Von Sweikert VR2 vs. VR4 jr

[Jim Clark]

After careful deliberation and few more auditions I've taken the unusual step of ordering a speaker I've never even listened to. The VS VR2's were better than what I have in just about every regard. My hesitation was limited to-how much better? Without question they were 1,200 better(the going rate at Audiogon) but not positive about 2,495 (new price through the dealer). To be honest I have a bit of a problem going to a dealer for a demo and then buying elsewhere for less. To me that's somewhat dishonest although it wasn't my intention going into the store. If he'd have had the Dynaudio product I was looking for I'm pretty sure I'd have a set of those in my home now.

After reading all of the reviews for the VR 4jr's, I feel reasonably confident that for 2,500 (used price) these will be enough of an improvement to justify the price and since I didn't listen to them at the dealer my conscience is clear. The clincher is that the "owner" never even took possesion of this set of speakers and they remain at the authorized dealer who has basically agreed to broker the deal. Seems the seller decided at the last minute to go for some Vandersteen Quatro's instead. These speakers have been played less than 10 hours and as far as I'm concerned they are new and I'll be getting the full 10 year warranty. An unexpected plus is that since the dealer is involved he is using his contacts and experience to ship these out and I'm confident the deal will progress without any unforseen stumbles. Having never heard them I'm can't say with certainty that I'm making a wise move but the reviews and owner comments have set my expectations high and I'm very excited to be moving forward with this set of speakers but only time will tell how smart a move it was.

Along the way I've come to several random conclusions, some of which I'll post in an equally random way:

-we don't all hear the same thing even though we are listening to the same thing. If we did then B&W would never sell a single speaker as far as I'm concerned.

-Dali makes the most beautiful cabinets I've ever seen in a speaker

-I would have liked to at least listen to an Audio Note speaker. Sadly none is closer than Denver and I'm not going to Denver to listen to a speaker. This is offset by the fact that having seen the pics, I can't imagine I'd pull the trigger on this brand. Looks, while a secondary consideration are still a consideration.

- While not limited to AN since I've seen ads touting the same for speakers in the Von Schweikert line, do that many people really believe that silver wire in the speaker makes an audible difference? What do these same people say about all of the copper being used before the signal gets to the speaker? This is the single biggest oddity I encountered.

-Did Florian really recomend a speaker by a company that has been out of business for 10 years? Enthusiasm for your fave is one thing but that seems to be pushing the limits of sanity. At any rate, I did at least look online and the width consideration alone immediately took it out of contention. Martin Logan is manufactured within 25 minutes of my home. It would have been cool to be able to fall in love with these the way he goes for the Apogee's, but it wasn't to be. The MG 3.6's had some admirable traits especially with several tracks on my Demo disc but when it came to what I actually listen to, my initial impression held. Besides, with both MMG and ML, the footprint almost immediately steered me away. I just can't use them but thanks for the encouragement to revisit them.

-I still would have really, really liked to listen to the Dynaudio Evidence line!

-Audiogon is your friend. I really hope I can find a used LCR 15 in African Hazelwood.

-Finally, it would appear that I need to learn how to biwire.

Regards,
jc