B&W vs Von Schweikert house sound?

B&W's are not lively speakers. They are overdamped by design. They also have a forward midrange.

Uh...that was helpful (not). I'm looking for a bit more descriptive answers by people who've actually heard the two products and can make a comparison for me.

BTW, Dave, I know you've been around these parts for a while, but that was just basically a one line B&W bash. C'mon, you can do better than that!

Sorry, wasn't actually out to bash B&W's per se. I owned the 801N's and seriously demo'd the 800D's under various conditions and with different components. They have an overdamped design as mentioned in their white papers. The midrange forwardness and tendency to have an upfront presentation is well documented. I would add that you need to bring massive amounts of power for them as well. All in all, not a great recipe for audio bliss. My VS exposure is almost nill, but I have heard they are easier to drive and favor a more even balance with ample dynamics. Neither would be my choice, but that doesn't change the facts I have mentioned.

I auditioned the 802D at 2 dealers & one home, and the VR-4 SR at one dealer, before ultimately buying the Thiel 3.7.

I did not find the 802D tonally neutral in any of the 3 very different systems. Apparently, getting it to sound neutral is very tricky at best.

The VR-4 SR was tonally neutral. My primary criticisms were: (1) it was strained or distorted on peaks in heavy classical music like Mahler; (2) vertical lobing was pronounced, so tonal balance was critically dependent on listening height.

I find the Thiel 3.7 exceptionally dynamic and detailed, tonally neutral, and very tolerant of listening position.