Von Schweikert VR-2's

I went up to the $10K range because Wilson's Sophia was the only speaker that performed in a fashion similar to the VR-2 in my listening sessions(sufficient bass,non-offensive highs,3D soundstage). I was beginning to believe there was no easy, or inexpensive ticket to sonic bliss with my SET amp.
I also questioned the purpose of the rear-ambience speaker, but it significantly enhances the soundstage.
I will be curious to see how the professional reviewers evaluate these speakers. I have owned a few "Class A" rated sets, and none have been as impressive in my setup as the VR-2.

I had high hopes for the VR2 but at the high end show on Friday the VR2's sounded extremely muddy to me. This was a shock. I've always liked the VR line and it seems to keep getting better . A good friend of mine tells me that the VR2's sounded much better later in the weekend.

These shows are really a crapshoot, you depend on the vendor to do an adequate setup, choose useful music, etc. One of my favorites system at CES - Pipedreams and VAC (amazing!!!) - sounded mediocre on Friday morning. Sure wish I could have attended Saturday and Sunday.

Did any of you hear the VR2's at the show? What was your experience?

Thanks,
Art

I heard the VR-2's and on Friday they did sound muddy, but it wasn't the fault of the speaker. There were some interesting dynamics going on in that room (which I will refrain from discussing) and the PARC was not being used at that particular time. The room interaction was causing the muddy sound and I can tell you that when the PARC was connected the sound was much clearer with a far better soundstage. (yes, of course I'm biased to the PARC--but this isn't about the PARC--it's about the room) Keep in mind--if you have a good room you don't need a PARC, it's not compensating for the speaker, but for the room. In those hotel rooms with very solid plaster walls you do need a PARC. Speaker placement and cabling were also serious issues in that room. The cables being used had a PVC dielectric and really sounded bad (the muddiness you heard actually masked some of the cabling problems, but the cables still killed the soundstage that those speakers can deliver). I frankly felt pretty bad for Albert and crew because it was not the performance they are capable of.

This is a question for Rives... I know this might sound silly but what is a PARC?

PARC - Parametric Adaptive Room Compensation. It's designed to deal with bass modes. In some rooms, and particularly the hotel rooms at the Westin with solid plaster walls the room dimensions are not optimal and it can reinforce certain bass frequencies causing the bass to sound boomy and the midrange unclear. This is not the fault of the equipment, but the interaction with the room. One room at HE 2003 had 10 x 20 x 30 dimensions. It doesn't take much to figure out this will be a big problem. It had a 16 db bump at 114 Hz--almost unlistenable without the PARC. Great equipment in that room--but the room was the problem--not the equipment.

There is a forthcoming review of the PARC in the July issue of Stereophile. Until then, you can get more information on the PARC on our website.