Vandersteen 3A Sig vs. Von Schweikert VR4 Jr.

Yes, my comparison was to the 2Ce Sig, and in this sense, unfair. However, I was basing this on the many, many comments from Vandy owners and Vandy dealers who have said the 3A was quite similar to the 2Ce, with better bass, a more authoritative sound, and more detail. Still, the same house sound, which to my ears, is lacking in a number of areas such as transparency, unraveling of complex musical threads, top to bottom coherency of sound.

I haven't heard the Vandy 3A Sigs., but I had the 2Ce Sigs. and they are no match for the VRjr, which trounce all over the Vandys. I find it hard to believe anyone would find the VRjr lacking in the imaging department. They are more transparent and holographic than 90% of the speakers I have heard at their price point and up to double the price.

So many criticisms of the Von Schweikerts, I have to say something. The VRjr is so revealing, it revealed blatant distortion in tube amplifiers that my B&W 802's never revealed. This shocked the heck out of me. I hear details in recordings never heard before. I hear complex musical threads unraveled so I can hear every element.

Listening to speakers in stereo stores often brings disappointing and misleading results. Unfortunately, many stores have dreadful setups where nearly everything sounds awful. There are dealers, as well as audiophiles, who lack the discernment and discrimination to know what truly musical sound is.

As far as speakers disappearing, the VRjr has done this more than any speakers I have had or listened to. The transparency and see-through quality was shocking, even when I first hooked them up cold, with no break-in. They are truly serving as a reference quality device to zero in on the character of every component in my system. I never heard such differences in power cords on every component in my system as I do with these speakers.

Albert Von Schweikert is a speaker design genius, and has an impeccable engineering background and credentials. He has designed speakers for other major companies, including the famed Eggleston Andra. I have no connection with Von S., I'm just a happy VS owner.