[zash]

Hello Everybody,

I'm looking to build a new system from scratch. I listen mostly to acoustic music with voice (acoustic guitar, celtic, classic, folk music etc..) and sometimes  electronic dance music (the polar opposite, I know). I like a live-like dynamic sound that's forward, but not fatiguing... I have a small-medium size listening room.

I'm looking for a setup that is very musical and draws you into the music as opposed to listen to 'sound'. If it sounds good with electronic music as well, that's a bonus, not a requirement.

My current contenders are (in no particular order):

Harbeth SHL-5
Von Schweikert VR-33
Emiment Tech LFT-8

What I like about the von Schweikert is the 3 way approach with the midrange covering a wide area, and that it has good bass, which is a weakness of the other two..

I'm however concerned about musicality, having heard several high end brands that sound pretty sterile to me (Wilson Watt/Puppy, Cabasse and most German speakers) and would have a better place in an academic setting than in the living room of a music lover... I never heard a Von Schweikert speaker and thus have no idea how they are voiced.

Of the 3 speakers I only heard the LFT-8 and liked it a lot, though it has limitations and needs an amp I wouldn't buy otherwise... The Harbeth has no midrange driver (but is supposed to be very musical)...

So on paper the VR-33 looks great...

Which bring me to the next question of amp matching. Here are my candidates:

First Watt F5 (Bi-Amped)
Atma Sphere M60
ARC VS-115

Does anybody have the VR-33 with any of the above amps?

Is the VR-33 considered musical?

I'd appreciate constructive responses

Thanks!

[varsharun]

I have owned VSA speakers for a long time and love their sheer musicality, transparency, soundstage, imaging, etc, with all types of music. You cannot go wrong with the VR-33. As far as amp matching, what is your budget? Do you lean towards solid state or tubes? Do you want integrated or separates?

-Arun

[mhconley]

One of the things I love about Von Schweikert speakers is how musical they are; the UniField 3 is the most beautifully musical speaker I have ever heard.  I agree with your assessment that many high end speakers sound sterile.  I found the YG Acoustics Anat Reference to be the epitome of that quality. (Their Kipod model however is suprisingly musical.)

The Harbeth's have a certain sound that you either like or you don't.  The box is designed to resonate adding to the sound.  I find them too similar to the buzzy box Cerwin-Vega's I owned in my youth.

The VR-33 is highly musical and will be the speaker that removes the "wannabe" from my profile.   

I cannot contribute on the specific amps you mentioned but I plan to drive them with my Parasound Halo A 21 which Albert has said would be a good match.

Martin

[CGull]

 I have owned the VR-33's for 7 months now and I still get goose bumps listening to some tracks. For 20 years I had ADS-1290 in my system and 5 years ago replaced them with B&W CM7's. I stopped listening to music like I use too with the B&W's. The metal domes where way to harsh and I would keep switching tracks and turning the volume down. Fast forward to the VR-33's: Frist thing is they are they are so simple to set up. No toe-in, no sticking out 3 feet into the room, all you have to do is tune for how much bass volume you want. Second, If your married your wife will love having them, they sound the best close to the wall. Third, You get a risk free demo. In the big picture all your risking is $300 for shipping if they are not what you hoped for. ( I highly doubt many get shipped back). Fourth regardless of the placement and price they are some of the best imaging speakers I've heard with amazing speed and dynamics. Lastly I posted early this week asking what the length a speaker lasts since I'm playing them 6 to 8 hours daily. So that should answer just how musical they are.
                                                                                                                   Chris
P.S. Where are you located? I live in Milwaukee and I've offered my par for demo when Albert has customers in the area. I have offered this for him because I believe so much in the product and for how much he's done for us audiophiles.
 I've spoke to Albert several times for such a cult hero in regards to speasker building he has always found time to personally interact with his customers. He never once sounds like a salesman, infact I was willing to spend more money and he assured me that the VR-33 was the speaker for me and I did not need to spend thousands more on one of his other speakers for what I was using them for.

[zash]

Thanks for all the replies. Now I got curious about the Unifield 3 A very nice speaker!

Thanks for the offer Cris, but I'll probably have to arrange a trip to listen to them in CA...

[Steve]

Thanks for all the replies. Now I got curious about the Unifield 3 A very nice speaker!

Thanks for the offer Cris, but I'll probably have to arrange a trip to listen to them in CA...

Hi Zash,

One thing I would like to mention is don't be afraid to try all sorts of speaker positions. I find that it helps in "getting to know a speaker" and how the sound changes when varying the distance from the front wall, side walls, and rotating the speakers, straight ahead, rotated slightly out, or in.

Once one determines how the sound changes, one can tweek the highs, lows etc as time goes by to suit you. Enjoy.

Cheers.