How would you desribe Von Schweiket VR-4jr sound?

Hi Arkio - Yes it did cut into my listening time tonight, but you just can't let that kind of bull be perpetrated on a personal level. Heated debate about speaker design is fine, or audiophile vs. musicphile is fine*** - that's what the Audiogon boards are for. But nothing I posted even remotely justifies these falsefications and personal attacks. It's just nuts. I've really never encountered this kind of thing here before.

Also - one admission to Kevziek - in my first response to you where I said you were bashing me, I was incorrect. I had been looking at Robm's post and mixed it up with yours. So maybe it put you in a bad mood, but even before that you were warping my statements and intentions in your post, and put things on a personal level. With statements like:

"you criticize a brilliant engineer like Albert Von Schweikert for his engineering choices" - which I absolutely didn't and wouldn't do anywhere.

And "So, your implication is that... I'm an 'audiophile' with a negative connotation" - which I patently stated you misconstrued based on zero evidience, and that you're still asserting.

And you ask "What qualifications do you have in speaker design to so strongly criticize...?" - Of course, if you look back objectively at my first post, I hadn't strongly criticized ANYTHING. I had said the JR's weren't for me and stated why - plain and simple.

So it wasn't "bashing", and I apologize for calling it that - but it's sure wasn't nice, and I did nothing to provoke it. And it's completely out of place on a board where speaker design is the main topic of conversation.

And now, the obsequious "apology" to Robm321 for "how you've been treated here" must appear very odd to anyone who has read his insulting fusillades at other posters. (Sorry for the big words again.)

***BTW - Just for fun, here are the top 3 defintions of "audiophile" found on Google / Answers.com:

"1.au·di·o·phile (ô'dē-ə-fīl') pronunciation
n. A person having an ardent interest in stereo or high-fidelity sound reproduction.

2. audiophile
An individual who is very interested and enthusiastic about the sound quality of a stereo or home theater system. Sometimes, audiophiles are more passionate about the equipment being used than the music itself.

3. An audiophile (literally, "one who loves sound") is one who is concerned with achieving high-quality results in the recording and playback of music. Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of the chain: the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback (usually in a home setting). The adjective "high-end" is commonly applied to audiophile vendors, products, and practices.

There is great skepticism outside the audiophile community surrounding whether these practices and products have the claimed effects on the listening experience, and there are often accusations of self-delusion. People on both sides of the debate concede that, since many audiophiles are laymen, they are vulnerable to exploitation by fanciful claims made by unethical vendors."

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Interesting, eh? Anyway, I really am done this time as I can't justify putting any more energy into this idiocy.

Kevziek,

Thank you for the support.

Opalchip,

Get some professional help soon. I'm worried about you. I do care.

Rob

There are a few lessons to be learned here. The first is that not everyone is qualified to assess the accuracy of a speaker. It would be like me trying to judge poodles in a dog show. There would be a lot of unhappy dog owners -- and rightfully so.

Despite their good intentions, a lot of people simply don't have the trained ears or the points of reference to know whether a speaker (or entire system) is accurate. And if you fall into the camp that doesn't care if a speaker is accurate (i.e., it's all a matter of personal taste and what you like is what counts), that's fine, but I think the majority of audiophiles are in search of an accurate system. And accuracy isn't subjective.

I've owned lots of high-end speakers (amps, preamps, transports, processors and CD players, too), including Dunlavy SC-IV/A, Vandersteen 3A Signature, Quad 988, and the VR-4Jr. definitely holds its own against any of these. For example, it's far more revealing than the Vandersteen, which is a fine speaker, but no matter what I did, in my room at least, it couldn't approach the transparency and resolution of the Von Schweikert. And the VR-4Jr. offers better dynamics and bass extension than the 988. I can't say they're better -- or even as good -- as the SC-IV/A, but they're less than half the price and they don't get embarrassed by the big (and that's a problem) Dunlavy.

As for Opalchip's assertion that you can't judge a person's hearing by his/her equipment, on the contrary. I think it speaks volumes. If someone is slamming something, I want to know what he listens to. If it's Bose 901s and a Yamaha receiver, that's all I need to know. Also, like Kevziek, I'm a musician and studied for several years with a member of the Detroit Symphony. I know what live unamplified instruments are supposed to sound like.

The VR-4Jr. speakers are far from perfect, but they're mighty good at the $4k price point.

WOW this thread had a little bit of everything, very positive, negative, off topic and more off topic.

I've decided I love the VR4jrs quirks as they be.
If I had to describe their sound with one word it would be
"RICH". Not too bright, not too bland, not too slow. Their balance from top to bottom, their excellent imaging, huge soundstage, deep reaching(tight)bass,
make these one of the few speakers I've heard near their price that do it right.... for me at least.