VR 44 Passive and Aactive
- Thread starter Gregadd
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Lots of companies were doing all aluminum before Magico like Piega for example. The stillborn X-Dream of Daniel Kessin predates both Magico and YG as well. Dynaudio was using aluminum front baffles before Magico did the V series years ahead. This is not a swipe/reference to Magico at all.
What are magico's pricepoints...do they have 30K and 50K...which they refer to in the clip? i think they do. personally, magico did come to mind for me here. i would say a complement if venerable designers are refering to the work done by Magico, and trying to compete with its results.
Gotta hand it to Magico for advertising so well that whenever aluminum is mentioned it makes them top of mind over YG, Sonicweld, Krell, et al. even if they weren't first. When did Celestion do it successfully with the Aerolams? Late 80s or early 90s?
Practically everybody has speakers in the 30k range these days. The 50k range is one that is starting to fill up. Q5, Alexia, Vandy 7. I think we'll see more in this "bridge" price point.
Practically everybody has speakers in the 30k range these days. The 50k range is one that is starting to fill up. Q5, Alexia, Vandy 7. I think we'll see more in this "bridge" price point.
I heard both versions of the VR-44 speakers at RMAF. Unfortunately, I heard the passive version powered by a monoblock pair of EL-34 amps and that combination had no real bass. I could easily point the finger at the EL-34 amps as the reason why, but that would be mere conjecture based on my experience with EL-34 amps. Bottom line is that there was no bottom line with the VR-44 speakers powered by these amps. I heard some of the same tapes I own played on this system and I know how much more bass is truly there to be had.
Good point...in fact, excellent point. As for Celestions, I believe the Celestion SL600 came out in the late '80s...when i bought my SL6si, it was 1993 and they were already quite an older product...and i know the SL700 had already come out. the review for the SL6000 (the dipole subs that went with SL600) came out '94. And yes, those Aerolam materials were great...super lite but very little cabinet resonance.
This is one of the usual puzzle to me about manufacturers at show .. Don't they listen to the combination or do they simply go on blind faith? I mean, this is a $30K speaker after all .. It should be shown under the best conditions lest it creates a very negative first impression..
By the way, good bass reproduction is one of the hallmarks of VSA speakers.. the VR-4 would surprise many into thinking there had to be a sub somewhere in the room ... I got fooled myself ...
I'm puzzled myself Frantz. Albert always seems to have his speakers under powered at shows. EL34s have lovely mids but I've yet to meet a 34 based amp that does deep tuneful bass. In his own description of the 44 Passive he describes this as a speaker for people with stout power amps. Why the Jolida then?One of the recent years he went to show with the VR-9 with VAC. Big room. Unfortunately what would have worked were the 300.1s, that wasn't what they had on hand. Way back when JT handled shows they were bi-amping with a pair of NHBs. Mike did the same at home. Still underpowered IMO. Sealed mid-bass enclosures just need more juice. Ask any Magico owner. 
I'll be going to show next week with the VR-44 Aktive (active bass below 100Hz) and have so far used a custom 16 watt per channel 300B parallel amp, a pair of Valvet A3.5s (50wpc) and a KR Audio VA900 (75wpc) Baby Kronzilla Integrated. We'll eventually use them with DX Mk2s (100wpc SET Parallel) since the suite is fairly large. I'm certain I could get away with just the Valvets or the Baby K integrated but I've got a Q3 next door with Lamm Hybrids we're loaning them. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. LOL!!!!!!
Sadly, if the sound is good in one of his rooms the source gets the attention. Last year and this the UHA reels got the attention with the VR-5 Anniversaries and the 44s. Also this year there was lots of attention for the Light Harmonic Da Vinci (I heard it in Singapore feeding VR-11 Mk2s and ordered one for myself by the way) no mentions practically of what they were hearing it through.
Then there's the bad luck. One year at CES, show partner Jadis got their gear stuck at customs. So they had to go with a hodgepodge of borrowed gear.
I'm not knocking Jolida. They provide great value but Mark and Frantz are right, they have been going with the wrong partners amp wise for a long stretch now. The new linkage with KR is a step in the right direction. We and our Italian counterparts have always had success with VS and Lamm. I doubt very much you'd see this in the US since Lamm's historical comfort zone is with Wilson and Verity. US VSA users gravitate towards McIntosh SS. Over here it's Lamm, Pass and Levinson. There's a lot of politics when it comes to who goes to show with who and it depends on where that show is.
