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Von Schweikert VR4SR vs VR5SE

Oh-no,another vs thread;-)

Anyway I hope someone can share their experience about any of the speakers even if you haven't heard them all.
Here I had a thread that maybe shows some of my preferances,or maybe not ;-)
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/speakers/messages/25/259278.html

To try and elobarete a little bit more.I'm considering either VR-4SRmkI,mkII or VR-5SE,and I'm very eager to hear what Albert has managed in the VR-5SE,but I'm a little bit worried that the VR5SE might be to forward voiced for my taste.I had the DB99 and I felt it was to "forward" sounding for me in the long run.I also had the VR4genIIIHSE,and I regret I sold that one,but I think its a right step for VSA to go with higher efficiency,and I believe that VR4SRmkII with that midrange should be a clearly better speaker than the 4HSE also in the "always musical" sense.
I bought 2 pair midranges from Audax and one cone looks excactly like the ones used in the VR-4MKI and up to VR11,while the other looks like the one used in VR-4MKII,and to my ears they sound pretty different.I clearly prefer the sort of smoother quality of the cone from the one that looks like the one used in VR-4mkII.The one thats smoother is called PR170M0,and the other one is PR170Z0.The PR170Z0 seems to have an added clarity but to my ears it sounds kind of artificial.Sounds great on good recordings but not so good on worse,and for me a speaker to live with should rather sound a little on the soft side so that even the worst recordings should sound like music,not like "bad sound" as most "high-end" gear tend to reproduce them.I know this is a thin line to balance on and more transparent speakers and gear will always make the differences between recording quality clearer,but I have heard gear that have more real transparency,and the effect when its done right is that the worst recordings actually makes MORE musical sense because one can hear more REAL information from the record.Audio Note seems to be one of the few that manages to pull this off,IMO.
The VR-4HSE also had some of that good quality,while the DB99 seemed to me to be voiced just a tad to forward to my preferences.I even used the nice Consonance Cyber 211 on them.
Its always about voicing since there is no single part in a speaker that is "perfect",so in my view to make a well balanced "musical" speaker one shouldn't exaggerate and voice in, or add, an artificial "clearness".I guess this "clearness" is impressive on mobile-ref-verve show-off recordings,but when one puts on some of the exceptional good MUSIC that has been not so good recorded...then.....well....not so enjoyable any longer....

When I play my drums,bass,guitar or piano I hear real clearness,and the same amount of clearness isn't captured on ANY recording.There is no perfect microphone so allready there are the real clearness lost,so if one try to add the spooky clearness to a speaker playing back a record which doesn't have that clearness,then one exaggerates in my view.
I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about.

I appreciate any feedback and thoughts even if you totally disagree with me ! :-)

Cheers,
Rune
runemigge
gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
'but when one puts on some of the exceptional good MUSIC that has been not so good recorded...then.....well....not so enjoyable any longer....'

Good speakers should purvey sounds that are pleasing to listen to with any cd of any quality.
Otherwise the speaker is not worth Its salt.IMHO.
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,426 posts
 
I believe the Von Schweikert VR4SR Mk2 draw alot of power.

I noticed that when I owned the Von Schweikert VR4SR Mk2
my Pass Labs Amp(x350.5) got very hot and the meter jumped a lot more than it does now with my present speakers.
miguelcarvalho
5 posts
 
Hello!

I Have the Von Schweikert VR5SE.
Initially I have them with ASR Emitter II exclusive but I felt that the emitter II and VR5 didn´t make a good match. So I tried Accustic arts Amp II and AMP I and the sinergy was better to my ears. Also IMHO the VR5 works better with Bi-amplification. Now I Have Accustic arts AMP III and i´m waiting another amp III to biamp them.
In my opinion you should have attention to your living room because they need some space to reproduce at is best!

Another point to consider is that Mr Albert has upgraded the VR5 to anniversary edition with new medium and new crossover design.

Best regards
Miguel
runemigge OP
7 posts
 
Thanks all!
I decided to buy a used pair of VR4Jr mkI for around half of new price.Have not got them yet.

I like high efficiency in a speaker,but efficiency numbers don't tell it all IMO,and it seems to me from the responses I got here that despite the 92 and 94 dB efficiency of VR4SR and VR5SE they still need much power in the bass department to be driven properly.
I've had Klipschhorns with 104dB efficiency and that 15" also seemed to need more power than one should think.....

I liked what I heard from the VR4Jr mkII that I borrowed for a week or so,especially how well it worked with 2 tube push-pull amps I have that produce around 60-70 watts.
And those Jr mkII had only around 3-400 hours on them and the bass cabinet wasn't mass loaded either,so I believe they had more to offer than I heard there.Still they sounded very natural and the bass was the way I like it,articulate,fast yet rich,dynamic,punchy aso.

I'm looking forward to the Jr showing up here! :-)

Cheers
shakeydeal
979 posts
 
You really decided to take several steps backwards by going with the Jrs. I am guessing you paid around 2500.00 for a used pair and in my opinion, there are far better speakers in that price range. But if you are happy, that's all that matters.

Shakey
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