speakers are not really an investment. buy what sounds best to you.
Von Schweikert VR33 or JBL K2 S5500?
I'm debating between these two speakers, at roughly the same price, the JBL's being a bit cheaper with partial trade-in and backed by the shop that offers them, which includes being able to eventually trade them in or sell them back, though at substantial loss.
The VR33's are brand new, shipped direct from the factory, but would need to be imported to my present country, where there is no local dealership or after-sales service, and no brand recognition to speak of.
I've heard both, and like both a lot, for different reasons, the 33's more, but the importing and resale factor looms somewhat darkly over them. The VR33's are substantially more clear and have much deeper and more refined bass, overall a more refined "high-end" sound, while the JBL's seem more forgiving of old or bad recordings and have loads of punch, and are also very enganging and put that "grin" on the face of listeners.
The speakers would be in a room of about 5X10 Meters (15X30 ft), with lots of placement freedom except no solid wall to be near. This is supposedly not a big issue for the JBL's, according to their manual.
The 33's are designed to sound great with a wall close behind them, which they absolutely do, but I have no such wall to place them against. Albert very kindly personally offered a bass equalizing circuit option to compensate for the 33's being away from a back wall, but I haven't actually heard this implementation, though after visiting his factory and seeing and hearing some of his great work first-hand, I tend to trust im on it.
I would be powering with a McIntosh MA6800 (about 150 W/ch) or Luxman 509u (about 175 W/ch) initially, but that can be changed later. Current main source is digital files (FLAC, WAV, etc.) from a MacMini via Chord64 DAC through my own homemade Bottlehead Foreplay preamp (very nice item!).
I listen to a hugely wide spectrum of music, dominated by jazz, blues, and Western classics, but including loads of stuff from around the world. As examples, I'm particularly fond of Rachmaninoff, Beethoven's late string quartets, Pandolfo, Coltrane, Hendrix, Eliane Elias, Vinnie Colaiuta, Marc Ribot, Joan Baez, Eva Cassidy, Stacey Kent, Cassandra Wilson, Classical Indian and Chinese, etc., etc...
Has anyone heard either or both of these speakers and can offer any quick opinions, positive or negative on either?
The JBL opportunity will fade quickly if I don't act on it.
The VR33's are brand new, shipped direct from the factory, but would need to be imported to my present country, where there is no local dealership or after-sales service, and no brand recognition to speak of.
I've heard both, and like both a lot, for different reasons, the 33's more, but the importing and resale factor looms somewhat darkly over them. The VR33's are substantially more clear and have much deeper and more refined bass, overall a more refined "high-end" sound, while the JBL's seem more forgiving of old or bad recordings and have loads of punch, and are also very enganging and put that "grin" on the face of listeners.
The speakers would be in a room of about 5X10 Meters (15X30 ft), with lots of placement freedom except no solid wall to be near. This is supposedly not a big issue for the JBL's, according to their manual.
The 33's are designed to sound great with a wall close behind them, which they absolutely do, but I have no such wall to place them against. Albert very kindly personally offered a bass equalizing circuit option to compensate for the 33's being away from a back wall, but I haven't actually heard this implementation, though after visiting his factory and seeing and hearing some of his great work first-hand, I tend to trust im on it.
I would be powering with a McIntosh MA6800 (about 150 W/ch) or Luxman 509u (about 175 W/ch) initially, but that can be changed later. Current main source is digital files (FLAC, WAV, etc.) from a MacMini via Chord64 DAC through my own homemade Bottlehead Foreplay preamp (very nice item!).
I listen to a hugely wide spectrum of music, dominated by jazz, blues, and Western classics, but including loads of stuff from around the world. As examples, I'm particularly fond of Rachmaninoff, Beethoven's late string quartets, Pandolfo, Coltrane, Hendrix, Eliane Elias, Vinnie Colaiuta, Marc Ribot, Joan Baez, Eva Cassidy, Stacey Kent, Cassandra Wilson, Classical Indian and Chinese, etc., etc...
Has anyone heard either or both of these speakers and can offer any quick opinions, positive or negative on either?
The JBL opportunity will fade quickly if I don't act on it.