VR-4jr or Gallo Nucleus Reference 3

Edward,

I am a dealer for both loudspeakers. So I have heard both.
These are both speakers that are tremendous at and beyond their price points. And more importantly, they both make music, but in different ways.

Here is your dilema. You've narrowed it down, but haven't heard them. There are 2 analogies, the blind date, or the ice cream.

Here's the ice cream analogy.

Asking a forum which to buy (without hearing them yourself), is like asking someone if you'd prefer cherry to chocolate ice cream. Then someone else interjects "you should like rocky road".

How does that help you?

I'm guessing you are not close to a dealer that carries these.

You should never purchase a loudspeaker without hearing it.
You also should never buy a loudspeaker without hearing it in your room with your equipment.

I urge you to call Von Schweikert and Anthony Gallo and ask how you can audition them. You'll be amazed at how much they and their dealers would like to accomodate you.

Thanks for listening. The blind date analogy is similar but with a bigger downside with purchase.

I auditioned a pair if Gallo's driven by the Cary intergrated. AMAZING imaging but absolutely no low bass to speak of with that amp. I ended up finding a greh

had both in my system...if money is not an issue the choice is easy IMO. 4jrs all the way.

I agree with Zog - neither of these would be on my list. These are both heavily advertised (and therefore hyped by reviewers for the pubs in which they spend their ad dollars.) And this spills over into Audiogon - because there's a lot of people who will hear what they're told they're going to hear. This "they're better than such and such at 3 times the price" we keep hearing is just hogwash.

"I am looking for speakers with a great soundstage and imaging. I like good dynamics and low base when it is called for." - This describes virtually every modern, high-end full range speaker from the current crop of respectable manufacturers.

So basically, all you have done is narrow your choice down to the two current "darlings".

I'm not getting on your case here, but rather trying to save you a few grand - the fact that you've narrowed down to these two shows that you don't have that great a handle on what you want, because these are two EXTREMELY different sounding speakers.

I have a simple rule - if you can't hear them, don't buy them. It's one I've learned the hard way. If you live somewhere that you can't hear these things, wait until you can travel to a city and set up a weekend of fun and listening sessions.

In this price range, I would also consider buying used, which gets you closer to nirvana and also limits your downside on buying something you haven't heard yet. Think about it - are new vr4jr's better than a pair of Mint used vr4-gen3 se's that you can get for the about same price if you're patient? I don't think so. The Gallo's with sub amp will set you back nearly $4000 with tax and/or shipping - you can get REAL high end used for that!

I'm not going to get into what I would buy, because that's purely a personal preference. But if you must pick one of those 2 - my opinion is that the VR4jr's are both more versatile and musical.

Before investing any money into the speaker, I would highly recommend that you find a way to listen to them. What people hear in a speaker is highly subjective. The review helps, but we all hear things a bit differently. I myself have a pair of Thiel CS 1.6. I love the sound, they work well in my listening enviroment, have an amazing soundstage, and are crystal clear. The reveiws were very good as well in Stereophile and Sounstage yet Hi Fi+, in their most recent issue, Fed 2005, the reviewer was very impartial to them.

Althought the Gallos have great reviews, and undoubtedly do to now be named Absolute Sounds overall product of the year 2004, Von Schweikert consistently receives excellent reviews all around the boards!