Whooooo.....! First of all, I DO like to stir things up a bit. Sorry for the delay in responding to all this, but I've been out all day.
But 2nd... Who said I haven't heard these? I've got better things to do than yabber about something I have no knowledge or interest in. I was seriously interested in the JR's as bedroom speakers when they first showed up, and I have about 2 hours of daytime cell phone bills talking with Kevin at VS to prove it. Kevin, BTW, was very helpful, very knowledgable, and had some interesting stories, too. The speakers just aren't for me. I didn't say they were bad. Maybe some people had that impression because I used the word "apparently" in regards to the finish? I said it that way because the complaints have been that the polyester satin finish is not durable in the long run, and there's no way I can know that without owning them. An audition doesn't tell you that. "Apparently" means that I'm granting some validity to those claims - not that I've never heard them.
re: Robm - My post was not about MY "logic". I was exposing the logic inherent in Kevziek's post, who said "I also wonder what recordings people are listening to...I'm afraid that some audiophiles choose equipment that makes their favorite flawed recordings sound better, rather than carefully choose recordings that are musical and coherent."
Well, if 95% of the recorded music over the last 50 years sounds better on other speakers, because they're supposedly "not as revealing" of the recordings' drawbacks, well then I'll take the other speakers right quick, Thank You. I was stating that KEVZIEK's OWN internal logic implies the JR's are not for musicphiles. I have no opinion on that except in regards to myself.
I obviously didn't make it very clear, but when I said, "So the audience that will be truly happy with JR's is "audiophiles" who can't presently afford more, or "music lovers" without very discerning ears," I was summarizing with some tongue in cheek, the outcome of Kevziek's reasoning.
"Complicated 4th order crossovers, rear-firing "ambience" tweeters, and ported cabinets disqualify it as far as I'm concerned." ---- I'm not going to get into a speaker design argument - been there, done that - but this is far from an ignorant statement. If you think it is, you need to do some study. A ported design actually limits ultimate extension, and a tweeter firing backwards out of phase - well you may like the "enhanced" sound, but there's no argument that it's accurate. 4th order crossovers - No. VS's version of cascaded 1st orders into a 4th order topography - Maybe. But not for me - and that's all I said - "as far as I'M concerned". Again, I didn't say that they suck and anybody who likes them is crazy.
re 9rw: I don't like to respond to that kind of question re: equipment - because it misses the point of the hobby. I don't believe in judging someone's ear by their equipment - which is more often than not determined by their pocketbook. Everyone's ears are different and we are all qualified to judge for ourselves, and post our opinions.
But to answer anyway, since you were so obnoxious about it - I'll just say that the equipment or $$$ end of the equation is not a limiting factor for me. I spend, on average, 3 hours a day, 7 days a week listening - which, like Arkio, doesn't thrill my wife. I've also studied music extensively and play 4 instruments. And I probably have more audiophile and non-audiophile rare vinyl than everyone posting on this thread put together. So there! :)
Anyway - I'm not sure why the JR crowd is so touchy about this, but clearly, they're not for everyone. There ARE quite a few changing hands rather soon after being purchased - I know, because I've been watching. Why, who knows. But it's not because the sellers are wildly in love.
So what? If YOU love 'em keep them - and tell other people you love them - but you don't have to bash people who don't. And vice versa, of course. If anyone interpreted my sarcasm as bashing, I apologize. The original poster asked for opinions. Presumably, that would include both sides of the aisle.