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
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