Are the Von Schweikert VR-4JRs really all that?

They are very good speakers but you have to mate the right amp/pre to them. Lotsa-bass.

If your dealer will not let you take home and audition any equipment before you buy do not buy from him. Your room and your electronics dictate how good the equipment can sound.

The VR4JRs have got consistent rave reviews from many different sources and more importantly, Geoh YOUR ears are telling you they are quite good. However, I would like to share two thoughts with you. First, how could you even be thinking about buying a new speaker without a home audtion with a return policy if they are not synergetic with the rest of your system/acoustic space. Secondly, at every price bracket their are fine pieces including the $4000.00 to $6000.00 for speakers so personnal taste/system matching is critical for final slection. For my ears/taste I still love MG-3.6s over the VR-4JRs in that price range. That should mean nothing to you unless you hear them in comparsion to the the speakers being discussed in this thread. It can be a pain-in the- butt to arrange home audtions of speakers but its the only way to tell for sure if their for you. Good luck and be patient it will pay off with the right decision in the long run. I have known so many audiophiles who bought speakers, then worked like hell to get them to sound right in their home system, and never really achieved what they wanted, because they did not do a home audtion before they purchased the speakers.

Speaker preference is pretty subjective and I believe Teajay's advice is sound.

I've had a pair of VR4Jrs (dark cherry) for about a year now and they have over 800 hours on them. I fell in love with the demo pair which had only about 150 hours on them and were not biwired and I've found that once they reach 400-500 hours they get noticeably better which is difficult to believe, but true. I have been upgrading speakers and demo-ing (Vandersteen, Vienna Acoustics, JMLab, Maggies, Sonus Faber, and a few others) for over a decade and the VR4Jrs have stopped my upgrade fever. Period. For me, they are keepers. I truly have no need for anything different or 'better'. To my ears - which are quite critical - everything I've heard at well over twice the price are not nearly as satisfying, involving or musical. They will reveal whatever changes you make upstream - and that may be a good or bad thing depending on your related equipment.

They do need to be mass loaded with 45-50 lbs of lead shot in the bass unit as well as bi-wired, and using the spikes is essential. Positioning them in your room , as with any speaker, will fine tune them to reach their full potential in your environment. With those conditions met they are remarkable satisfying.

That little voice you talked about can be a persistant demon. I've heard it often. But when you get equipment that draws you in and is truly satisfying the voice goes away. It really does. If you find your mind wandering as you're listening, you're not there. My mind never wanders when I'm listening to the VR4Jrs.

They are some of the best that are available -Theyre efficient, have tremendous dynamic range and image like crazy - they are an excellent value used, with prices around 35% off retail - They will go deeper than most with a smooth liquid midrange, all in a smaller designed enclosure -Fit and finish is excellent- V/S technology has enabled them to make better sounding speakers than those they made only a few short years ago- The first example of these newer designs was the vr4jr, then (soon)- the SR ,then the vr5 for next year - All should be excellent choices MHO

Good points guys, thanks.
As far as home audition goes that is in essence what I would be doing. I can get a good enough price on the VR4JRs (new) that if they don't work out I can turn them around and at least break even.
Associated components will be:
DK Desigh VS.1 Hybrid intergrated
&
Shanling T200
I really like the Maggie sound but.... 1 - don't have the room for them. 2 - don't want to use a subwoofer.

I think the reason I've been sooooo impressed with the VR4JRs is:
1 - They don't have ANY weakness. They've done everything right or close to it.... so far.
2 - Nice compact design (perfect for my needs) yet pretty much a full range producer (tough to find at it's size)
3 - Right in my price range
4 - Neutral to warm sounding speaker.
5 - beautiful Dark Cherry Finish.

If anybody has something in mind that I should check out, (remember compact - full range) please let me know and I will find them.