Von Schweikert VR-4.5 vs. VS VR-4 Gen III HSE

I owned the VR4 Silvers when they first came out in 1996. I also had a chance to audition the 4.5 at Holm Audio shortly thereafter. I couldn't hear much of an improvement. Although the room was unfamiliar, the associated electronics were much better than what I was using at home.

Fast forward about 10 years and I bought a pair of Gen III HSEs. From my sonic memory I can say that these are far better in every parameter than what you have. However, while the earlier VR4s sounded very good with tubes, I found I was running out of power with my 100 watt tube amp. That is ultimately one of the reasons I sold them, I didn't want to go amp shopping for a bigger tube amp. And I certainly didn't want to resort to SS.

Bottom line is, if you have the power these are excellent speakers. And I consider them to have better transparency and bass control than the 4.5s.

Shakey

Thank you Shakey and Tvad for your responses. I haven't heard the VR4 Gen III HSE speakers yet, but I've read a lot of positive things about them here on Audiogon. From what you and others have said, they will probably be my next speakers. Unless I can find a great deal on the VR6's (which I heard some years ago and they totally blew me away). At a former list price of $12,000, they are still pretty pricey even used. With my VTL-ST85 running two EL-34's per side, I don't feel (yet) that I need more power. At a setting of 12 noon on my Cary AES DJH preamp, that's about as loud as I play 95% of the time. Once in a while, I might crank it to almost 1PM, but that's been rare. I do notice that the speakers only start to come alive once they have enough "critical power" from the amp. Below a certain threshold, you don't get the magic. But I find this true with all cone driver speakers. It appears from other A'gon posters that Albert's later designs seem to need more power than previous incarnations. I have read many times that the smaller VR4 Jr's need lots of power, compared to my 4.5's.

i had 4jrs and vr2, and now 4hse is the best but needs lot of power , depending on room you may enough for 4jrs , basic problem of upgrading speakers always had to change amps i had 60 watt tube monos not enough on 4jrs

I have had both the 4.5 silvers and the HSE's here in my system for quite a few years, and found the HSE's had tighter, faster and deeper bass. The mids on the HSE's were less colored, and the highs on the HSE's were less edgy. Both require an amp capable of putting out some good current. They are not inefficient, but need an amp that has good control. As you have probably already discovered, placement of the speakers is critical in order to do justice to the their imaging capabilities.