[spab]

I was recently in southern California and took the opportunity to pay a visit to the Von Schweikert factory in Riverside. Albert and crew were most welcoming! Amidst a busy Monday, Albert made time to visit, listen to music, and give me a tour of the building. This occurred over several hours.  Most of the time was spent listening to the new VR 22’s that were set up in the front listening room. Albert was still evaluating and deciding on the final crossover configuration for the speakers. As Albert described in the VR 22 thread he recently initiated, the 22’s are similar in appearance to the VR 33’s. The main differences are that the 22’s are ten inches shorter at 40” tall versus the 50” tall 33’s, and the front of the 22’s is a little wider to accommodate the front mounted 8”driver. (On the 33’s, the largest drivers front mounted are 6” as the 10” woofer is rear mounted.) The rears of both speakers are identical at 16”wide. The pair we were listening to was finished with the mocha or tan grill wrap and the Anigre wood trim end caps. They looked very nice. Albert was kind enough to print out for me a color sheet displaying the three possible grill cloth colors as well as the eight options for the wood trim end caps. They were also a bi-wired version and Albert indicated this was an extra $200 option. The speakers were set up about 6-8’ apart and 15” from the rear wall. The listening position was about 12’ away. The speakers were driven by Jolida tube monoblocks, a Coincident tube pre Albert had on loan from a customer, a Jolida cd player used as a transport connected to an Audio Research dac also on loan from a customer. Cabling was Von Schweikert throughout.   
Overall, I was very impressed with the sound of the speakers. Albert indicated that “it took a year to figure out this design.” He spoke very positively of the combination of these two drivers. The sound was seamless from top to bottom.  It was open and focused with no apparent deficiency in the mids and highs. I was definitely curious to see how they fared in the bottom end as I own three other pairs of Von Schweikert speakers that are all rated to 20hz. No matter how good any monitor speaker may be, the lack of deep impactful bass is always something that irritates me and steers me toward larger full range designs. I am happy to report that the bass produced by the VR 22’s did not strike me as deficient! It was deep and impactful and this included a recording with low organ notes. Albert rates the speakers to 30hz and it sure seemed as though they delivered.
I have heard the 33’s before as well and it is amazing the massive soundstage those speakers can throw, as well as the copious bass they can deliver. Albert noted the 22’s don’t throw as massive a soundstage but perhaps deliver a more focused sound. My impressions seemed to concur with this. In addition, the two-way 22’s aren’t quite going to be the party speaker that the larger 33’s can be. However, for the audiophile on a budget looking for high end sound with deep, impactful bass, but not needing to play at extreme levels in larger rooms, the 22’s may just be the ticket. They are open, focused, with seamless integration, and deep impactful bass. They will deliver full range high end sound for under 3k. I say Albert has designed another winner.                             

[pardales]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

[roscoeiii]

Great to get some listening impressions of the VR-22. Can you give us an idea of the other VSA speakers you have had and how the VR-22s compare besides in the bass?

Thanks.

[drubin]

Enjoy the Music posted this photo yesterday.  Is this what the VR-22 you auditioned looks like?

[spab]

Yes, those are the speakers. The Von Schweikert facebook page also has pics of them.
The other Von Schweikerts I own are the DB 100's, the VR 4 modded to 5/7, and the VR 5 Anniversary Mk 1. The Anniversaries are the most resolving, transparent, and have the tightest bass. The other two are more forgiving but still very good in all areas.  In listening to the VR 22's, I never had the impression that I was listening to a speaker that was clearly a major step down from what I was used to. Are they going to resolve and be as transparent as the Anniversaries? No, but as with my other two speakers I would still describe the performance as very good. Will they do bass to the extent of my larger speakers? No, one 8" driver isn't going to quite match two 9" drivers. However, as I indicated, I wasn't asking, "Where is the bass?" Will they throw as large of a soundstage as the larger speakers. Probably not, they are a smaller two-way design. But, again, it was still very good and not obviously substantially inferior. So, to sum up, my impression was that Albert has done a brilliant job in designing a two-way floor stander that delivers a substantial amount of the performance of his larger full range designs.           

[drubin]

Those of you who have lived with VR-33's (or Vandersteens), any thoughts on how to keep the cats from shredding the cloth covers?

Actually, I've had some luck with carpet protection plastic (comes in a roll), inverted so the "spikes" point up. The spikes are not all that fierce, however, so success depends on how determined the cat is.  Keeps barefoot humans a safe distance away, too.

[es347]

Declaw via laser...at least that's what we did and our cats sill love us 

[dflee]

Laser cut your fingers at the first knuckle and see how well you handle it.
There are a lot of Vets who won't declaw anymore. Every-time you cut your nails, Trim the cats nails. Anyone who can't take care of their animals properly shouldn't have one. For that reason also I probably will never be able to own the 22 or like speaker. Love the sound of VR.

[Gopher]

I was very worries about that, having two cats but it has been a non issue.  They'll occasionally rub up on the speaker but my grills remain fine...  wish I could say the same for my couch and ottoman.

[es347]

Not an issue for me.  I was given the choice between listening to Bose 901s or having my fingernails pulled out.

[BigSwede]

Laser cut your fingers at the first knuckle and see how well you handle it.
There are a lot of Vets who won't declaw anymore. Every-time you cut your nails, Trim the cats nails. Anyone who can't take care of their animals properly shouldn't have one.

Of course it hurts, a lot...but given the choice a cat might just take that deal considering the alternative is often euthanasia.