Model 2Ce Signature III

In constant production since 1977 due to unprecedented popular demand, Vandersteen Audio's Model 2 is among the most wildly successful speakers in history. Well over 100,000 pairs of Model 2s have been sold in that span, a striking number of which are still listened to and cherished every day by real-world music lovers who still believe its performance-driven value proposition is as good as it gets for them. Timeless classics like the Model 2 have staying power because the designer stayed true to a vision. For the Model 2 that is sonic "dimensional purity." The price Shown Includes Stands.

Starting at $3,900 / Pair With Stands


Prices shown do not include duty, taxes, or freight

Available Finishes

Click on Finishes to Enlarge

(*) indicates upgrade finishes.

Vandersteen Audio has done its best to photograph these wood finishes on each product page, but please know that while the woods we receive from our vendors are unfailingly high in quality, no two pieces of wood are ever exactly alike. This is dictated by nature. We promise that your speakers will look gorgeous, but not that they will precisely match the photos you see on our website or on our dealers’ in-store demo speakers.

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Welcome to the 8th generation Model 2 - A classic and iconic loudspeaker built continuously since 1977 in the U.S.A.   

Improving a product that has existed since 1977 is no easy task.

When Vandersteen's design team considers revising any model loudspeaker, they must adhere to Richard's mandates that have made Vandersteen a household name amongst audio and music aficionados:

  • Every speaker is time and phase-correct
  • Every speaker features minimum-area baffles for driver mountings that eliminate most cabinet edge and grille diffraction anomalies
  • Every speaker represents our best effort to offer sonically competitive speaker at its price
  • Every speaker provides owners long term reliability Every speaker is 'Made in the USA.'

No speaker better introduces new aficionados to the Vandersteen mandates than the iconic Model 2. As the team thought about how to improve this design again, they knew they had already found a way to potentially enhance the sonic excellence and stay true to the mandates. The Model 3A Signature and Model 1Ci had a cleaner signal path. The external barrier strip connection now connects directly to a re-designed circuit board with upgraded components. By implementing this architecture, the result proved to be the best Model 2 to date.The results are improved clarity and better midrange-timbre-accuracy that now fully realize the advantages of the tri-woven composite midrange. 

They now officially had the 8th version of this iconic speaker. However, the revision could not be complete without looking at the cabinet and the drivers.

The cabinet, or lack of wood veneer or paint to be exact, remains in the new offering, as the cabinet is one of the critical elements of the high sonic value. - To touch this timeless cabinet design would result in a much higher price. Many other designers have wondered, "how does he do it at that price?" and the cabinet plays a large part of that value.

They revisited the drivers, and for the money, this driver combination exceeds expectations, even sharing the midrange of the Treo CT and Quatro CT. Driver design and calibration remain central to being the only time and phase-correct speaker company in the world. The alloy dome tweeter is a dual-chamber design improving range and linearity. It is carefully damped, eliminating the excessive ringing associated with metal dome tweeters. The alloy used for the dome offers superior strength and resistance to break-up. The midrange and woofer use costly cast-metal baskets rather than the more common stamped baskets. The cast-metal patented open baskets' inherent rigidity and superior vibration control, increase cone movement accuracy, and reduce sympathetic resonances for cleaner and more natural sound. The ultra-critical midrange region driver features a tri-woven composite with unique construction and advanced acoustical techniques, significantly reducing internal diffraction. The bass driver employs a filled poly-cone to ensure high stiffness, superior internal dampening, and greater neutrality than metal alloy, woven plastic, or treated paper cones when used in its range. The stiff, low-weight poly-cones resist flexing under all drive conditions allowing lower distortion and increased detail.

Vandersteen does not rely on listening alone to make claims of sonic excellence. Vandersteen Audio is the first loudspeaker manufacturer to use the Gen-Rad 2512 Fast Fourier Transform Computer Analyzer in research and development and remains a leader for interfacing complex loudspeaker parameters and performance computer analysis with practical design and engineering. The Model 2 series III continues Vandesteen's quest to couple proven technology with advanced materials, construction, and design for a speaker system that is always true to both science and music at a value price point.
“Today’s version is a very pure, very transparent, very clear, very precise-sounding speaker. “ Steve Guttenberg, The Audiophiliac. 

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Model 2Ce Signature III Specifications

Tweeter

1” Exclusive Dual-Chamber, Transmission-Line Loaded, Ceramic-Coated Alloy Dome with Ferrofluid Voice-Coil Cooling

Midrange

4.5” Reflection-Free Tri-Woven Composite Cone with Die-Cast Aerodynamic Basket and Magnet System with Ferrofluid Voice-Coil Cooling 

Woofer

8” Mineral-Filled Polycone with Die-Cast Basket, Dual-Layer Voice Coil with Ventilated Aluminum Former, 40 oz. Focused-Gap Magnet Structure 

Active Acoustic Coupler

10” Critically-Damped Long-Fiber Cone, Heavy-Duty 1.5” 4-Layer Voice Coil with Ventilated Aluminum Former, 40 oz. Focused-Gap Magnet Structure

Recommended Amplification

40-160 Watts Into 8 Ohms

Frequency Response

29Hz – 29kHz +/- 3dB

32Hz - 21kHz +/-1.5dB

Sensitivity

 86 dB, 1 meter with 2.83 volt input

Impedance

 7 ohms nominal 4 ohms minimum

Crossovers

 First order/6dB per octave, 80Hz, 600Hz, 5kHz

Input Terminals

 Barrier strips, 7/16" max width

Dimensions (WHD)

 16” x 39.75” x 10.25”

Weight

 60 lbs. Ea. Net

Country of Manufacture

 Made in the USA
  • Jan 17, 2023
    Model 2Ce Signature III

    “Today’s version {of the Model 2} is a very pure, very transparent, very clear, very precise-sounding speaker. “

    Steve Guttenberg

    See Full Review
  • Dec 5, 2018
    Model 2Ce Signature III

    In fact, the Model 2 is the best-selling audiophile loudspeaker of the modern era, with more than 100,000 pairs sold—all of them made in the U.S. That the Model 2 is still enjoying robust sales more than 40 years after its introduction is a testament to the speaker’s fundamental rightness of design and sound quality. The Model 2 is one of the defining classics of American high-end audio.

    Wayne Garcia

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  • Aug 15, 2018
    Model 2Ce Signature III

    "If you are an audio connoisseur, aka audiophile, you will likely have heard of Vandersteen Audio. .Founded by Richard Vandersteen around 40 odd years ago, Vandersteen Audio is on the forefront of ultra-high-end consumer audio products. Vandersteen Audio push the bounds of what’s possible to produce speakers the way they SHOULD sound – as if you are sitting in the recording studio listening to each element being recorded. The company has produced several patented audio technologies which form the signature sound of Vandersteen Audio."

    Matt Hallowes

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  • Jan 16, 2007
    Model 2Ce Signature III

    "Today’s 2Ce Signature II is an unambiguouslyfine loudspeaker, and from what I recall of its forebears, the latest refinements have endowed it with even more openness and clarity ... every time I brought home a new record or remembered an old one, regardless of style, I played it without worry and loved it without measure."
     

    Art Dudley

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  • Dec 1, 2002
    Model 2Ce Signature III

    " ... the Vandersteen 2CE Signature is my idea of hi-fi—it’s a high-performance speaker that might just be the best value in the industry."

    Shane Buettner

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