  The unprecedented range of second-generation gravitational-wave (GW)
observatories calls for refining the predictions of potential sources and
detection rates. The coalescence of double compact objects (DCOs)---i.e.,
neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS), black hole-neutron star (BH-NS), and black
hole-black hole (BH-BH) binary systems---is the most promising source of GWs
for these detectors. We compute detection rates of coalescing DCOs in
second-generation GW detectors using the latest models for their cosmological
evolution, and implementing inspiral-merger-ringdown (IMR) gravitational
waveform models in our signal-to-noise ratio calculations. We find that: (1)
the inclusion of the merger/ringdown portion of the signal does not
significantly affect rates for NS-NS and BH-NS systems, but it boosts rates by
a factor $\sim 1.5$ for BH-BH systems; (2) in almost all of our models BH-BH
systems yield by far the largest rates, followed by NS-NS and BH-NS systems,
respectively, and (3) a majority of the detectable BH-BH systems were formed in
the early Universe in low-metallicity environments. We make predictions for the
distributions of detected binaries and discuss what the first GW detections
will teach us about the astrophysics underlying binary formation and evolution.
