[rich58b]

I bought my VR 33’s 8 years ago, and spent the first month trying out different distances from the wall to get the best sound, especially the bass response. Seeing as they were designed to be placed close to the wall,  I ended up with them being about 8” from the wall, and they sounded great.  Recently, I moved the speakers away from the wall to clean behind, and I decided to see what they sounded like being about 2 feet away (back of speaker to wall). I was amazed at how good they sounded, and it was better than they were before. The sound stage was wider and there was an airiness about the sound that I had never heard before. There didn’t seem to be any real loss to the bass response either, which surprised me.

I’m stoked about this, and wonder if anyone else has tried this with their VR33’s or 35’s and did they get similar results?

[kernelbob]

Some VR33/35 owners report good results by placing a rigid mass behind the speaker.  Something like a large butcher block cutting board, cinder block(s), etc..  The mass should vertically extend to at least above the rear facing woofer.  If you try this, please post your impressions.

Robert

[rich58b]

Thanks Robert, if I can lay my hands on something solid to put behind them, I’ll give it a try and report here. I’m guessing this is because of the “giving” qualities of sheetrock?
Rich

[mcallij1]

I have my VR'35s  33" from the wall and use the master set speaker setup. They sound great I don't think they will sound any better no matter what I do. The sound stage sounds incredible, separation is amazing , voices are so surreal I can never get enough of listening to them. Never gets old and I can not wait for the next session. 

[kernelbob]

To rich58b's comment, I wasn't thinking about addressing a less than rigid wall, but addding a rigid "miniwall" behind the woofer sounds like an interesting thing to try in that situation.  The miniwall approach allows maintaining a short speaker to "wall" coupling while allowing the speakers to be brought further into the room.  Every room is different.  As mcallij1 commented, a sweet spot may even be found with the speakers 33" from the front wall without needing to provide close bass loading.

I remember setting up VR-22's for a friend.  The location was a small room with the speakers placed very closely to either side of an 80" TV.  We found that varying the distance to the front wall, even by a quarter of an inch, changed the sound.  Same thing for rotating the toe-in.  Eventually we found a sweet spot, optimizing frequency balance and sound staging, but the placement was very critical.  Also, the set up isn't complete until the speakers are spiked.

[mcallij1]

The bass also sounds very deep and clean ,some of the jazz I listen to you can still feel the bass. It took me a long while to get to this point I use the master set setup I found on this forum. But it took many try's to get the technique right  it was worth it. I have learned how to use the room acoustics to make the speaker perform it best.

[Kevin_X]

Moving my VR-33's from 4" (port-to-wall) to 10" made such a huge difference in imaging that I was blown away.  They hang the music in the air, and expand the illusion beyond the walls, to the point of almost putting the VR-4's to shame!  I guess time stands still for no speaker.

You just can't make the 33's sound bad, they only possess varying degrees of good.  It'll be interesting to compare these with my mains which retailed for 3x the 33's selling price.  Gotta sell some stuff first so I can have room.  I will have the Allison CD-9's up here this week though; that'll be a fun comparo.

[gme109]

I'm my room I found the VR 35's sounded best with them placed 4" from port to front wall.
These are amazing speakers, and I've enjoyed them immensely over the years.
Alas I've upgraded to something else, so I've placed my beloved VR35s up for sale if anyone's interested.

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=173623.msg1833702#msg1833702