Bill,

Just bought a pair of 2CE Sigs last weekend. Tried to love the B&W's for 5 years, but they did not have the full range of sound I was looking for; just not balanced. I think the reason they sound so bright is that there's not the bass response to balance them out. If the speaker only reproduces sound to 45Hz, you just won't be able to hear bass regardless of what cables, etc. you have. Thought about doing a subwoofer to fix this, but didn't want to go that way.

The Vandersteens have low end down around 30Hz (still missing 10 Hz if you ask me) and are incredibly well balanced and transparent. There are adjustments to mid and treble on the back of the speaker. I have not needed them so far, but the speakers are not really broken in yet.

I'm using these with 125 watts of clean power into 8 ohms and some entry level "audiophile" gear. The music sounds so much better than it ever did with the B&W's. It's just right. I haven't played them really loud yet, but I can't imagine they are going to sound bad unless I crank it to the clipping point.

I have a large room (den/kitchen combo) with 9 foot ceilings and they fill the room with detailed sound and warm accurate bass. They remind me of listening to Magnepans or Martin Logans, but with more bass and less transparency. A nice tradeoff if you ask me. Especially for the price. These can be had, including the stands, for a reasonable discount.

Hope you find something you like!