I think some cables are just a little too expensive.

Other than the big problem you had ordering the VR11s, would you still consider the Ultra 9 or 11 if you didn’t have your Evolution MM 7s?

absolutely; the VR11 Ultra is the only dynamic cone speaker besides my MM7’s with similar mid bass driver surface. which is a huge issue in ease and transparency. i've heard the VR11 Ultra's and VR9 Ultra's at shows and loved both of them, my only issue is both are silly expensive. my MM7's are bargains in comparison and have equal at least performance.

and the Ultra series now uses ceramic mids and woofers like my MM7’s.

i did like the VR9SE Mk2’s, but not as much as i liked the MM3’s.....or the MM3 Exact’s.

you can’t go wrong with Von Schweikert’s or Evolution Acoustics.

in 2005 i purchased a set of Von Schweikert VR9SE speakers, which could be bi-amped. so i used 2 stereo darTZeel NHB-108 amplifiers and used 2 sets of $33k Transparent Opus MM speaker cables.......$66k list price. i did not pay full retail, but a fair portion of that number i admit. i did trade up with some other Transparent cables to acquire the 2nd pair.

it did sound awesome. here is a review i wrote about that experience.

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue26/lavigne_vr9.htm

it’s the only ’review’ i ever wrote and i have no illusions i did a particularly good job at it. there is a good reason i stopped there,

shortly after i wrote that article, a friend in HK wanted to buy the VR9SE’s, so i sold them and one of the sets of Transparent Opus speaker cables. but it was fun to listen to that system while i had it.

and if you have never listened to the very top level of cables, you really have no idea what can be done.

my system now is much, much better than then. and i have not used really expensive speaker cables for a number of years. i am about to spend a large sum of money on a phono cable but don’t yet have it......so can’t really talk about it yet.

i don’t view expensive cables as necessary for a top level system; but i don’t have any philosophical conflict with the idea of expensive cables to reach a particular sonic goal. it’s just a tool to achieve a level of performance. if it has something unique about it to get you where you want to go, and you can afford it, then go for it.

if owning expensive cables is the goal, i can relate to the view that that is a bit much. but the world is full of vanity, and few are immune from it. so don’t get your panties in a bunch about it.

and if we have to be hair-shirt ultra politically correct here on Audiogon......really?

After you sold you VR9SEs, didn’t you replace them with VR55s or the Ultra 9s? I intend to purchase the VR9SE MkIIs. I have a superb engineered listening room but I don’t want to buy larger tube amps so I decided against the much less efficient VR55s. I figure that the adjust-ability will make up for the new technology of the VR55s (the Ultra 9s are out of my price league).

@fleschler

my Von Schweikert story has a few twists and turns, a few i’ll keep to myself.

obviously i owned VR9SE’s in 2005-2006 until a friend (from Hong Kong) made me an offer to buy them i could not refuse. so what i did was try to purchase VR11SE’s. at first i was going to buy a set of VR11SE demo’s, but it turned out they were already sold. so i ordered a new set to be built. this was summer of 2006. Von Schweikert then sent me a set of VR7SE’s to use until my VR11SE’s showed up.

5 months later my VR11SE’s had not yet even been started, i had no idea what was going on, so i decided to buy a set of speakers from a new company, Evolution Acoustics. i bought the 2nd set of MM3’s to be produced. i was still waiting for my VR11SE’s to show up thinking when i got those i would choose which speakers to keep. i then had the MM3’s, the VR7SE’s in my garage crated up, and the VR11SE’s still on order.

turned out there was a dispute between my dealer and Von Schweikert which was causing the delay in starting my VR11SE’s. and eventually by mutual agreement the order was cancelled.....but not because i did not want those speakers. a few years later there was a legal settlement involved which i’m not getting into.

so i did not leave Von Schweikert, Von Schweikert left me! and i still love those speakers to this day.

btw; the ’Ultra’ versions of the Von Schweikert speakers did not appear until 5-6 years ago.....2014-2015; which was 8 years after my experience. when i was involved it was just ’SE’.

and.......my Evolution Acoustics MM3's and now my MM7's were designed by Kevin Malmgren, who also happened to be the designer of the VR9SE and VR11SE while he worked for Von Schweikert.....prior to moving over to Evolution.