Hi everyone I am new to the forum and find myself in the (un?)fortunate position of rebuilding my entire home theater/stereo system. I am looking to spend somewhere in the 4k region for main speakers. They will do about 50/50 stereo and home theater duty. I have read alot about the VR4jr and will soon be able to hear them. I have also heard good things, although not as much press, regarding the ushers. I unfortunately have a somewhat small living room in which i will be setting up. The speakers will have to go along the longest wall. 10x16x8tall. I have some lattitude in sellecting acoustic treatment to improve my oddball room. the speakers will have to be placed up against the rear wall and not allowed to be pulled into the room. Has anyone here heard both speakers? Any insight would be great as I haven't heard ny of the usher line. Cheers Sam
Congratulation on you purchase of the VR-4jr. Drive them with tubes and you can have one incredible system. I heard them with Manley mono blocks. The instruments sounded so real it was unbelievable. It actually felt like it was being played life in front of me.
Hi all Thanks for your input. I just purchased the VR4jr's. I could not find the ushers to audition them and I was impressed by the VSR's so i took the plunge. Now i am looking forward to deciding on a good processor and universl player. Cheers! Sam
It is the 6391 I heard and not the 6381. That't because I am located in Singapore. Okay, went down to the dealer and auditioned the 6371 and my opinioned on Ursher has changed. The 6371 is good. Unlike the 6391, the boxy coloration was absent. Quite natural actually and fast. However I felt that the VR-4jr has a better bass extension but you need to add lead shots to get the best sound. Selecting between the VR-4jr and the 6371 can be a tough decision however Usher's much lower price may be a strong factor to consider. Don't know what the price is in the US but it is about $2100 over here. For me if price is not an issue I'll get the VR-4jr.
Although it looks in the pic like they may be straight ahead..they are indeed toed to a point crossed just past the listening position. I have tried various placements with this being the best in my system. Same was true for the 81's..Please dont get me wrong, they are a great speaker.
Now, I also have a completely different system with the 71's than with the 81's which was powered by a Plinius SA250 and ARC LS25, Wadia, and Transparent cables. Of note... I ran them under brake in in conditions to about 350 hours before I ultimately sold them. I may indeed have needed more time on them to fully break in and the boxy, closed in upper mids to ameliorate in quality, perhaps the 81's would do better on my current Stingray, although the specs say not a good match. I also think that the 81's may have been too much speaker for my space, as the bass was too much at times.
Another cavaet for me is that I listen in the near field, about 9ft from the speakers, which may have been too close for the 81's to properly integrate in my room. They actually may do much better from a further distance.The new owner is a friend and he has no problems of boxiness to speak of..so that may tell you that my room and the 81's were just not synergistic. This is just my opinion and experience of course. One thing for sure..they offer tremendous value and quality for the price.
kehut in looking at a picture of your setup i noticed you have the 6371's firing straight ahead. was this the same way you set up the 6381's? as per the distributor the ushers require quite some toe in. did you do any experimenting with toe in? i have the 6381's and i do not have the boxiness that you describe.
I owned the 6381's are they do have a slight boxy coloration which never completely went away with break in. However, I currently have the 6371's and they are worlds better. They integrate and disappear way better than the 81's ever did. A very different animal. I think the disparity of the 81's sound is the 8" drivers inability to completely integrate seamelessly. The 71's have the 2-7" paired together and have no such problem.
Keep in mind that the orig. poster asked about the 71's NOT the 81's as a reference compared to the VR4Jr's.
Agree with Caesar148. Heard both the VR4jr and 6381 extensively when shopping for new speakers. I prefer the VR4jr as the Ushers have a slightly boxy coloration to them especially when pushed.
I have heard the VR-4jr and the Usher 6391 but not the 6371. The 6391 is the bigger brother of the 6371. The VR-4's mid range was very impressive. Very clear and realistic but the bass was a little boomy. This was probably due to the room acoustic. The Usher 6391 was very fast and warm sounding. While it initially impressed me with the dynamics, further listening showed the presence of a coloration that disturbed me. Behind the warm sound was a boxy coloration. Overall it sounded quite unnatural. IMO, choosing between the two is easy, go for the VR-4jr.
Thanks for the input Lowfi! I was just out looking around and found a "cache" of various eggleston speakers including the rosa and stella? ( I hadnt heard of the Stella before). They sounded impressive but i am not sure if they best the VR 4jr or not. Does anyone know if the eggleston speakers are time/phase aligned? They look great so I know the wife will "pass" them. It is so difficult to compare speakers when you can't hear them in the same room or with even remotely similar equipment!Can anyone compare the VR4jr to the eggleston rosa or fontaine I and or II? Can anyone stop me from asking questions?
I have not heard the specific Usher speakers you mention. The Ushers I have heard (929 and 6311), and compared to the VR-4jr and VR-2, I found to be boomier and less defined in the bass. So, if you feel the VR-4jr will be marginal with regard to mid-bass in your room then the Ushers are likely to be worse, in my opinion.
Have you given the VR-2 a try? The VR-2 may be a better fit to your room. How about the Consonance Eric 3? It is a little smaller than the VR-2. I would place the Eric 3 between the VR-2 and VR-4jr in terms of sound quality. I feel the Eric 3 is actually more revealing of detail than the VR-4jr but does not have the ability to bring the musicians in the room quite like the VR-4jr.
Just a note I am not a dealer. Nor am I associated with Consonance or Von Schweikert, other than being very happy with their products that I have purchased and/or auditioned.
I am considering the gallo ref 3's also but I have to wait until I can hear them in a week or two. I have heard the VR4 jrs and they sounded incredible in a larger room, but so so in a smaller venue. I think they will require some room correction/EQ if they will work in my smaller listening room. There seemed to be an over emphasized midbass in the smaller room but flawless smooth musicality if allowed to breathe. I can only get away with a small amout of acoustic treatment so I may need a processor that has room correction. I am now narowed down to the vr4jr's, and a few contenders I have not heard yet, namely the eggleston fontaine II, usher 6371 or 6381 and the gallo ref III. Can anyone compare these 4?
Dali's are another that I would consider. I guess the question now is, if I am going to use a speaker that is mid size/ie big book shelf like the LCR-15, or a smaller floor stander (not as deep as the 4jr), would there be a better speaker in that size range than the VSR line.How do the Dali's sound compared to VSR? Thanks!
OK so after doing some more evaluation, I am thinking the system 12 may be a better idea. The LCR 15s will be small enough that I can move them out when I want to listen and not need a team of mules to do so. I can then re stow them to keep the wife happy. Also I need to ammend the room dimensions to 22x10x8. Anybody had a chance to hear the LCR 15's for music? Thanks for all your help Sam
You need to rethink your priorities. If you are constrained by WAF or other issues, don't waste your money on expensive speakers to position as you describe. Your room is on the small side for floor standing speakers with ample bass extension. Combine that with placing them against the wall and you have a sonic nightmare in the works. You might do better with some very small monitors and a sub, but you will still be compromising performance with your choice of placement and room size.
The Ushers will be best positioned well away from the rear wall, as will the VSA's. You can turn off the rear amience tweeter on the VR4Jr but that will comprimise the design.
Similarly, the Ushers large rear port is not intended to be placed very close to the wall behind them. I would agree with Prpixel in that you may be best off to seek a speaker that is better suited for placement so close to the wall. If you do a search, Im sure this has been covered as to what brands/models are suitable.
The VR4jr's have a rear facing tweeter and placing them up against the wall is going to really compromise them. There are a few companies that make speakers that are ment to be placed against the wall, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I'd recommend you go that route.
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