Von Schweikert VR-4jr owners, your thoughts?


Hi, I was just wondering if there were any new VR-4jr owners here? And what do you think of them?
Are they worth the asking price... and more?
What are their strengths? Weaknesses?
And what are you driving them with?
Thanks for any input you may have.
Regards,
geoh
geoh
I was told that the JR had a more distant perspective, whereas the 4SE has a more forward sound. Does anyone know if this is true, because some of the comments I'm reading on this site do not seem to indicate the JR is distant. I personally prefer some presence in the midrange, opposed to laidback or recessed.
I had that feeling the first time I heard them. I felt the midrange (voices) were a bit far back in the sound stage. That is the only negative aspect I (IMHO) found in the jnr4's. I have a great midrange speaker at home which is the Harbeth compact 7 and tomorrow I will receive a pair of jnr4 to audition for a coule of days. I'll be able to comment more precisely between the two. Hopefully it is a room factor at the dealer's location. best.
I have the VR 4 Jr for a month now. About 250 hours on them. I don't find the perspective distant. It is definately not in your face though. Imaging and soundstaging are excellent. The midbass resolution is slightly recessed in my opinion. Overall a fine pair of speakers. One plus point is that they play all genres of music well.
I have both the VR-4 Jrs. and VR-4 HSEs in my room at the moment. I haven't done a direct A-B, but the Jrs. don't strike me as having a particularly recessed or distant sound. The HSEs might be a BIT more forward, but I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing or not--depends on one's perspective. I think the Jrs. are better soundstagers than the HSEs, and they seem to have 95% of the slam factor of the larger speakers. All in all, I think the Jrs. are one of the best deals in high-end. There's no way they should be able to deliver the performance they do at the 4k mark, but they do. The HSEs are probably still a little bit better--for 2k more, they should be--but, at least as far as I can tell, the differences are slight at best.
I agree with Hooper. The difference between the 4 and 4 jr are very minor.

The midrange is a bit back on the jrs (when the rear ambiance driver) is used. However, I think it is because the soundstage is deep (past the back wall). In that respect it is how is should be. If the rear ambiance driver is turned off then the soundstage is smaller and the midrange is more present.

So I don't see it as a problem or inacuracy. It is a tweak to customise what you hear.

I still get goose bumbs when I hear a well recorded LP. I didn't expect that for $4k