The Best Midrange in the World Right Now

Maril; yes, i sold the VR9's last summer; but only because i intended to move 'up' to the VR-11's.....which i ordered last July....they have still not started building them. i did not sell the '9's due to any dissatisfaction with them. the 11's were a dream speaker for me. Von Schweikert's are great speakers.

i have heard the VR-11, VR-9SE, VR7SE (in my room for the last 6 months), VR4SR, and VR4JR. i have not heard the VR5SE. i like every Von Schweikert speaker at it's price point.....to me they are musical and dynamically involving.

in the meantime; i love the MM3's.

regarding your system frequency imbalance; were you able to solve it?

I don't know about best in the world, but right now i'm loving the ARC 100.2's midrange portrayal(among other things). Very rich yet lucid and transparent, with zero trace of grain or harsness. Marry this with a nice preamp and good speakers and I think you would agree.

I do agree with the theme of your post... does the quest for absolute accuracy kill musicality and enjoyment? Maybe, depends on the total system. Like others I have heard a few mega buck rigs that are totally uninteresting and annoying. Must be a synergy thing right ? For my tastes if the mid's are not open and natural sounding, nothing else matters. I just wish I had more time to listen these days!

Dpac996. I had a 100.2 and couldn't agree more. Great amp. I just ran too hot for my in-cabinet installation. The 150.2 gets pretty close but runs cool as a cucumber.

Mike,
I'm glad you didn't sell 9se's because you didn't like them.
As to my frequency imbalance problem- trying different pre- power combinations in my system (BAT-75SE/Supratek Chenin/Arcam solid state preamp/EAR 534), I traced the problem back to less than ideal synergy b/w BAT and Supratek, which are outstanding components each in their own rights.
I was going to replace BAT-75SE anyway in favor of all-Supratek system (Cortese preamp and Mondeuse power monoblocks), but this experiment only confirmed my concerns about matching components from different manufacturers and design philosophies.

Great thread. Elsewhere on Agon there was some recent discussion about whether to build a system from source to speakers, or vice versa. It's my opinion, and experience, that it's best to build from the speaker to source. The midrange has always been the focal point for me and, as a result, I have not yet been compelled to look at a replacement for my Parsifals. They don't reproduce below 25Hz in my system, but bass is substantial and never at the expense of midrange purity. (BTW, a great recording for bass reproduction is the beginning of Paquito D'Rivera's "La Bella Cubana" from his album, Portraits of Cuba, Chesky JD145. With this recording even most of the 'full-range' speakers I've listened to flattened out before Roger Rosenberg's baritone sax hit bottom.)

Similar to Newbee's penchant for realistic piano reproduction, I am a fool for saxophones. I want to hear Webster's breathing, or the difference in embouchere between Ammons and Jacquet. Because that's what you hear in person (assuming the space has decent acoustics and/or amplification). I've been in any number of jazz clubs across the country from the Blue Note to Snug Harbor to Shelly's to Jazz Alley, and the best listening experience in those clubs is what I strive for in my sytem. With very few exceptions, my Parsifals are able to better reproduce those experiences than the majority of speakers I've had the opportunity to listen to. Accurate - and pleasing - reproduction of frequency extremes is good, but never, never at the expense of the midrange.