Verity Parsifals to Von schweikert VR4 Gen III ??

Tvad/Grant,

Your point is reasonably well taken. It isn't as bad though as never having eaten steak and declaring shrimp the winner because I HAVE heard Von Schweikert speakers and you will have to admit as John above states that THERE IS A HOUSE SOUND! So I've definitely had steak and believe I can compare steak versus shrimp (though I agree that it's not the same as the steak served at the VR4 Gen III restaurant)!

In fact, I wholeheartedly agree with John above - the Parsifal's are spectacular with vocals, jazz and generally "less dynamic or better still "less rock-like" music. The Von Schweikert (at least the one I heard) may (and I stress may) have been better, but I didn't think so. But that's my taste which is what you get when you ask people's opinions. (Eventually, I wanted more oomph too from my speakers and was fortunate to have ended up my speaker search when I m oved from the Verity Parsifal's to the Sonus Faber Amati's - which give me both the magical smoothness of the Parsifal's and more).

Regardless of all this (minor) quibbling, the bottom line is good luck Royy!

Hi Royy,
Getting that upgrade itch, hugh? Go for it, but not with the Parsifals. IMO you could pair those babies with a better amp. One of many possibles: Art Audio Adagio. Happy Easter.

Hello, first of all, just in case you may be interested, I offer my humble Audiogon review of the Parsifal speaker, dating back to 2002, so I hope my comments will be taken with a bit of credibility as a previous owner of the Parsifal ( owned them for 4 years ). You will notice that the associated amps used with it included some ''budget'' amplifiers. Past the 2002 mark, I did go on to some kilobuck amplification. My quick take, the Gamut is all you need with these beauties.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1032833205&openusid&zzSonicbeauty&4&5#Sonicbeauty

I think that the gear-lust infected nature of this expensive hobby has taken priority over the real reason we (I think) should be directing our interests : The love of music.

There is nothing wrong with gear lust. High-end audio can stand on its own as a supplier of pleasure-inducing works of art. I personnaly would rather spend money on a work of art that generates music and visuals (Shanling's stunning cd players comes to mind) rather than, let's say, a bronze statue or an expensive antique table. All personal choices.

To get back to the initial thread here, I feel that the Parsifal fall in this category of what could be considered a functional ''work of art'' that at the same time can provide great musical pelasure.

I sold my prized Parsifals only for financial reasons. But you know what ? Even at the end of my ownership, I took this sublime-sounding speaker for granted and actually had found faults with it.

My next speaker was a Sonus Faber Grand Piano, considered a fine choice by many...and a strong ''downgrade'' in my book compared to the Verity. Comparing the just-arrived SF with my recent-memoried Parsifal sound made the SF speaker sound awful by comparison, edgy and cheap-souding. I almost couldn't listen to it. That's how spoiled I had been with the Parsifals.

After a month of owning the Grand Piano's, it actually sounded pretty good. It was not a measure of breaking-in of the speaker, but a measure of getting ACCUSTOMED to it's sound. Vocals sounded great.

THEN I downgraded further to a set of QUAD 22L's. The step downwards was of course not as steep. And after a month of owning them, I actually thought they sounded better than the Grand Pianos.

Most recent downgrade: A pair of Polk Audio LSi 15 speakers. To most audiophiles, just mentionning the word ''POLK'' is blasphemy.

Whadyanow....these are GREAT speakers, no kidding (many threads here to prove it). Easily worth 3 times it's price, and smokes many well-known speakers - no kidding.

I also OWNED Von Schweikert VR4 speakers. Nice speakers too, but not to my personal taste, so I kept them 2 months only. But I can understand how people would rave about them for their own respective reasons.

My point is this. No matter what speakers one owns, we end up getting used to the sound, slipping into a comfort zone, finding flaws, and wanting to re-ignite the ''thrill of discovery'' as for many of us, (me included for a long while, but no longer ) the thrill on gear-seeking becomes more important than the music. And at what cost?

Countless hours selling your present gear, countless hours searching and buying the new gear, with one end result for sure. You will end up liking the new speakers, then get used to them, then start looking for something new.

All these hours that could be put to better use - family, friends, kids, or just listening to more music and discovering new artists.

When I put my Parsifals up for sale, everyone I know told me I was nuts. It is probably the only time in my life that everyone, and I do mean everyone - were right on the money with that one.

I just feel that for most folks, the Verity speaker will probably represent their final speaker destination - free at last from the upgrade prison. Unless you have a lot of free time or free money, or both, to spread around.

I would just keep the Parsifals if I were you, and enjoy them, or better yet, enjoy their qualities which strongly outperform the faults you may have found with them.

Sorry for this long post - the door was wide open, and connected with my personal reality.

tvad...the basis of my opinion on VS speakers comes from years of listening to them as well as others at various sound rooms and trade shows over years. A dear friend of mine owned a store called Great Plains Audio in Minnesota and he carried VS, Hales, ProAc, Naim, Revel, and others........of all these lines, he found the VS to be the easiest to sell when a 'short' A-B audition was the deciding factor in a purchase. the warm upper bass, and a forward midrange is always impressive, particularly with simple acoustic based music, and female vocals(patricia barber has sold lots of hi fi). There's nothing wrong with enjoying the sound of any loudspeaker, its just that a loudspeaker design that truly favors no one frequency is always going to be more satisfying if you love all kinds of music and do a lot of listening. I also believe that manufacturers should be forthcoming about how and where their speakers are made. there are decent loudspeakers being built everywhere, but companies that sell major ticket items don't disclose their origins, are wrong to do so. the verity parsifal is an extremely neutral loudspeaker and perform well with tubes or ss, and more importantly play all genres of music very, very well. i could live with them. i am not a designer or engineer. just someone who has been involved in the industry since high school, and i have had the opportunity to produce, market, sell software and hardware....and work with some of the greatest sound and picture men in the world, as well as artists. for the money we spend on this hobby, opinions aren't a bad thing, even if you don't agree. thanks