Hello VR-5 Anniversary Owners,
There are two differences between the original VR-5 Anniversary (released 2009) and the current Mk2 version:
a) The first 100 pairs did not have the full Triple-Wall Noise Cancelling lamination; at that time, we had not fully developed the final cabinet design. The Mk I had a 1" or 2" MDF and HDF wall (depending on the cabinet panel) internally damped with a 1" layer of felt/rubber lining. After we had finished the R&D of the UniField Line and had signed off on the artificial stone block layer design, it was incorporated into all of our models (except for the "budget" factory direct VR-33), including the subsequent production runs of VR-5 Anniversaries. Since there are quite a few of the non stone-damped cabinets in existence, our Mk2 upgrade presumes that the cabinets will need this additional work. If you find that your cabinets weigh more than the original weight, which was 103 lbs for each woofer module and 53 lbs for the M/T head unit, then your pair has the internal stone damping blocks. It is clear that the two posters, Henry and JohnLee, have the stone damping layers in their VR-5 Anniversary Mk 1's, so their potential upgrades will be far less expensive should they elect to have the upgrade done. Our apologies to Henry and his dealer about the lack of clarity on this important point.
b) The original wiring in the VR-5 Anniversary Mk1 was supplied by Analysis Plus and consists of a copper tube formed by woven copper stands of very thin gauge wire, compressed into a ribbon shape. This "Oval Copper" cable has a very warm, smooth sound quality which ameliorates the stridency found in a few digital sources and solid state amplifiers that we encountered in 1999. However, we have since discovered that the vinyl insulation and crystallized copper wires used in the Analysis Plus wire is obscuring detail, which in turn creates the "warm" sound; although enjoyable under certain circumstances, it does not offer the ultimate clarity or image focus.
Since we have made a decision to move towards a more transparent sound and hope that our customers are using high quality equipment, we sought the most transparent form of conductor available. After testing solid and stranded wires, made with copper, silver, aluminum, and other alloys, we then delved into the molecular structure of the conductors. An engineer from Delphi Aerospace provided us with samples of metals made with differing processes, suggesting that we should focus on lab-grade crystal-free copper, with various types of shielding and insulating materials. This is the type of wire used in space craft and is arguably the most neutral sounding (and measuring) conductor we have found. Although shocked at the retail price paid by the government ($80/inch), we were able to secure a lower price based on their enthusiasm for our products, as one of their engineering group is an audiophile. However, as they say, "it aint cheap."
Back in the dark days of the 1970's when I was a "wire Luddite" and did not consider wire to be of any "real" importance (having come from an engineering background where "rusty coat hangers would work just fine as speaker cable" according to one of my professors), my discovery of the "sound" of wire came as a surprise. As you can imagine, wire can't improve the signal, it can only degrade it. The Delphi Aerospace NASA cabling has the least effect on the signal, making it our choice of wire for not only the Anniversary Mk2, but all of our new Mk2 systems from the UniField Series up to the mighty VR-11SE Mk2, recently shown at the Singapore MOD show last week. See our Facebook page for photos and news of that fantastic show.
If you have any questions about upgrades for any of our past models, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Happy Listening,
Albert
