I was one of the original posters who asked this question, and I just want to post a followup - perhaps someone will find this useful.
I picked up a used pair of Usher S520 ($250 in perfect condition) on audiogon before I had a chance to audition the VR-1. I found the stock S520 to be a tad bright and fatiguing. Based on some information I found on www.audiocircle.com, I performed a minor tweak to the crossover, increasing the resistor in series with the tweeter to decrease the tweeter output. The original value was 5 Ohms, I increased it to 5.75 Ohms to drop the tweeter output by approx 1/2dB. This minor change made all the difference in the world! They were no longer fatiguing, and serve up gobs of detail, even at low listening levels. The bass is surprising for a speaker this size, and in my 14' x 20' living room I do not yet crave a subwoofer for 2-channel listening.
I'm sure you can do better, but I doubt you can do better for the price. I'm still curious to audition the VR-1 someday, but for now I'm quite satisfied. My previous speakers were Klipsch RB-5II, then Polk LSi9. Neither of those speakers came anywhere close to the musicality that the little S520 provides. My amp is a modded Jolida 1301 hybrid integrated, my source is an Eastern Electic Minimax CDP.
I picked up a used pair of Usher S520 ($250 in perfect condition) on audiogon before I had a chance to audition the VR-1. I found the stock S520 to be a tad bright and fatiguing. Based on some information I found on www.audiocircle.com, I performed a minor tweak to the crossover, increasing the resistor in series with the tweeter to decrease the tweeter output. The original value was 5 Ohms, I increased it to 5.75 Ohms to drop the tweeter output by approx 1/2dB. This minor change made all the difference in the world! They were no longer fatiguing, and serve up gobs of detail, even at low listening levels. The bass is surprising for a speaker this size, and in my 14' x 20' living room I do not yet crave a subwoofer for 2-channel listening.
I'm sure you can do better, but I doubt you can do better for the price. I'm still curious to audition the VR-1 someday, but for now I'm quite satisfied. My previous speakers were Klipsch RB-5II, then Polk LSi9. Neither of those speakers came anywhere close to the musicality that the little S520 provides. My amp is a modded Jolida 1301 hybrid integrated, my source is an Eastern Electic Minimax CDP.