Actually had the VR4 Jr's in the house at the same time as the Hawks. Interesting comparison. The Hawks are definitely more refined, more "sophisticated" sounding -- hard to describe, but when you A/B the two speakers, the Hawk immediately sounds like a better reproducer: more detail, better imaging, more resolution, equally or more musical. That said, the VR4 Jr's have better bass and have a very appealing quality to them as well. The VR's are bit of a pain to deal with -- you have to add lead shot, the spikes are a bit puny, you have two boxes per speaker, several binding post options etc etc, but once set up and broken in they are a really nice speaker. Good detail and very involving. I could easily have lived with either and had both, in fact, for sale at the same time. I planned to keep which ever speaker did not sell first. If you require deep bass, the VR4 is a better choice -- if you prefer more refinement and clarity, the Hawk is better. I ended up with the Raven C because the VR 4's sold first and I wanted a full range speaker, which the Hawk is not. The Raven C is a "bigger" sounding speaker though not as refined as the Hawk. Though I was unable to A/B the Raven C vs. the VR 4 Jr's, I know I could easily have lived with both. The bass of the Raven C is superior to that of the VR4 Jr, but I am not convinced it is a more emotionally involving speaker. Again, there is a musical quality to the VR 4 Jr's that is difficult to put in words, you have to hear them and they must be broken in. Extension on both speakers is good and I like the looks of both. All 3 speakers are winners.
