Question For Von Schweikert VR4 Jr Owners

I agree about the bass problem that you might have. It's not so much the rear ambiance driver, because you don't need much of that to make a big difference, but the bass would be boomy most likely. Mine are about 3 feet out and have solid tight bass, so if you could push it to 1 1/2 to 2 feet, you might make it work. If that is going to be your listening room for years to come, I would look at monitors or another brand like Totem.

Let me preface this by saying this is a question more than a statement. I'm not trying to contradict anyone here, but rather understand the speaker better.

I thought the JR is a transmission line, and as such, the "port energy" is much less than a normal ported enclosure. So, I ask - is it really going to be as much of a problem as described here?

Other transmission line speakers I have (three pairs) have almost no port energy due to the packing of the chambers, and the VR explanation of their transmission lines seem to indicate this is true of theirs too.

The Jrs are front ported, so the issue of the port being near the wall is not an issue. I think the Jrs will react as any average speaker would to near wall placement (not good) If this is your only option you should look for speakers that will do well with that limitation. Von Schweikert has a lot of ideas for different setup configurations including stuffing the port with dacron fill if the bass is boomy. The bass is a standout feature of the JRs and should not be in least bit boomy.

I think given your limitations and what I know of the JRs they could prove to be a frustration to get sounding Just Right. With enough care and consideration these speakers are capable of some real magic though.

You don't mention as to whether your room constraints are due to overall room size or just placement issues due to the flow of the room. Having enough overall area can be a factor. In my case the room is on the small side, 14x15x8, and I play with the placement, and the rear firing tweeter. But they sound great, be it with the tweeter control set to high or low. You can give Paul at VSA a call, his advice as helped me. Monitors would be a smart and safe way to go, but I would not be quick to pass up on a chance at the JR4's musical magic.