Wher did the DB99 go ?

the dB99 is no longer in production. i called vsa and spoke with albert directly about this. he stated that people were ordering fewer and fewer and that cost wise it was no longer a good financial decision to keep producing them. glad i picked up my pair when i did as i'm sure you won't be seeing many of them on the used market too often. albert has shown that he supports his products so i have no fear about owning the dB99. hell, he still provides upgrades for speakers made 10 years and more ago.

I agree that these are two different designs that don't sound alike at all. To my ears, the DB-99 was the hands down winner. And personally I can't see that the Sr. and Jr. IIs were upgraded enough to justify the huge price increase.

Think about it this way. When the original VR4 came on the scene it had an introductory price of 3K, going to 3500.00 later on. This was a great speaker for the money, no doubt. So I guess since the VR4 Gen III SE is no longer available we are led to believe the Sr. II is what the original has evolved into? Well there is no way in hell that speaker can warrant costing 70% more than the original design. Yes, it is better, but give me a used pair of VR4s for 1500.00 any day.

Sorry to get off on a rant here, but I am disappointed that the DB-99 is no longer available too. From the short time I spent with them at the dealer last year, that is a speaker I could definitely live with.

Oz

VSA has made some major changes of late.
They completely screwed their SE sales rep.
Then they did some serious slashing of their dealer network.
Model numbers have been changing at a rapid pace too.

Not that the speakers are bad; quite the opposite, they are very good and I hope they will continue being so. The JR and SR models have just been updated. Hopefully they were upgraded instead of just changed.

If you want high eff. speakers I would look into some of the speakers from other manufacturers. Do you care for the Avangard horns? They would probably prove to be every bit as dynamic as the DB99's.

Good luck!

They obviously were'nt selling enough to keep them in the product lineup.
I own a pair and am real glad I do.
Larry

Thanks for the insights. I have been considering the DB99 or ZU Defination I've been leaning towards the Defination because of their return policy but was also hopeful I could get a listen to the DB99 at the up coming RMAF. But now thats not going to be possiable, I have seen the DB99 on the GON but without a listen first I wont buy .

08-24-06: Mystang
Thanks for the insights. I have been considering the DB99 or ZU Defination I've been leaning towards the Defination because of their return policy but was also hopeful I could get a listen to the DB99 at the up coming RMAF. But now thats not going to be possiable, I have seen the DB99 on the GON but without a listen first I wont buy .
Mystang (Threads | Answers)

this is a big reason some of these speakers are gonna have tuff competition, lot of speakers for the money available at the 9 k plus range, and some just have a lot more speaker for the money.. I know the Krell resolution 2's I think is the series are another one priced in this bracket but use a dual 8" pretty standard 3 way, they sound very nice when I heard them at ABT, but at 9500 there is a lot more, those krells should be placed at the 5 k range to compete with the Tyler's, VMPS etc... But they have the big name attached and fetch double the price, I would guess the DB 99 just fell between the cracks and was not in a good price braket to be in right now.

I noticed the other day they were discontinued as well. I am so thoroughly impressed with mine that I find it hard to believe sales slowed down enough to discontinue, but perhaps Undertow is right and the price point was problematic. I bought Tvad's VAC PHI 110/110 recently, and although it is more power than is sensible with the 99's, I have been blown away by how great the combo is. I've been doing a lot of equipment changes recently, and will probably continue trying different gear for a while, but I think the 99's are here to stay.

The DB99 was a fabulous model, and in my mind will never be replaced by the VR4SR. Too bad VS had to discontinue it, as I thought it offered the first taste of what some of the more pricey VS models sounded like, for much more "sane" money. Now you have to go all the way up to the VR5Se to get that, and they are not inexpenive to say the least. Really too bad indeed...

---Dave