Vandersteen 2Ce Signature vs 3A

Landru64 - I moved from 2ce sig powered with VTL MB 125 with 2Wq subs to 3A sig powered with the VTLs and 2wq subs. The 2ce sigs sounded great with the 125 watt vtls but the 3A sigs were awful. No dynamics. Its strange because the 3As are more efficient. In my opinion and experience the 3A sigs need a lot of power and current to sound great. I am now running them with parasound JC 1s with excellent results. I personally think they need to be played at about 80 DB or more to sound their best. BTW my room is 13x35x8. The 3As may work better with lower power in a smaller room. My room is the smallest Ive heard them in. Hope this helps.

braro-
i got the 3a's home-- got a deal i couldn't refuse on them. still have my 2ce's. with the BEL, the 3a sigs are just ok, but the slam is missing. a lot more resolution in the mids and top with that same vandersteen musicality. as you suggest, dynamics aren't terrific. i'm a professional musician and i know what dynamics are ;)

i tried borrowing some biwire cable that is slightly inferior to my cable, but that didn't 'fix' it. my dealer friend who carries this stuff thinks that the one BEL just isn't quite enough. it isn't clipping. but perhaps, it is suggested, it just isn't CONTROLLING. so i'm considering a search for a second BEL1001 mkIII. or else i'll go back to the 2ce's. ignorance is bliss ;). thanks to everyone else (mikej) for input and help! any other suggestions are appreciated!

I got 2CE Sig II now, if I upgrade to 3A Sig, will I notice the difference since they both uses the same tweeter and midrange?

The newer 2Ce Sig 2's have the same mid/tweeter as the 3A Sig and model 5's in a smaller package. Prices on these models just increased. You could try the 2WQ sub but the newer 2's have decent bass.

It's a catch 22 question. You will also need a larger amp
for the model 3's. I don't think you can beat the overall
value of the model 2Ce Sig 2's. Spending another $2100.+ not including tax and selling your 2Ce's at a loss or trade in doesn't add up to me. Of course you could call Richard Vandersteen and get his advice...

Well, as I have learned recently, I've asked Richard Vandersteen if they made any changes on the 2CE Sig II since they started the production, and he said "absolutely" but didn't change the model name and this goes the same for for the 3A Sig. So, what he was saying is that the older 2CE Sig II is not the same as the 2CE Sig II NOW. I just thought I share this info with you.