Von Schweikert VR-1; What Amps are People Using?

Well, I don't have a "high current" amp per se, but I have been running my VR-1s with a pair of powerful ASL Hurricane tube amps. My room is 25' x 20' (+/- a few feet), and I can tell you that 1) these little wannabee speakers definately fill the room, and 2) there was no shortage of bass albeit it doesn't go down much below 40 to 50 hz, and there was the bass slam, though not as impactful as with bigger drivers.

The VR-1s stepped in quite nicely while their big brothers (the VR-4 HSE III) have been stored away during home renovation. They made the absense bearable as they are very listenable and enjoyable. They do many things well and are very impressive little guys!

I am thinking of purchasing the VR-1s (4 and a center) as a home theater system (70 music/30 HT). I have a small townhouse with no real big rooms, tho an open floor plan, but I just don't want to have to upgrade soon or wish I had gotten something better. These speakers seem to get universal kudos. The issue: My receiver is a Marantz 5400. Is that like wearing Payless shoes with a Prada purse? A disservice to the VR-1s? Or can it drive them and get the good out of them? Or with an added amp? Or should I look at less expensive speakers or look at a better receiver? Thoughts?

I happened to call Von Schweikert today and ask a similar question, namely what integrated amp for under $1k do you recommend for the VR-1? They suggested a used Jolida SJ 801.

I bought a pair of VR1s for my office system. I paired them with two blasts from the past, Rotel 971 integrated and CD player. With Analysis Plus Oval 9 speaker wires, and Silver Audio Hyacinth IC, they are very dynamic, and sound good even at low volume. IMHO

Can I use the VR-1s as mains and the center and get something smaller/cheaper for the surrounds? Obviously it would not be VS, as they have nothing of the sort. What do you think? Would it mess up the HT and I should just splurge on the 4 VR-1s?

I would say get VR-2s for the front, and eliminate the need for a subwoofer, a LCR15 Center, and VR-1s or LCR15s for the back. You should be pretty happy with this setup.

I use two VR-1's for surrounds and three LCR-15's for the front trio in my HT setup. All are powered by IRD-MB-100 (le Amp) monoblocks.
I ran the VR-1's as L,R fronts for awhile while I was selling off my Paradigm Ref 40's and I personally felt the VR-1's were all over the 40's in every regard.
The MB-100's ? OK, but I am in the amp upgrade mode and have been looking for replacement amps.
But the VSA lineup as it is ..... is truly impressive with the IRD amps. Far from ideal, but the VS VR-1's (and LCR-15's for that matter) are just a solid performer for the $tag.

Are we still talking stereo in here?
I've paired them with a Primare 30.1 amplifier, seems to fit your high current amp's description pretty well. Speaker control is excellent and there is a certain tube like warmth to this amplifier.

As far as bass, the VR-1's at 30 cm (~ 1 feet) from the wall have a very strong bass performance till ~50 hz without any sacrifice to overall speed (both 2D (the speakers can't be pinpointed with eyes closed) and 3D (meters of podium depth) soundstage is expentional). Might be the stands help a bit here (Super dreadnaughts). My room is 4x8 meter. I had to lower the cross-over of the matching VRS-1 sub to 50 hz to avoid any mid-bass booming!

When I had my VR-1s, I wound up running them with a Coda CSi-B integrated. They responded well to the ~330W of the amp, though I suspect it was probably major overkill. I ultimately added a pair of VR-S/1 subs, and that filled in the low end quite nicely in my above-average sized room.