I'm curious which model year @Cylon inherited.

We bought them new, around 1992 or 1993.

 

[Cylon]

Sorry for your loss, but congrats on inheriting a great system. The Vandees were the cat's meow in their era....way, way ahead of their time. Richard Vandersteen was a legend. I'd be surprised if you didn't think they sound pretty amazing. The BK amps were also top performing value amps in high end circles. Was he bi-amping with the two amps? I'm not familiar with the preamp.

At the very least, I'd hook up your Dad's system as a tribute, enjoy it for a while and get familiar with its sound signature, then decide how to implement it depending on your opinion of each of the components.

Thank you. Yes, they’ve always sounded great! I remember going to a lot of showrooms with my Dad to audition different speakers when I was little. These were our favorites. I remember being so excited when when he set them up.

I don’t know much about wiring. I believe they are bi-amped. Maybe this picture I took a while back will help?

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, those appear to be bi-amped, probably why your dad had the two two-ch amps. Vandersteen is a proponent of such. An article on the subject fwiw https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/the-difference-between-biamping-vs-biwiring

 

[Pandaman617]

I have a pair of 2CE’s. Haven’t used them in years as I bought them for a two channel room that just never happened. They do sound excellent and if you have the time and space for a separate two channel setup I believe you would enjoy it. That being said compared to your existing ML setup the CE’s never sounded better to me than the Motion series but that’s subjective and I was using 5 ML Motion 10 towers at that time, you have higher end ML speakers than I did but by all means for two channel playback I do recall them sounding wonderful. I had them passively bi-amped with a pair of Parasound HCA-1000’s, I had those amps sitting around and I’m honestly not sure if running them in such an arrangement increased the fidelity or output as I wasn’t into REW and fine tuning at that point in time but they certainly were one of the first pairs of speakers where I played a song I was very familiar with and thought “Man this sounds great”

 

[KNOTSCOTT]

Those pots on the back might need a little De-Oxit, or at the very least twist the wipers back and forth several times to clean them up. I rehabbed a pair of Merlin 3B+ from around 1989 last year, and the pots were a bit noisy