From a purely business perspective, IMO only, when your competition has their products within the same price bracket showing with top notch amplification you are immediately at a disadvantage cache wise which IMO is even more dangerous than being at a disadvantage sound wise.
I'll be going to show next week with the VR-44 Aktive (active bass below 100Hz) and have so far used a custom 16 watt per channel 300B parallel amp, a pair of Valvet A3.5s (50wpc) and a KR Audio VA900 (75wpc) Baby Kronzilla Integrated. We'll eventually use them with DX Mk2s (100wpc SET Parallel) since the suite is fairly large. I'm certain I could get away with just the Valvets or the Baby K integrated but I've got a Q3 next door with Lamm Hybrids we're loaning them. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. LOL!!!!!!
Sadly, if the sound is good in one of his rooms the source gets the attention. Last year and this the UHA reels got the attention with the VR-5 Anniversaries and the 44s. Also this year there was lots of attention for the Light Harmonic Da Vinci (I heard it in Singapore feeding VR-11 Mk2s and ordered one for myself by the way) no mentions practically of what they were hearing it through.
Then there's the bad luck. One year at CES, show partner Jadis got their gear stuck at customs. So they had to go with a hodgepodge of borrowed gear.
I'm not knocking Jolida. They provide great value but Mark and Frantz are right, they have been going with the wrong partners amp wise for a long stretch now. The new linkage with KR is a step in the right direction. We and our Italian counterparts have always had success with VS and Lamm. I doubt very much you'd see this in the US since Lamm's historical comfort zone is with Wilson and Verity. US VSA users gravitate towards McIntosh SS. Over here it's Lamm, Pass and Levinson. There's a lot of politics when it comes to who goes to show with who and it depends on where that show is.
From a purely business perspective, IMO only, when your competition has their products within the same price bracket showing with top notch amplification you are immediately at a disadvantage cache wise which IMO is even more dangerous than being at a disadvantage sound wise.
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"I'll be going to show next week with the VR-44 Aktive (active bass below 100Hz) and have so far used a custom 16 watt per channel 300B parallel amp, a pair of Valvet A3.5s (50wpc) and a KR Audio VA900 (75wpc) Baby Kronzilla Integrated. We'll eventually use them with DX Mk2s (100wpc SET Parallel) since the suite is fairly large. I'm certain I could get away with just the Valvets or the Baby K integrated but I've got a Q3 next door with Lamm Hybrids we're loaning them. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. LOL!!!!!!"
VR 44 vs Q3? The winner? The SHOW ATTENDEES of course! Looking forward to next week, Jack!
VR 44 vs Q3? The winner? The SHOW ATTENDEES of course! Looking forward to next week, Jack!
I'm puzzled myself Frantz. Albert always seems to have his speakers under powered at shows. EL34s have lovely mids but I've yet to meet a 34 based amp that does deep tuneful bass. In his own description of the 44 Passive he describes this as a speaker for people with stout power amps. Why the Jolida then?One of the recent years he went to show with the VR-9 with VAC. Big room. Unfortunately what would have worked were the 300.1s, that wasn't what they had on hand. Way back when JT handled shows they were bi-amping with a pair of NHBs. Mike did the same at home. Still underpowered IMO. Sealed mid-bass enclosures just need more juice. Ask any Magico owner.
I'll be going to show next week with the VR-44 Aktive (active bass below 100Hz) and have so far used a custom 16 watt per channel 300B parallel amp, a pair of Valvet A3.5s (50wpc) and a KR Audio VA900 (75wpc) Baby Kronzilla Integrated. We'll eventually use them with DX Mk2s (100wpc SET Parallel) since the suite is fairly large. I'm certain I could get away with just the Valvets or the Baby K integrated but I've got a Q3 next door with Lamm Hybrids we're loaning them. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. LOL!!!!!!
Sadly, if the sound is good in one of his rooms the source gets the attention. Last year and this the UHA reels got the attention with the VR-5 Anniversaries and the 44s. Also this year there was lots of attention for the Light Harmonic Da Vinci (I heard it in Singapore feeding VR-11 Mk2s and ordered one for myself by the way) no mentions practically of what they were hearing it through.
