Albert Von Schweikert Has Passed Away

I feel 'uncomfortable' judging the man by his work; nevertheless, I have never been 'floored' as significantly as the first time I heard his VR4's in a high-end audio shop in Houston, about 30 years ago...

Condolences to the Von Schweikert family. 

Stereophile ran an exceptional review of the Eggleston Andra loudspeaker,, and I was able to buy a demo pair locally after auditioning them myself. They sounded wonderful - the only term I can use to describe their lifelike "holistic" presentation. I was told Albert designed the crossovers for them. Later on someone on Audiogon was selling a pair of VR-9's, but I was very hesitant to give up what I had. The seller insisted I would lose nothing of the realism and ease which the Egg's were known for, but with a greater degree of definition, and several adjustments on the back to modify bass and treble output.. Another Audiogon member raved over the 9's as well, and I called him to discuss what I should do. After deliberating myself into a migraine I decided to go ahead and sell my beloved Andra's for something "even better". 
What they say about Albert's speakers are mostly true- musical (if not the most aesthetically appealing when it comes to the 9's Darth Vader look),
and easy to enjoy right out of the (3) crates. I even had the 9's upgraded with new components and cabinet a few years back, and Albert loved to talk audio with me and answer all my questions. A very friendly guy with a great track record and little regard for how much money I made or any of that stuff.  He lived a good life and I can vouch for his love of music.
Plus- you can buy his newest line of speakers (which are costly), but you also can't go wrong with a pair of his older speakers. 

Yes really marvelous sounding, one of the best I ever heard. RIP.

I started my audiophile life with a pair of Quad ESL 63s and later added Gradient Subwoofers. Though I loved the transparency ultimately I began to miss the punch and presence of dynamic speakers. But anyone starting with Quads is then cursed by their quality and goes on to search for box speakers that can get as close to "Quads without the failings" as possible.


When I encountered the Von Schweikert VR line, which was garnering raves in the late 90’s, I found that speaker (for the most part). I ended up with the VR4 Gen II speakers. As boxless and open as any dynamic speaker I’d heard, astounding 3 dimensionality, yet they had that BIG midrange sound of the Quads, and went down almost to 20 Hz. I had the caps custom stained to match the room. I actually visited the VR factory at the time and met Albert who gave me a tour and a chat. Very nice guy.


I’ve always admired him as a speaker designer, but sadly didn’t have the opportunity to keep up on his later speakers in terms of hearing them. My local dealer at one point stopped selling VR (maybe it was after the flood).