I had the first generation VR-4's, so it's quite likely that Von Schweikert's new designs are quite different than mine, which was some 10 years old. Even the VR-4.5 was supposed to have been a marked improvement over the VR-4, and it came less than a year after the VR-4 was introduced. I believe the VR-4.5 went to 9" Eton woofers with cast frames, whereas the woofers in my VR-4's were 8" polypropylene with stamped metal frames. The cross-over point was also evidently changed to cure what was a common complaint, lack of mid-bass punch and dynamics, which slowed the overall presentation of the speaker and made the bass sound tubby because of a "hole" in the spectrum.
I liked the VR-4's enough to keep them for 10+ years, so believe me, they did a lot of things right. I was able to overcome many of the bass issues, but the system still lacked dynamics and impact. They were a very laidback speaker system, and I knew that going in, but I felt their other charasterics outweighed the lack of dynamics.
Eventually, I got bored of the lack of excitement the speakers generated, and found that I no longer listened to the system. That's primarly what prompted me to sell them and start the search.
I'm in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and the selection here is terrible, so it's very, very unlikely I'll have the luxury of auditioning a speaker in my own home, let alone within 100 miles!
I liked the VR-4's enough to keep them for 10+ years, so believe me, they did a lot of things right. I was able to overcome many of the bass issues, but the system still lacked dynamics and impact. They were a very laidback speaker system, and I knew that going in, but I felt their other charasterics outweighed the lack of dynamics.
Eventually, I got bored of the lack of excitement the speakers generated, and found that I no longer listened to the system. That's primarly what prompted me to sell them and start the search.
I'm in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and the selection here is terrible, so it's very, very unlikely I'll have the luxury of auditioning a speaker in my own home, let alone within 100 miles!