There are as good as the previous poster mentioned. I have the SIG ll. Open, musical and sound very good that the 1.5 to 2k price point. Stands are imperative and good biwire cables are a must. I have anaysis plus II.

I have Vandersteen 2C and 2CE speakers and I wish I could afford the Signature II. The Model 2 speakers are incredibly good and the Sig IIs are legendary as one of the best products for the price in high-end audio. My 2C and 2CE sound fantastic with a high-end amp and create an amazing soundstage.

A few things to know about them.

1. They have to be off the floor or tilted slightly upward so that the time and phase integrity are optimal for the height of the listener's head. The Sig IIs have stands that screw into the bottom of the speaker. The Sig II stands show up on eBay once in a while. Other Model 2s have different stands.

2. They need to be bi-wired (not bi-amped) with high-quality cable. Don't use single cables and jumpers. Richard Vandersteen strongly advocates bi-wiring for his speakers:

"The effects of bi-wiring are not subtle. The improvements are large enough that a bi-wire set of moderately priced cable will usually sound better than a single run of far more expensive cable... Some of the benefits of bi-wiring seem to come from the physical separation of the high current bass and low current midrange/tweeter wires."

The manual, which can be read on vandersteen.com, contains much more information about bi-wiring and configuration.

3. The "socks" are difficult to remove and replace. They're stapled and glued to the top and bottom plates. The factory will do it for you but shipping them to Hanford, CA may be too costly.

4. You don't want these if you have a cat. They're the most attractive scratching posts you'll ever see.

5. The older Model 2s have foam surrounds that may need to be replaced, depending on the environment in which they've been used. (My 2Cs have the original foam surrounds and still sound great.) Vandersteen switched from foam surrounds to rubber in the 2Ci and all subsequent Model 2s, including the 2CE.

6. You can send technical questions directly to Richard Vandersteen. This is incredibly rare in the audio industry.

If I ever hit the lottery, the first thing I'll get is a pair of the top of the line Vandersteens (currently the Model 7). I've never heard them but the reviews are convincing enough.