[whytejon]

I was using Sugden Masterclass electronics and was on my 2nd set of Proacs, the Response 2.5s.

I saw a set of Proac D80s on ebay, and put a bid on them.  I was working in Australia at the time, and the speakers were in London, but oh well, i would work out logistics IF i won them.   

Went to bed, woke up the next day, and suddenly remembered that i had put a spontaneous bid on speakers the night before, which i had won!!   

So lived with the Sugden / D80 combo for a year, loved it, but didnt feel the Sugden electronics were doing the D80s justice.

So then i went about upgrading the electronics.  Ended up going a bit higher end than i first anticipated, so by the time i finished, the D80s were starting to look out of there depth!!   

The chap i bought my LAMM amps from is also a VS dealer, so he persuaded me into a pair of VR5s, i took a total punt on them, had never heard them before, but he assured me they were a massive step up from the D80s.

Now, ive discussed before why i didnt like them initally, but now i have them properly set up, with the VS reference bi-wire cables, they sound absolutely amazing, and they grow on me every day!! 

It is nice to have such a big upgrade that you completely rediscover your whole music collection all over again!  To me that is one of the best things about Hi-Fi.   

COR - I love the orange speakers, haha i love how the Dutch are so passionate about orange!!   I will never forget watching the Netherlands playing in the world cup in a small pub in Spijkenisse, everyone was wearing orange, people had orange flags and banners attached to the side of their houses and the streets were all orange!!  Brilliant times!

[ceedee]

Hey Jon,

Nice story,

Yes, we Dutch are very orange when football is in the air.

I toured with the Orange VR 1 in several shops years ago.

[whytejon]

Those speakers are stunning actually! 

They look fantastic on those stands next to those AV systems, they really stand out!
 

I might go to work on the VR5s with a paint brush...... mmm perhaps not! 

[JackD201]

Cool, I didn't know VSA and Lamm had co-distribution in London. First it was DNAudio in Italy then us here in the Philippines followed by Sound Chamber in HK a year or so afterwards. I agree that the synergy is quite something else as both Albert and Vladimir engineer their products with what are probably very similar psychoacoustic models rather than the usual set of measurement targets. Both are also very secretive about them! 

Oooh how could I not mention Dimfer in Alberta Canada and Parmenter in Australia and New Zealand.

[thebearded1]

2 years ago, i moved to a new home and my dedicated listening room was cut in size by 40% to 13x15.  i had a pair of audio physic virgo iiis which didn't make the transition well at all..becoming grainy in top end and boomy in the bottom...i rotated in Thiel 2.3s which refused to disappear...i then went with monitors called peak consult princess (which i have now in my home theatre) and b&w 805s which both were enjoyable but, i missed the full range sound...i was thinking sub woofer but had no real good place to place it in this room which my wife has veto power over.....i then tried sonus fabers cremonas and was about to the make the move but they still just seemed to be bit heavy on the bottom end in this room.... i was exasperated.  I had listened to a  VR4s and VR5s on many many occasions in a much larger spaces and just loved both but i wasn't in upgrade mode at the time ..but following my move and the challenges in the 5-6 speakers I had tried, i researched von schweikert further and learned of the Uinfield iiis.... i had NEVER heard them....i bought them sight un-heard hoping that it was true what was advertised and reviewed and these would transform the von schweikert sound into a small room appropriately.  i was very nervous as they were expensive for me and i had never bought anything aside from cables and power conditioning without a serious listening session....certainly i would never think of buying speakers like this!!!!  the result:  They have conquered my small room and sound absolutely magical.  they are the only "full-range" speaker that has ever disappeared in this room and i had auditioned many, many excellent speakers......I am now a proud VSA owner!

[es347]

VSA + McIntosh = a match made in heaven! 

[bentknee]

  My first VS experiance happened when I went to listen to Meadowlark speakers in 2002 or 2003. I heard the VR2 and really liked them but wasn't thrilled with the dealer so I bought Soliloquy speakers from someone else . This did turn out for good because the Soliloquy's were efficient enough for my then ARC Classic 60 and allowed me to get into my dream amp the Art Audio Carissa. I did not miss my next VS chance though . I met Albert at the Stereophile show in I think it was 2006. I really enjoyed visiting with Albert and when I heard the VR4jr's I was hooked. I had liked many things about Wilsons Watt Puppy(smaller size, high output, great dynamics) but they never seemed to get them musically right. The jr's seemed to me to have what the WP lacked in a top to bottom musical balance. So the jr's made great music with my Art Audio Electronics. When I got the chance to get the VR4 sr mk 2.5 I did so and the result was an across the board improvement. I will post soon on my summer and fall upgrades in Phono amp, Cables, and Tubes that have taken my listening experiance to a level I have wanted for 22 years to acheive . It is VS for life for me. And I can be part of this group too . Blessings, Bob