I am the first owner of a pair of the Vicino?s designed by Rick Craig utilizing the 6" SB17NRXC35 midwoofer and 1? SB29RDC tweeter from SB Acoustics. Rick designed the speakers at my request for a monitor to be used with a subwoofer in a nearfield application in my home office. I am exceedingly sensitive to glare and grain in the mid-range and treble and had been using a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1?s. While the VR-1?s certainly did not offend, they were lacking in detail in the nearfield application in my office and I was looking for a nearfield monitor that could offer additional detail without harshness or glare. In an email to Rick I explained that I never heard a pair of ACI Sapphire XL?s, but the descriptions in all the reviews I read described my ?ideal? nearfield monitor. After spending a month with the Vicino?s and comparing them with a known entity in the VR-1?s I thought I would post a brief description of my experience with the two speakers.
My home office system consists of the digital output from an M-Audio Revolution 7.1 sound card in my computer running to a Proceed AVP and then to an old and trusted friend, my early 90's acquisition, the B&K ST-140. During this past month I have listened to the Vicino and the VR-1 both with and without a subwoofer. While my listening preferences may not be typical I thought I should share the artists and music I used to evaluate the Vicino?s:
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Pink Floyd (1972 ? onward)
Steely Dan (All)
Fourplay
Diana Krall
Bill Evans
Alison Kraus
Tony Rice
Stan Rogers
Tchaikovsky?s 1812 Overture (Yes, the infamous Telarc recording)
Numerous Bach Toccatas & fugues
Many, many recordings of Copeland?s ?Fanfare For The Common Man?
A variety of Japanese Taiko recordings (great for revealing transients in the attack on the drums)
Several recordings of Japanese Shakuhachi (breath sounds are great for evaluating ambience & echo)
Initially I found the Vicino?s had a much livelier, and accurate presentation; especially in the lower registers. However, I found the imaging and detail to be somewhat lacking. Subjectively I thought this improved over time and when swapping the VR-1?s back into the system after a month with the Vicino?s, I confirmed this to be the case. That swap revealed the amount of detail lost by the VR-1?s that is lovingly offered up by the Vicino?s...without glare, cringing or wincing I might add!
What is the Reader?s Digest version of my experiences? YMMV but in octave-to-octave balance, voicing, imaging and detail, I thought the Vicino was the obvious winner in every category. Are you building a system for a small room with limited finances and facing a choice between a $600 pair of used Von Schweikert VR-1?s and Rick?s $795 per pair Vicino?s? Purchase Rick?s Vicino?s without question. Whatever you have to do to justify the extra cost, you will still be smiling several years down the road! By the way, is anyone out there looking for a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1?s in the African Hazelwood finish?
