|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
64.12.116.141
In Reply to: RE: Von Schweikerts higher models on "bad recordings" ..... ? posted by Rune on November 25, 2007 at 05:42:24
FWIW, I’ve heard or owned most of the models in the VS line. I still have a pair of VR-4 Gen III HSEs in my second system, and used to have VR-9s in my main rig. (I sold the 9s when I became ill and needed the cash for medical bills.)
Since you’re pretty familiar with the 4-series sound, I’ll limit my thoughts to the VR-9. Even in my somewhat compromised room, it threw a very believable stage and was dynamic as hell. Resolution and transparency weren’t the best I’d ever heard at that price point, but still pretty top-rank. The bass, of course, was outta this world in terms of gale-force power, but also very quick and textured.
I wouldn’t characterize the sound as particularly “hi-fi.” It certainly didn’t gloss over bad recordings, but I didn’t consider it an unrelenting microscope, either. It possessed the rare ability to bring out the inherent musicality in a recording without dissecting it to pieces.
Was it perfect? No. With all those drivers, I noticed some loss of coherency. The paint finish was quite disappointing for a speaker in that price league. And, as I said, I thought transparency could be better for what it cost. But at the time, it was a viable option, and I’m glad I got the chance to own a pair.
The VR-5 is an excellent speaker—my friend owns them—and if you like the Von Schweikert sound, they get you reasonably close to the 9 for a lot less money. Hope this was of some help. Good luck.
Follow Ups:
Thanks alot for sharing Quint! Highly appreciate it!
It was the 4genIII HSE that I had as well,and I have good memories of that speaker!
What would be very interesting for me is if you try to give a description of differences between the 4IIIHSE and VR9,and especially which one you think is most enjoyable musically with "harsh" and "bad recordings" ?
Just a little step aside and some of my thoughts around hifi in general.I write bad with the "" because nobody knows how records REALLY should sound unless they heard it on perfect equipment,and since that doesn't exsist......? ....
Today one can take a Deep Purple record from 70s and put it on a Wadia/Krell/Wilson (just to take some examples;-) ) and it usually doesn't sound to joyful and we would say the recording is flawed and "sound bad".Take the same recording on a good 70s hifi set-up,and the boys can play so that one have to take down the air-guitar and boogie along,and that would mean the record is good! :-) . It isn't that one set-up is perfect and the other is not.The "high-end" defender would maybe say that 70s sound were very coloured and we have moved forward.OK,I agree some things have moved forward,but far from everything.Ask the best sound engineers thats been around for awhile whats consider some of the best microphones .What era where those made.Almost everybody that has heard good NOS tubes consider them clearly more clean and natural sounding than newer productions.Some of the most natural sounding recordings ever made were made in the 50s-60s.Listen to the midrange in a set-up with the best cinema speakers from the 30s with a simple SET amp,NO WAY a modern "high-end" set-up with transistor amps sound more real than that.........
Look at what for example Audio Note does in their best equipment,the amps are in most ways copies of the 30-40s design......
I don't mean that everything was better before,but certainly somethings were,IMHO.
Back to you Quint;-)
Another thing since you know the VR5( SE ? ),do you feel the bass is easier to drive in that one than the 4IIIHSE?
Coherency is also an area I consider extremely important for naturalness.Do you feel the VR4 or VR5 sounds more coherent than the VR9 did?
Thanks and good luck to you as well! I wish you good health!
Cheers,
Rune
Hi, Rune:
I think the main difference between the VR-4 HSE and VR-9 is that of scale. The 9 simply sounds a lot bigger and more authoritative—which it should, given its significantly larger size and cost. I also think that the 4 HSE is more “forgiving” of imperfect recordings (which most are, of course). They’re not as transparent as the 9s, and as a result don’t shine a 1,000W bulb on a bad recording. So, I would say this: IMO, the 9 is more accurate, the 4 HSE more tolerant of recording flaws (though not overly so).
Unfortunately, I haven’t heard the VR-5SE in my system, but my friend is driving his with a 100W integrated, and the bass seems pretty tight and quick. I’m driving my HSEs with a 250W Dussun integrated, and the speaker seems to like the extra juice. That’s been my experience with VS speakers in general. Even my super-efficient VR-9s responded very well to going from biamped 100W DartZeels to 350W Aria monoblocks.
Let me know if I can be of any further help. And thanks for the well wishes!
I can relate to that they seem to be pretty power hungry despite their high-efficiency if they are like the DB99.The Audio Note Es I have are around 95-96db but they can go louder,cleaner and punchier than the DB99(98-99db) could with the same small SET amps.
The bass of VR4 is maybe the coolest bass I've ever heard from a hifi speaker when they get enough power and enough room around them to breath properly,otherwise it has a tendency to overpower rooms and sounding kind of wooly and slow.But at its best its very tuneful,with definition,punch,transparency yet a kind of warmth in a way I rarely hear in modern speakers.Its more like the way a Altec 416 works, open,warm and high definition bass in the Altec 825/828,but the VR4 bass also has real earthquake bass that the Altecs can't touch!
The Audio Note alnico woofer is maybe even cooler in the Es IN CORNERS,especially on low volumes,but when it starts to get really loud its hard for a driver that should deliver the bass as well as up to around 2.2kHz to do both clean mids and bass,but I'd say that even when played loud they do an extraordinay good job.
The thing is I want to be able to play even louder than this at times! and I know VS can do that in a way I like.
I guess you have heard Audio Note gear,but if you haven't you really should check out their speakers if you have 2 corners and a small to medium room.The kit 03 is in my opinion very much speaker for the money.Also their DACs are fantastic musical in my view,and the DAC kit 1.1 is a little giant if one like to build stuff.
Just one last questione ;-) Do you have the feeling that the VR5SE as well puts more shine to the faults in really bad recordings than the VR4HSE,meaning that the music on those records become less enjoyable through VR5SE than when played through the VR4HSE?
I think I'm leaning towards a used pair of one of the VR4 versions and use one of my favourite 60-70 watt tube amps on the top and a juicy good sounding transistor amp with volume adjustment on the bass!
And I'm surely gonna keep my Es as well:-)
Thank you very much for the help Quint!
I’ve only heard Audio Notes at shows and people’s homes, and I’ve been pretty impressed in general. They seem to have a sense of presence and immediacy that some other speakers lack.
As for the 5 vs. 4 comparison, I think the newest-generation VS speakers are more revealing than previous iterations, but still, I don’t think the VR-5SE is mercilessly revealing, if that’s what you’re worried about.
I think getting a used pair of older VR-4s is a good idea. They really are classic designs, IMO. My HSEs will probably be sold in the next six months or so, but my time with them will be remembered very fondly.
Good luck again!
I forgot to address your coherency question. To my ears, the 9s were about as coherent as the 4 HSEs, but not quite as “together” as some other speakers I’ve had in my system, including, most notably, the Avalon Eidolon and (not surprisingly) Quads.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: