AZ Satori vs. Audience AU24

Thanks for all your responses....great information! It looks like I'll try the AU24 cables against the Satori. I'll have to stick to a single run plus a 1m jumper to use with the VR-4s vs the shotgun config of the Satori.

Bigshutterbug - Which tube amp are you running with the VR-4s?

Jayctoy - do you remember which VTL monos they were?

Thanks again all!!!

1markr, how do you like the vr4 genIII se's? I hear great things about these speakers? Any truth to that?

Also, I don't think you need to feel that you are compromising in the least by not running full bi-wires. The single runs with jumpers should work just fine.

BTW, audience-av.com has a white paper of sorts describing their take on bi-wiring. Perhaps reading this would make you feel more comfortable with single runs.

-IMO

Stehno, I love my Vr4 III SEs! I think they're great. However, I'm not going to tell you that they sound like $20k speakers, because 1) I don't know what $20k speakers sound like and 2) from what I've heard, not all the megabuck speakers sound that great. I also won't tell you that these are the best speakers ever made, but these are the best speakers that have graced my family room.

Anyways, the VR4s have all the attributes that I look for in speakers (in order of personal preferences):
- Very natural sounding midrange, as well as both frequency extremes, in other words the speakers are well balanced and do the human voice justice. Instruments, whether, drums, trumpets, cymbals, etc. all have a naturalness to them that is quite surreal.
- The speaker is quick and dynamic, and the bass is tight and has a good "feel" (slam).
- Soundstage is very detailed and wide, and the "sweet spot" is wider than your usual speaker. I don't quite get that "holographic" imaging like some people describe, but that's mostly due to room issues.

On top of these positives, I do not like the way they look. The finish is subpar, as I was used to looking at Legacy Focus speakers which had one heck of a beautiful furniture finish. I don't care for the "sock" that wraps the speakers. And I don't know of an easy way to get to the drivers.

But hey, I paid for the sound, which far outweighs the negatives above. Hope this helps.

1markr:
I am currently running a VAC 30/30 Mk. V Signature amp on the HSE's with great results in my small room. I have also tried the Spectron Musician II recently on them, and found it to be a great match for them if I had a larger room and a great tube pre-amp as well. The bass energy of the powerful Musician II was a bit too much for the room, but reveals what these speakers are truly capable of as far as overall detail and serious deep bass energy.

1markr:
I agree fully with your comments on the speakers, and have compared them to speakers up to only $10k here at home, and will say that they bettered some recent top contenders in that range. They are not very attractive, but I would not call them "ugly" either. Just not beautiful to look at...
I asked Albert at V.R. about the looks, and he had to do that in order to cut production costs to keep them at that price point. After hearing what they are capable of, I would have to say I would have been happy to pay an extra grand or two to finish them in something more attractive, but sonically speaking, they ARE a thing of beauty for sure!
I just close my eyes or listen in the dark, and feel like I spent the $10k plus with the sound I am getting! :]