Von Schweikert VR-4 GEN.III SE -VS- VR-4 JR?

I use the VR-4 Gen IIIs in my second system, and I had a pair of the JRs on loan while my VR-9s were being built. I thought the JRs imaged and disappeared a bit better, but the Gen IIIs were more dynamic, had deeper and tighter bass, and were somewhat more detailed at the extremes. As for looks, the JR is a beautiful speaker--I received many compliments about it--but something about the "ugly duckling" nature of the IIIs appeals to me. I just think it's a more "interesting" looking speaker. You should probably be able to get a pretty sweet deal on a used pair of the IIIs now. If you can, I'd seriously consider that as an option.

I agree with just about everyone here. I've heard them both in the same system.

I agree in that the 4jrs are 70% to 80% of the 4 gen IIIs. The gen IIIs had a bigger soundstage, but the jrs had better imaging. Also, gen IIIs need room to breathe while the jrs are easy to place due to its small size.

The VR4sr's retail for $8k/pair.

What is the retail price on the new Von Schweikert VR-4sr?
Thanks so much for all of your responses so far guys!

Lanny,

I had a chance to compare both. The JR’s have about 80% sound quality of the VR-4 Gen III-SE’s. The VR-4 Gen III SE’s are much larger speakers and would not fit in my family room. I bought VR-4JR’s, LCR-15 and TS-150. For home theater LCR-15 perfectly matches VR-4JR’s. Due to their huge dispersion, they are better matched then my identical Norh 4.0 speakers.

Best regards,
Alex

You mean the new VR-4sr? Yes I heard them at the CES show this year. Against the VR4-jr I would say you get improvements in midrange and upper treble clarity with the VR-4sr. It's certainly not bright or sibilant, believe me on that. One of the many times I was in the room there was some crazy high frequency "music" being played to test just that aspect of the system.

Perhaps the biggest gain over the 4jr that the 4sr has is realism. It's simply more of a you are there feeling. Perhaps one of those intagible things but vocals and acoustic instruments simply sounded more realistic to me. Mid to low bass seemed simillar to the 4jr, but they had some room problems early on so it may not be fair to make that comparison from what I heard. The 4sr's retain my favorite trait of the 4jr's - overall coherence and tonal balance.

Appearance wise it is larger 4jr with a more faceted head unit. Amp was the $19k VAC integrated, Oracle CD was the source I think.

The Gen III SE's remain one of my favorites, I simply prefer the appearance of the new line a bit more.

I have the jr's, so am pretty familiar with those. While auditioning them, I did listen to the GenIII to compare, using the same room and equipment. In that set up, I thought the GenIII's sounded bigger and more dynamic. Definitely more punch on the bottom end from the bigger base drivers. But even though the GenIII's have a fancier tweeter and mid, I thought the mid/high integration on the jr's was better. The jr's seemed to dissapear better. Now this could have been due to the smallish size of the audition room. If you have a big room, you might get different results. Also, we did not spend very much time positioning the GenIII's, while the jr's had been pretty dialed in.