Anyone here using von Schweikert speakers?

Shadowfax

Shadowfax

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Just curious to know if anyone in this group uses Von Schweikert speakers. I have heard a few models years ago when Quest for Sound was still a dealer and loved them. My current speakers, from the 90s, are actually designed and built by Albert when he worked under the Counterpoint umbrella with Mike Elliot. They were the Counterpoint Clearfield line and mine are the Continental model.

With so many different MFGs of speakers these days I rarely hear VRs mentioned too often.

Any owners or thoughts about them?

Brian
 
I don't know if he is a member here, but "JackD201" is a dealer in Philippines who posts [very] frequently elsewhere, and in truth is a very friendly, candid audiophile first, dealer second. (He gives the impression he does the dealer thing almost as a hobby). He is a Lamm, VS and Trinity digial dealer...and personally has VS 9 and is just upgrading to 11. He is well versed in many, many manufacturers and makes. I am sure he is happy to share with you his thoughts and answer questions you may have.
 
I've always liked his speakers. They always seem to sound pretty good at every show I've heard them at. And he seems to be a great guy.

I don't own them tho.
 
I almost bought a pair of VR 4 mk111 speakers before I settled on the Salons, I heard them at Sounds of Excellence in Calif.,driven by an all Pass Labs setup.
They were amazing !!
 
I've owned VR4 MK3's and VR5 Anniversaries. I feel there are far better speakers to be had. Most drivers are "stock" Seas and ScanSpeak that you can buy from Madisoundspeakerstore.com and build yourself if inclined. Very difficult for service with almost no dealer network. Shipping can be very expensive.
 
Penthouse-D said:
I've owned VR4 MK3's and VR5 Anniversaries. I feel there are far better speakers to be had. Most drivers are "stock" Seas and ScanSpeak that you can buy from Madisoundspeakerstore.com and build yourself if inclined. Very difficult for service with almost no dealer network. Shipping can be very expensive.
Click to expand...

That's the reason I didn't but them, but they still sounded really good !
 
LL21 said:
I don't know if he is a member here, but "JackD201" is a dealer in Philippines who posts [very] frequently elsewhere, and in truth is a very friendly, candid audiophile first, dealer second. (He gives the impression he does the dealer thing almost as a hobby). He is a Lamm, VS and Trinity digial dealer...and personally has VS 9 and is just upgrading to 11. He is well versed in many, many manufacturers and makes. I am sure he is happy to share with you his thoughts and answer questions you may have.
Click to expand...

Jack's a good friend of mine and i am of the opinion that his Techdas/Lamm/VR 9 mk 2 system in his customized room is one of the best I've heard, period.
 
I owned the VS VR4 SR's for many years and upgraded to the VR5 anniversary MK2's about a year ago. I find them excellent and the company has been stellar in many interactions over the years with terrific service, problem solving when it was not even their speakers that were the problem, many talks with Albert where he seems to have all the time in the world to give you personal attention. Albert is a genuine music lover and one of the most knowledgeable designers in the business. I am new to this forum tonight but will find my way around and hopefully post a review of the Anniversaries if I can figure out how.
 
Welcome all and thanks for the replies. I was just curious as to why we don't hear much about VRs on many of these forums. Although 20 years old or so, my early models still sound quite nice.
 
Shadowfax, The very early VR4's were great. Priced right and sounded very good for the $$$. Hard to justify $28K for new Annies's that are using basically the same 20 year old technology. You can buy Magico S5's and many other speakers for the same $$$. The new VR44 Active was well reviewed recently and the reviewer supposedly bought the pair her reviewed! Probably for $500 LOL!!!!
 
Penthouse - The Anniversary MK2's use a new cabinet (compared to the early VR4's - taken from the VR4SR's) that is now lined with marble, then a special layer of polymer, then High Density MDF, then the veneer, all designed and proven in computer studies to cancel vibration when used together in this manner and supposedly resulting in less audible vibration than the Magico and Wilson designs, proven by occiloscope readings. The wiring is state of the Adelpi throughout, binding posts are the top of the line WBT platinum, the crossovers are the latest design and electronic parts are new and excellent, and the drivers are of some of the best of new technology. Therefore, I think your description "the same 20 year old technology" is misleading. Greg Weaver and Martin Colloms both praise the speaker in their reviews, as shooting well above price point and competing with current state of the art, and I think may have kept the review pairs as their new reference as well:)
 
gammajo said:
Penthouse - The Anniversary MK2's use a new cabinet (compared to the early VR4's - taken from the VR4SR's) that is now lined with marble, then a special layer of polymer, then High Density MDF, then the veneer, all designed and proven in computer studies to cancel vibration when used together in this manner and supposedly resulting in less audible vibration than the Magico and Wilson designs, proven by occiloscope readings. The wiring is state of the Adelpi throughout, binding posts are the top of the line WBT platinum, the crossovers are the latest design and electronic parts are new and excellent, and the drivers are of some of the best of new technology. Therefore, I think your description "the same 20 year old technology" is misleading. Greg Weaver and Martin Colloms both praise the speaker in their reviews, as shooting well above price point and competing with current state of the art, and I think may have kept the review pairs as their new reference as well:)
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..I don't intend to start a war here but penthouse has had an axe to grind with VSA for years posting negative VSA comments on many forums. IMO his commentary regarding all things VSA should be taken with a large grain of salt..
 
es347 said:
..I don't intend to start a war here but penthouse has had an axe to grind with VSA for years posting negative VSA comments on many forums. IMO his commentary regarding all things VSA should be taken with a large grain of salt..
Click to expand...

That's good, cause we don't allow wars here !

As for VA speakers, I auditioned a pair out in California with an all Pass Labs setup and absolutely loved them.
 
Thanks for the complements Jerry (dafos) :)

Just a short story. A long tome ago Albert and I had a bit of a rough patch because of differences in opinion with regards to channel distribution. So I flew to CES to see what else was out there. We ended up meeting up eventually and ironed out our differences. A good thing too because I didn't find anything that I felt compared as far as my sonic priorities go that at least offered usability over as broad a power range of amplification. I've since been a part of the Beta team and our inputs on matters of utility have resulted in new lines and models.

I like to kid Albert that he is one heck of a speaker designer but not a very good businessman. LOL. It is true though his speakers are definitely competitive but his marketing, well…..

I guess that's just the way it is. VS owners can be quite rabid but for the most part we are pretty quite as a whole. The speakers have a dispersion pattern that is different from most and thus the speakers normally don't perform their best when plunked down where your old speakers were or when using setup techniques best for say, first over crossovers. While a lot of toe in is considered standard for a lot of makes, it is not the case with VS which requires very little, only to the extent of focusing mid-bass energy and not the mids and highs. This is a bit of a challenge because some visual habits are very hard to break.

If you go on AC you will find that almost all owners have their speakers facing almost straight forward. I can only surmise that many have been disappointed with the sound because the speakers were not set up the way they should have even if set up procedure is discussed extensively in the manual.
 
My local VS dealer dropped the line a few years ago before I could ever demo any of the newer speakers. Nobody else local carries them and I was told because they went to some type of direct sales.

I guess my old prototypes have many similar characteristics since they also sound better without a bunch of toe in.

I used to be a Bass Head and never realized what good midrange was until I got these Clearfield speakers.
 
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