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Vandersteen 3A Sig, Von Schweikert VR-4 MOD, VR-5

I want to buy new speakers and I have to decide between Vandersteen 3A Sigs (with subs), Von Schweikert VR-5 (with heavy duty mag woofers) and Von Schweikert VR-4 Modified to 5/7 equivalence. Has anyone had experience with these speakers? I listen mostly to classical music and I want the speakers to form the nucleus of a Home Theater someday. I need advice in selecting amongst these speakers. My listening room is approximately 12 x 20 feet. I plan to use a Denon receiver (AVR 5803) and a Denon DVD 9000. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
BTW, I live in a rather isolated part of the country and I am not able to audition these speakers. I have heard each and each sounds great. Cost is not a factor, just aural quality. Thanks for any input.

Cibola03.
cibola03
driver's avatar
driver
750 posts
 
I have a set of regular VR4 Gen III's that I've had for almost a year & I think they are excellent speakers. There have only been a handful of 'philes that have heard my system & they all enjoyed it very much. My room size is similar to yours (21 x 11.5 x 8) & the VR's are 18" from the back wall & 20" from the sides. They image very nicely & I have replaced the stock points with a set of Soler Points & added Herbie's Footer's between the modules. Both of these tweaks help with the placement constraints which helps tighten up the bass & clean up the high freqs.

I'm using an Ayre V-5x for power, so subs not necessary, as the VR's are rated flat to 20 Hz. The bass is very impressive.
socrates
247 posts
 
I've recently played with the 3A sigs and VR4SE on the same day, and, to my ears, it was no contest, the Vons where by a large margin my favorite.

That said, speaker selection is a highly personal experience, if you don't listen with your own ears you'll never know. With a purchase this expensive I would really go out of my way to hear these speakers, even if it means a cheap $200 round trip plane ticket to a dealer or a few hours in the car. FWIW, my local dealer of Vantersteens tells me that he can't sell the 3's, he sets up the 2's with the vandy sub and, after hearing the latter, noone buys the former, nor does he push the 3's as he feels the same, fwiw.
steve440
35 posts
 
Both very good but I chose the Vandy 3A Sigs.
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