[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Mr. Greg Weaver of Positive Feedback has written a short summary of his upcoming review:
 
The Von Schweikert Audio VR-22 – First Impressions…
 
Take two relatively new drivers from ScanSpeak – a glass-fiber nanotube woofer and an all-new dual-ring radiator tweeter — acoustically blended imperceptibly using the finest European crossover parts, mount them in a quasi-transmission line, Triple Layer construction enclosure uniquely engineered to be the most room friendly design released in decades, and you have the new Von Schweikert Audio VR-22. While I have a complete review is in the works, I simply must share my preliminary experience with this new and amazing loudspeaker.
 
In brief, the VR-22 is a MARVEL at its price; one that gracefully and effectively blurs the line of resolution and musicality. Once properly placed, I’ve NEVER heard an 8-inch, 2-way loudspeaker, at ANY PRICE, fill a room with SUCH impact and weight at the lower end of the spectrum, and with such UTTER authority and prowess. And talk about resolution! Not in-your-face, take-the-paint-off-the-walls, etching detail, but honest to gawd, musically relevant resolution. They will play LOUD for their breed, with no sense of strain or breakup…so long as the amps are up to the challenge. But you’ve been warned, using less than equally exceptional sources, amplification, or preamplification, and you WILL hear it.
 
This is an exciting and affordable new product that should set a new benchmark at the price point! Most enthusiastically recommended.
 
 Greg Weaver - the audio analyst©

Senior Editor – Positive Feedback Online

[Cheeseboy]

Congradulations on the great reveiw.

In the body of the review it mentions the Nano Tube Technology.  What is the significance of thie technology and how does it work?

I just purchased another product that sounds so much better than its low price, the JVC HA-S400 Stereo Headphones-"with Carbon Nanotubes Diaphragms".   There seems to be some new designs using this thechnology.

[JLM]

I met Greg briefly at an audiofest.  He is one of my favorite reviewers as he confirms much of what I hear.

[mdconnelly]

"a glass-fiber nanotube woofer and an all-new dual-ring radiator tweeter"

Congrats Albert!    I'm curious... is this substantially different than what is in the VR-33/35s?

[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Nano-tube details:

A diaphragm designed to replicate the vibration of sound waves needs to be both rigid and extremely light in weight.  However, if a solid material is used, like metal, plastic, or paper, the cone can go into "breakup" modes since there is little or no internal damping.  In most cases, light and rigid cones or domes are surface-damped with a soft plastic, rubber, or oxide particle coating; this prevents the cone from bending or ringing during cone excitation.  However, it adds additional mass and weight...

The "nano tube" cone/dome material is a relatively new development.  The reason for it is the goal to achieve internal damping without additional mass. In most cases, nano tubes are composed of thin strands of carbon fiber; they can be hollow or solid, depending on the width of the cone/dome/diaphragm and how much stiffness is required for pistonic motion without breakup.  The nano tubes can be either layered or woven, depending on whether you want to make a small dome tweeter or a wide woofer cone.  The nano tubes can be filled with a damping material internally in each tube, or alternately, the strands can be coated with a damping agent prior to weaving.

Scanspeak has been at the forefront of this type of diaphragm development over the past couple of years; they supply several companies with various versions of this technology, including VSA.  Both of our drivers in the VR-22 are fabricated from the same materials and use the same damping compounds; this insures exact timbre matching of both woofer and tweeter!  When listening to these two drivers, you cannot hear the crossover point, since the drivers sound virtually identical.

[NewHTbuyer]

Albert,

Thanks for the details regarding nanotubes.  I have a question as a relative novice.  You mentioned on the VR-22s that you cannot hear the crossover point due to the similarities between the woofer and tweeter.  What would one notice if you could hear the crossover on a speaker?  I have never tried to listen for that specifically.

Thanks

[JackD201]

A discontinuity in timbre which leads to some spatial irregularities when it comes to projection.

Oops. The question was meant for Albert 

[es347]

I'm sure he won't mind 

[finsup]

A discontinuity in timbre which leads to some spatial irregularities when it comes to projection.

Oops. The question was meant for Albert 

How very Zen-like of you.

[Cheeseboy]

Thank you for the nano tube information.  I'm looking forward to hearing these. It made a huge improvement in the dynamics and mid bass detail in these headphones.  I'm sure you have Positive results in this speaker as well.

[JackD201]

How very Zen-like of you.

 

Yeah maybe I shoulda been clearer!

 

Okay, I'll get my propeller beanie on.

Look at it this way. Music is a series of events. Every note has an attack, sustain and decay. In other words every note has a time envelope. As the music plays through it's envelope there may or may not be content above or below the crossover points at different points in time. Take a floor tom. The transient starts out up high and crosses over downwards for it's decay. A snare will cross over upwards with it's decay as the wires rattle after the strike. The discontinuity I mentioned in a poorly implemented crossover sounds like just that, a discontinuity, a ripple in what should be a continuous smooth stream (Zen baby  ). These ripples can affect the phantom image's shape and stability.

The timbral differences are most noticeable in sustains. The texture can be altered by differing resonances of materials where they cross over. This time it isn't a discontinuity but rather an overlay in that band and in harmonics generated by them. Easiest way to test this out is to listen to the same material with headphones. In my case I use Electrostatic headphones every so often just to make sure I've got my head on straight.  Now having the same material isn't really a must provided that the resonances can be dealt with. Unfortunately as Albert mentioned typically coatings and various additional filters would be required to do this. The advantage of using the same material is that firstly you don't have to dope the drivers as much hence avoid adding mass but more importantly for the consumer, less parts in the signal path also means some savings.

[jimdgoulding]

The VR-22 is another speaker I would consider to replace what I have now.  The Magnepan 1.7's are getting looked at presently.

[JackD201]

Not a fan of end caps. I'd like a simple veneer for the 22s myself. Hopefully it can be an option in the future.

[JLM]

If I think about dissimilar materials vibrating an example comes to mind.  If you held a sheet of paper by the corner and snapped it with your other hand you can imagine that it would sound different than doing the same with a sheet of aluminum foil (same size/thickness of sheet).

This nanotube technology is state of the art materials science (think of it as the next carbon fiber).  The tubes tiny, being built atom by atom and take advantage of the six-way connections that allow carbon to be one of three (hydrogen and oxygen being the other two) building blocks of organic life and all the complex/relatively massive molecules needed to create life.

[jimdgoulding]

Not a fan of end caps. I'd like a simple veneer for the 22s myself. Hopefully it can be an option in the future.

I dislike the caps, too, Jack, because they stick too far out.  I'd prefer caps no bigger than the sock itself.

[JackD201]

Yup me too.