Then there's the bad luck. One year at CES, show partner Jadis got their gear stuck at customs. So they had to go with a hodgepodge of borrowed gear.
I'm not knocking Jolida. They provide great value but Mark and Frantz are right, they have been going with the wrong partners amp wise for a long stretch now. The new linkage with KR is a step in the right direction. We and our Italian counterparts have always had success with VS and Lamm. I doubt very much you'd see this in the US since Lamm's historical comfort zone is with Wilson and Verity. US VSA users gravitate towards McIntosh SS. Over here it's Lamm, Pass and Levinson. There's a lot of politics when it comes to who goes to show with who and it depends on where that show is.
From a purely business perspective, IMO only, when your competition has their products within the same price bracket showing with top notch amplification you are immediately at a disadvantage cache wise which IMO is even more dangerous than being at a disadvantage sound wise.
I agree Jack. Mark and I said the same thing at RMAF this year where the speakers were driven by a Jolida EL34 based amp. EL34 based amps-lovely mids but not a lot at the extremes.
Me too Jerry
This should be a lot of fun. The guys at Architectural Audio know how to put together a mean system so I'm expecting the Q3s to sound really good. This one is going to be hectic for me. I'm a godfather at a baptism Saturday morning and leaving for Spain on Sunday. Balesin was great! My liver however is a bit the worse for wear. LOL!
I'm puzzled myself Frantz. Albert always seems to have his speakers under powered at shows. EL34s have lovely mids but I've yet to meet a 34 based amp that does deep tuneful bass. In his own description of the 44 Passive he describes this as a speaker for people with stout power amps. Why the Jolida then?One of the recent years he went to show with the VR-9 with VAC. Big room. Unfortunately what would have worked were the 300.1s, that wasn't what they had on hand. Way back when JT handled shows they were bi-amping with a pair of NHBs. Mike did the same at home. Still underpowered IMO. Sealed mid-bass enclosures just need more juice. Ask any Magico owner.
I'll be going to show next week with the VR-44 Aktive (active bass below 100Hz) and have so far used a custom 16 watt per channel 300B parallel amp, a pair of Valvet A3.5s (50wpc) and a KR Audio VA900 (75wpc) Baby Kronzilla Integrated. We'll eventually use them with DX Mk2s (100wpc SET Parallel) since the suite is fairly large. I'm certain I could get away with just the Valvets or the Baby K integrated but I've got a Q3 next door with Lamm Hybrids we're loaning them. Gotta keep up with the Joneses. LOL!!!!!!
Sadly, if the sound is good in one of his rooms the source gets the attention. Last year and this the UHA reels got the attention with the VR-5 Anniversaries and the 44s. Also this year there was lots of attention for the Light Harmonic Da Vinci (I heard it in Singapore feeding VR-11 Mk2s and ordered one for myself by the way) no mentions practically of what they were hearing it through.
Then there's the bad luck. One year at CES, show partner Jadis got their gear stuck at customs. So they had to go with a hodgepodge of borrowed gear.
I'm not knocking Jolida. They provide great value but Mark and Frantz are right, they have been going with the wrong partners amp wise for a long stretch now. The new linkage with KR is a step in the right direction. We and our Italian counterparts have always had success with VS and Lamm. I doubt very much you'd see this in the US since Lamm's historical comfort zone is with Wilson and Verity. US VSA users gravitate towards McIntosh SS. Over here it's Lamm, Pass and Levinson. There's a lot of politics when it comes to who goes to show with who and it depends on where that show is.
From a purely business perspective, IMO only, when your competition has their products within the same price bracket showing with top notch amplification you are immediately at a disadvantage cache wise which IMO is even more dangerous than being at a disadvantage sound wise.
"US VSA users gravitate towards McIntosh SS"....+1 here
The VR 44 A's are now happily singing at Keith's (nephilim here at WBF) place so he tells me. His front end is an Accuphase DP-78, pre is a Lamm LL2, amps are Lamm ML2.1s. He uses a Lyngdorf RP-1 for DRC, Audience for power conditioning and K/S Emotion ICs, PCs, and Masterbuilt SCs (same as speaker's internal wiring).
LOL!
Here's the right link
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/von-schweikert-audio-vr-44-aktive-loudspeaker/
Here's the right link
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/von-schweikert-audio-vr-44-aktive-loudspeaker/
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