I wanted to post a follow up my impressions of my new Von Schweikert VR 30's and my search for an "end game" speaker. I started getting the itch for new speakers several years ago. I was using a pair of KEF Reference 107's (Version 1) that I had purchased new 38 years prior. So obviously, I am not one that gets the "itch" very often! I've enjoyed the KEF's for many years. They were great speakers in their day and still hold up well to many modern speakers IMHO. I like the full, musically involving sound of the KEF's. They are slightly warm and laid back, rich and full sounding, and extremely easy to listen to for hours on end. I did not want to lose those attributes in a new speaker, but was looking to gain more transparency, detail and resolution, and overall better dynamics in a new speaker. So, with those characteristics in mind, I attended multiple shows and made numerous road trips to dealers to audition new speakers. Over a 2+ year period, I auditioned a lot of great speakers. It is easy to get dazzled by detail and dynamics when auditioning speakers, but on extended listening, I don't find speakers like that to be emotionally involving. I wanted to make sure I ended up with a speaker that I could live with for a long time, so I promised myself that I would not make a change, until I found a speaker that checked all those boxes and was a big leap forward in terms of performance over what I already had.
I had heard Von Schweikert speakers at shows and was always impressed, but I had not considered them because of the size of my listening room. My dedicated room is medium sized at 15x13 and the Von Schweikert speakers I had heard at shows were too much speaker for that space. Enter the relatively new VR 30. I first heard the VR 30's at Axpona this year, and later at an excellent audition at Choice Audio in the Minneapolis area. I won't attempt to provide a review of the VR 30's, but suffice it to say, they provide all the things I was looking for with increased transparency, dynamics, and resolution, while still being one of the most musical and emotionally involving speakers I auditioned. The realism, imaging, and soundstage projection of these speakers is the best of the many speakers I auditioned. Holographic imaging is an overused descriptor, but these speakers absolutely disappear in my room. The other big selling point for me with the VR 30's over several competing speakers was the adjustability of the Foundation Bass system and rear ambient tweeter. My room is well treated with GIK acoustic room treatments, but like many rooms, it has a couple of openings and is not perfectly symmetrical. I had the acoustic treatments optimized for the KEF's, so the ability to "dial" the new VR 30's into that space was a big plus. With the VR 30's, Von Schweikert has packed a lot of performance into a modestly sized speaker, that works perfectly in smaller to medium sized rooms. After tweaking, playing with positioning, and getting the speakers set up on a proper foundation, I feel I now have the speakers optimized. They have exceeded my expectations. The guys at Von Schweikert were very helpful and answered my many questions in both emails and at Axpona 2025. I'd also give a hearty recommendation for Choice Audio in Minneapolis. James at Choice Audio is great to work with and is refreshingly straightforward. Choice Audio is putting the final touches on a new brick and mortar listening space, so he will soon have a top-notch location for auditions. I would certainly recommend that anyone looking for speakers in this price range, give these speakers an audition. Happy Listening!
I had heard Von Schweikert speakers at shows and was always impressed, but I had not considered them because of the size of my listening room. My dedicated room is medium sized at 15x13 and the Von Schweikert speakers I had heard at shows were too much speaker for that space. Enter the relatively new VR 30. I first heard the VR 30's at Axpona this year, and later at an excellent audition at Choice Audio in the Minneapolis area. I won't attempt to provide a review of the VR 30's, but suffice it to say, they provide all the things I was looking for with increased transparency, dynamics, and resolution, while still being one of the most musical and emotionally involving speakers I auditioned. The realism, imaging, and soundstage projection of these speakers is the best of the many speakers I auditioned. Holographic imaging is an overused descriptor, but these speakers absolutely disappear in my room. The other big selling point for me with the VR 30's over several competing speakers was the adjustability of the Foundation Bass system and rear ambient tweeter. My room is well treated with GIK acoustic room treatments, but like many rooms, it has a couple of openings and is not perfectly symmetrical. I had the acoustic treatments optimized for the KEF's, so the ability to "dial" the new VR 30's into that space was a big plus. With the VR 30's, Von Schweikert has packed a lot of performance into a modestly sized speaker, that works perfectly in smaller to medium sized rooms. After tweaking, playing with positioning, and getting the speakers set up on a proper foundation, I feel I now have the speakers optimized. They have exceeded my expectations. The guys at Von Schweikert were very helpful and answered my many questions in both emails and at Axpona 2025. I'd also give a hearty recommendation for Choice Audio in Minneapolis. James at Choice Audio is great to work with and is refreshingly straightforward. Choice Audio is putting the final touches on a new brick and mortar listening space, so he will soon have a top-notch location for auditions. I would certainly recommend that anyone looking for speakers in this price range, give these speakers an audition. Happy Listening!
