Have you seen the VR9SE Review?

I thought the most interesting thing about the piece was that it got the context right. Mike didn't pay $75K, drop the speaker into his system, and pass judgement. Reading the article, you can appreciate that the particular choice of hardware was a relatively small piece of his puzzle. That certainly mirrors my own experience.

Thanks for the effort Mike.

best regards,
Marty

PS That is one great looking listening room.

Rx8man, I have heard the VR-5SE and VR7 sub together.Amazing! I believe VSA will offer the ribbon tweeter with the 5SE.There are numerous adjustments that can be made to the system-hope someone has a good frame of reference.

Mike,

In the review you have placed alot of emphasis on how utilizing the VR9 bass/tweater EQ improved integration into your listening room. If you had chosen a speaker that didnt have built in EQ do you think you would have been able to get satisfactory results ?
Many statement speakers do not offer EQ, would you recommend using standalone EQ (for example the PARC)for improved speaker/room integration?

THX Rum

Great review of an interesting audiophile journey. Many thanks for sharing it with us.

Rum, first thanks, i'm happy you enjoyed my musings. i do know you seriously considered the VR9's and i wish i had had a better handle on them back then to relate.

to be clear; i don't view the adjustments that are provided with the VR9 as an equalizer, although maybe in a strict sense any gain adjustment on a driver can be viewed as a sort of equalizer. there are gain adjustments on 4 drivers; the three tweeters and the subwoofer. none of those gain adjustments changes the slope of the crossover or the frequency. there is the adjustable crossover on the subwoofer which allows the sub to crossover anyplace from 50hz to 100hz (my article said it crossed over at 80hz which i have realized was wrong). i don't know if the crossover slope changes as this crossover is adjusted; but i doubt it.

also understand that my room presents big challenge/opportunity due to the extensive bass trapping and very reflective but diffusive surfaces including the hardwood floor. most speakers are not designed for a room like mine as far as the retention of high frequency energy. the adjustability allowed the speaker to project a maximum of energy without overloading.

in any case; it would be difficult to say whether a speaker with a non-adjustable crossover between the lowest bass driver and the next driver up (woofer or mid-range) could be as 'perfectly' tuned for my room.....but i seriously doubt it. i also doubt whether other non-adjustable speakers could have the bass integrate so perfectly. or whether the tweeters could be made to sound so natural and yet so extended. or speakers without an adjustable rear-firing tweeter could get the bed of air the music has just 'right'.

and practically speaking; the fact that things can be continuously adjusted 'on the fly' allows much more incisive adjustments to be done compared to other adjustable speakers that may require a diferent resistor or other less user friendly adjustment scheme. OTOH it does make the process more 'work' and less simple.

there are other great speakers that have adjustments; and it's possible that you may find the perfect speaker for a room by luck. i have not heard any speaker/room work together like i am now hearing.

EQ or a PARC can be the right thing for some rooms; but that is a band-aid to other issues that is a compromise which exacts a price if SOTA is your goal. it would not be my choice of solutions......and at the risk of starting a 'brawl' any digital EQ considerations are really not an option if ultimate resolution and naturalness in a system is important (that is essential for me).