[whytejon]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post all the way from bonnie Scotland!

Received my VR5se Anniversary speakers about 4 weeks ago, and have been trying to integrate them into my system ever since.

I have to say, they are lovely speakers, probably the best ive heard, but im still questioning whether they are right for me.

Ive been finding them slightly bass shy, without pushing them very close to the rear wall, which in turn sacrifices the depth of image - Very nice in all other areas though!! - im willing to give my thoughts on them if anyone is interested!

I have the chance of a set of Rockport Mira Grand speakers as an exchange, and i just wondered if anyone has heard them??

Any input would be welcome!

Many Thanks
Jon

Gear as follows:

[McTwins]

Hi
I would keep the VR5 because they have better freq responce then the Rockport. There seems to be lots of bass problem here and it's not the speakers that cause them. It's your room that have the bass problems and it won't help if you are changing the speakers.
Thanks

[es347]

Hi Jon,

Welcome to the VSA circle.  I own the anniversaries and like them a lot.  Listen the Miras and if they sound better to your ears by all means go for it.  From what I have read, they are outstanding speakers.  In fact, I've never heard anything negative about any of the Rockports.

Gavin

[McTwins]

You are absolutely right Gavin, it is not my intesion to critizise the Rockport by any means, except for the freq responce.   It is allways easy to blame the speakers, that's my point.

Sorry I forgot, you are very welcome to VSA circle.
Thanks

[es347]

I am in total agreement with you McTwins.  Jon's lack of bass has to be room acoustics and placement.  The annies if properly placed, etc. will never disappoint.  But those Miras are pretty cool speakers too 

[Delacroix]

Jon

First, welcome to the board. Nice to have a fellow Celt (but I won't ask about your soccer affiliation

Second -- you have great speakers and great amps so I am really surprised to learn you are experiencing bass-shyness with this set up. Couple of quick things to think about before you give up on them:

1) Try positioning differently with respect to the side-walls, not the rear walls. I find the Vons do change as you position them but without knowing more about your room, it's hard to be specific on location. Try shifting your listening position too to determine if the response shifts.

2) Could it be they need more break in?

3) Slightly silly but is it possible they shipped with some stuffing in the ports? People do adjust the bass response with this technique.

4) Check all the cable connections at the rear terminals and amps - am sure it's not this but you never know.

I don't know what you had before the Vons but is it possible that you were more used to a bass-heavy speaker? As you can see, lots of possible variables. At the end of the day, a purchase of this magnitude has to be right for you so it's worth the time to try everything and maybe even switch in a new amp or front end to just make sure the shyness lies with the speaker and not anything else.

Keep trying and let us know

Best

Delacroix

[es347]

Maybe I can provide a bit of helpful perspective here.  My VR5 Anniversaries have about 400 hrs. on them and continue to break in nicely.  About 150 hrs. ago, I got the bug to add a subwoofer or two thinking that I was missing out on the lowest registers of the music.  That prompted an angst-filled process of what seemed endless googling and subwoofer reviews not to mention a thread I started here on the VSA circle asking for advice.  Well now we're at the 400+/- hour break in plateau and just let me say...in the immortal words of Rosanne Rosanadana.....nevermind.  My VR5s are going way low now with good detail and great heft.  So before a new VR5 Anniversary owner decides to boxed 'em up and ship 'em out, you might want to think about giving them a chance to get to where mine are today.  I haven't listened to the Rockports but I have listened to Wilson puppies, Magico V3s, ML CLXs, Dynaudios, B&Ws, MAC towers and the new Snell Illusions and having heard all of those speakers I can honestly say that none of them better and few equal what I own.  And regarding the bass response...."we don't need no stinking subwoofers!"

[ceedee]

Dear Jon,

Welcome on the AC.

This is the right place to get information about VSA and probably we are able to help solving your 'problem'.
As a VSA representant for more than 12 years I think I have some experience with the VSA's.
I know the VR 5 SE rather well and also the Mira Grand which is a impressive system.

First of all we need a bit more info about your situation.
Can you give us more details like room acoustics, size, furniture, curtain, carpet, floor, ceiling, house construction etc. Hope you can send us a few pictures with detailed information.

Than we can make a simulation and clear the air for you.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Cor Dekker
Musical Reality
European Installation manager
for VSA

[JackD201]

Greetings!

Being both a VSA and Lamm distributor, I have experienced that the M2.2 is a better match for the SR and 5 series of speakers in rooms larger than 25 to 30 sqm. Might I know how large your room is and what your flooring, walls and ceiling are made of?

Also, the Mira Grands are much more difficult to drive so you'll likely have the same problem anyway.

JackD

[whytejon]

Hello again!

Thanks for your input guys, appreciated.

To let you know where i am now with this......

I have put the problem down to something very simple.  It appears that initially i had not clamped the WBT binding posts down on the speaker cable end terminations correctly, and that is what has been giving me the issue with lack of bass (and generally mediocre sound). 

I also gave all the connections a good clean and conditioned them, that has help enormously as well.

The speakers i had before were Proac D80s, i did an A-B comparison yesterday, and the VR5s are clearly better in all areas than the Proacs (although the Proacs are great speakers).

Late last night, the sound i was listening to was very encouraging (the quality of sound that i had expected from these speakers), and im now looking forward to more tweeking and more listening!! 

Ill keep you posted!!

Cheers

[ceedee]

Hi Jon,

Glad you solved the problem your self.
This happens to us too sometimes.

Enjoy the VSA's making music.

At any help.

Regards,

Cor