Von Schweikert VR-33

Glory,

I'm aware of the VR-35s but the price difference is substantial. I have a pair of VR-33s which will be delivered to me early in the New Year, so eventually I'l have a chance to try them in my own room. In the meantime I'm interested in comments from people who have heard them as to what I might expect.

Theres a few professional reviews, a good bit of marketing and a couple threads on Audiocircle, but for the most part there is little to no feedback on 'em.

I'm traditionally a single driver guy and I have a hard time believing these will be better than my Soul Superflys under ideal conditions, but right now my listening room (aka family room) doesn't really allow for ideal or even VG conditions. Having something against the wall is a major plus.

My dad owns some earlier Von Schweikert design Clearfield Continentals which have sounded great under the right circumstances and I had a pair of VR-1s I never cared for much, so I'm not sure what to expect.

My preferences are pretty set and I frequently find myself dissenting from the majority in terms of gear preferences. I'm not worried about tainting the water but am quite curious as to what I might expect.

I'm also prettying concerned about my amps ability to drive them. I have a Decware Torii 3 I'm not ready to let go of but it puts out 26wpc and, though I've read some favorable things with 35watts, VSA seems to recommend a minimum of 50...

I guess time will tell.

Shakey,

No problem with it at all. Ill have other amps at my disposal from local audio buddies and even my father. Doesn't change the fact that I'd love to drop them right into my carefully voiced associated equipment and hear what they can do.

I said I was concerned, not that I was pretty sure it wont work. The poster right above you seems happy with 35 Watts.

My biggest motivator for buying these is that they can be placed uninstrusively in my room and hopefully deliver some serious sq while being out of the way.

My current loudspeakers are sounding damn good tonight, so they'll have their work.cut out.

Shakey,

I've actually gone full circle on them. When I got them I disliked them. They were polite and boring with my Torii, though I heard potential. I tried a handful of solid state amps to try with them including an Alchemist Forsetti Signature (Tim de Parvinchi design), Pass Aleph clone, Virtue TWO.2, and probably something else I'm forgetting to no avail.

I finally resolved to get rid of them and actually posted them for sale on a number of forums but then mistakenly made a small change as to which power cord was on which component (flip flopped amp/pre without realizing) and heard more potential.

It inspired me to keep trying stuff and a buddy brought over an Music Reference RM-9 with some fancy 6550 tubes and EH 6ca7s and both made these speakers SING.

I'm trying to sell off a bunch of gear now, including my Zu Soul Superflys and Decware Torii to fund this upgrade and create a budget for a better suited amplifier for it and, in the meantime I'm borrowing the Redgum RGi35 solid state integrated I'd bought then sold to a friend... Son of a gun, this pairing is damn musical!! Similar to the synergy I found with the Redgum RGi120 and my Zus...

In any event, I like them a lot and could see loving them in the future. Placement is a dream plus theres an added bonus--I don't really hear much difference with my room treatments, so I'm selling them off, much to the wife's pleasure.

When the dust settles I should have a pretty good budget for a new amp, but in the meantime I'm in no rush with the Redgum kicking butt.

EDIT: I guess it was more 180 than 360, lol

Morgan,

The power cords are good, but they aren't really the moral of the story. It was that a subtle change was able to make me realize the potential and keep soldiering on to find something I liked when I previously wasn't impressed.

In a quick nutshell:

VR-33s are significantly more laid back in character and not quite as dynamic, though they aren't poor in that regard--the Zus are just VERY dynamic

The VR-33s throw a much bigger sound stage, but with noticeably less precise imaging.

The Zus have a more harmonically developed, meatiness to them and capture texture of gruff voices a bit better (Gil Scott Herron, Tom Waits, Ray Charles, etc) but the VR-33 is still full bodied and pleasant.

The VR-33s tweeter is more relaxed but equally detailed, a bit more refined. Theres also a little more upper midrange refinement in the VR-33s

The Zus have more punch in the bass, but the VR-33s have more bass information going significantly deeper.

The Zus may have been a splash more engaging emotionally for me, but are a bear to set up perfectly while the VR-33s are 5 inches from my front wall and sounding darn good.

The Zus are more versatile speakers whereas the VR-33s are pretty good all around, but may err towards the polite. If I want to throw on indie or hip hop (which I do with the Zus) its less at home on the VR-33s.

For my current situation, I'm going to keep the VR-33s, they're perfect for a living room. When I move and get a home w/ dedicated listening space... well, hopefully Zu Def 4s will have hit the used market :)

Jonnyb,

Right now I'm using a Redgum RGi35 I'd bought and sold to a friend and am now borrowing. It's doing a surprisingly good job for the cost and synergizes with the VR-33s better than my Decware Torii did.

Rockn,

It does feel weird. I made the decision a few days ago, but haven't brought myself to list them on audiogon yet. I did love them and they are terrific, but this solution is better for my room/life style. There will likely be Zu speakers (bigger and better) in my future.

Shakey,

You aren't kidding--I'm probably going to purchase the RM-9 if my buddy lets it go. VG amp with these speakers. I'll have to bring it to my dads house if I take it to see what it does for his Clearfield Continentals (early VS speakers).

The RM-9 is a very nice amp, but after hearing an inexpensive integrated, its been removed from my list of considerations.

I'm presently on the lookout for a Rogue Cronus Magnum to mate with my VR-33s. It really synergized well to wake up the somewhat polite-ish Von's and bring dynamics, bass slam, greater texture--a quality more similar to what I missed with my Zu based speaker setup.

I suspect that integrated could keep me happy for a long time and hope one pops up here soon.

I'm using an Audion Preamp and Bella Extreme amp in the meantime with is very nice and quite musical, but I do want the adrenaline shot of the Rogue.

After several months of ownership I have come to the conclusion that, although this amp sounds great with smaller amps, they love some extra power.

I recently started using a Redgum RGi120 ENR amplifier with it and things really opened up nicely. The resulting sound is far more versatile too.