Review: Von Schweikert Audio VR-3 Speaker

Category: Speakers

Lots of speaker for the money. Went from ACI Sapphire III's and Titan II sub which I dearly love to the VR3's. I am running through the direct inputs of my Anthem so no preamp processing is utilized. Straight from the great CAL DAC to the amp.

Remarkably they have many of the Sapphire's qualities but on a much larger scale. They are musical and involving. The soundstage is wall to wall and deep. These have a rear firing tweeter for ambience which adds greater depth to the soundstage than the Sapphires ever hope to have. The aluminum tweeter is coated so there is no ringing or brightness in the high end. The mid range is smooth and there is a chamber to sandfill behind the mid & tweeter to further dampen them. Despite the wide soundstage the imaging is pinpoint. It is astounding. Vocals are amazingly true to the recording-more evidence of the great midrange. A sub is not required. Bass is full, tight, and quick reaching easily below 30Hz. The whole package is smooth and well integrated. Detail is there but it is not razor sharp but I find crystal detail unnatural. These sound like the music especially piano.

On the down side they are not beautiful like some speakers. Oak end caps and black grill cloth all around. They are also big and weigh in at 120+ pounds when sand filled. Position before sandfilling and spiking. Still, when the music starts they disappear.
They are also single wire and the speaker cover is not removable. I have found these things do not matter once you hear them.

These are from a superb speaker company that has yet to find the mainstream which means the prices are still right for the performance you get. I listened to Wilson Puppy's at a dealer and though I found them better than the VR3's they were not worlds apart as I expected.

Associated gear
Anthem AVM2 pre/pro
Parasound 1205a amp
CAL CL-15 CDP
Kimber 8vs speaker cable
Kimber hero ICs

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