Spendor vs. Von Schweikert?

Certainly different speakers have their own sound. I'm a Tannoy user and owned Missions before these. There is a "British" sound although it varies a bit between Spendor, Tannoy, Kef, Harbeth etc. This sound is nothing like the house sound of VS. Apples and oranges. To tell the truth, I liked my 15 year old Mission 70's better than the VR-1's. It's just personal preference. I enjoy the "British" speaker musicality and overall sound. I find speakers like VS unemotional, but that's just me.

Although I've never heard the Spendors, I find the VR4JRs extremely musical and very revealing of all upstream components. If you do audition the VR4JRs it is very important to remember that they take at least 400 hours of break-in before they reveal their real potential. They must also be mass loaded with 40-50 lbs of lead shot (each), as they were designed, as well as be spiked to the floor. Once they meet those requirements, they will make realistic, involving and very satisfyng muslc like few others. But, again only listening will allow you to choose what speakers best meet your preferences.

Hi,

I agree totally...totally with Dodgealum. I have listened to both Spendors ( S5e, S8e ) and Von Schweikert ( VR-1, VR-2 and VR4SR ). For my music preferences ( Sweet mid range, vocals and instruments ), Spendorfs are way far superior. Atleast for the discs I played, this is no comaparision. If your musical preference is Sweet sounding mid-range and good instruments, strings....you are better off with Spendors.

Grakesh

Grakesh, glad it works for you !
"Sweet sounding mid-range" I just don't get how someone can like a coloured speaker over a neutral one. Doesn't it get old very quickly? Also with suropy/sweet sound how can you listen to rock or pop or anything with Bass or strings? It seems to me that a speaker that kills the leading edge of a brass instrument or an eleectic guitar to attain an unnatural smoothness or sweetness would lose its appeal very quickly ! I listened to the Spendors with an all Mac setup and they were playing some smooth jazz and other light sounds. Sounded good especially with vocals but seamed to me in general, they are a niche speaker for specific music only. In fact this dealer would not even let me and my brother-in-law play our own music that we brought along, we brought some rock but also milder stuff like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and some pop music – Dave Mathews,. That was immediately a big red flag for us. A speaker designed for a specific type of music reproduction, IMO is not a very good design. I guess, to each his own… but not for me. I’ll take VS, Dynaudios or any number of neutral designs over that kind of sound any day.

Good listening

Great thread. This is exactly the information I was looking for because both the VR4JR and Spendor S8e is on my speaker buy list in march when I get my tax returns.
Tough decisions. I don't think there is a Spendor dealer in Arizona and the only VR dealer has a room thats 10'x'10. Sounds horrible.

I'm also considering Quad 22L, Vandersteen 3a signatures and some crazy off the wall speakers called Zu Druid MK4's
and Intuitive Design Summit PSL624.
Im not considering a Merlin because I don't have nice tube amps. Sure would like some views and comments on those speakers how they compare to Spendors.