[jqunac]

Hi, this is my first post here.

I've been a happy owner of the VR 4jr  speakers since 05. I don't hear much about these speakers and from time to time I think of upgrading but because of a dearth of dealers in my area and reluctance to buy ship sell full size speakers I decide to stick with the ones I have. The attributes I would like to improve upon are tighter bass greater resolution and detail.

I've looked at the VR33 but don't think they will work for me if they have to near the wall. I have flat panel between the speakers and they are 3 feet from the wall to extend past the panel.

I'm asking for your experiences with the newer VSA line compared with the 4jrs in particular or with the VR33 or VR35 placement away from the wall. All suggestions comments are welcome, thanks in advance.

[JackD201]

First off, welcome to the forum!

There is an upgrade package for the VR-4jrs which entails changing all front drivers, the crossover network and internal wiring. In fact I am working on sending a pair that was traded in to us for VR-35s to the factory for my personal use. You can contact VSA directly for details.

[Malcolm02]

My VR33's are forced to be somewhat away from the wall, either side of a 50" screen. I feel I'm not getting the bass reinforcement that it's designed for, but I have dialed in a little bit of my subwoofer, which takes care of it quite nicely.

Do you have to have your screen 3 feet from the wall?

Are they the original JR? How about sending them in for the latest upgrade? That's one nice thing about VSA - you can upgrade your speakers without having to sell them.

[jqunac]

First off, welcome to the forum!

There is an upgrade package for the VR-4jrs which entails changing all front drivers, the crossover network and internal wiring. In fact I am working on sending a pair that was traded in to us for VR-35s to the factory for my personal use. You can contact VSA directly for details.

As a follow up to your reply I did  a little research on the III upgrade and it looks to be just the thing. The posts were a couple years old that mentioned new drivers crossovers and triple wall upgrades for $2500 plus shipping. I still have the crates so that won't be a problem.

I haven't had much luck with emails to VSA being answered. I realize they can be busy and may prefer a phone call but I would just like some basic information as to current upgrade details and costs before getting too excited. It sounds as if you are a dealer if so can you relay any details of this upgrade as it is at present?

[WGH]

The VR33's are big so I suggest making some cardboard mockups before ordering. Since you already like the VR 4jr, you will love a driver upgrade.

At one time Albert was willing to sell me the raw drivers for an DIY upgrade to my VR-2 but I decided to go in another direction. The drivers in the VR-2 are not glued in and are easy to remove, I suspect the jr drivers would pop right out too.

Both the VR-2 and 4 jr benefit from increased cabinet bracing and dampening, bass is tighter and deeper and imaging is more precise. I have modified 2 pair of VR-2's and it is not hard to do, any custom cabinet shop would be able to do it.

Wayne

[es347]

So Wayne...how do you like your Salks?  Michigan right?  I 've heard good things about them.

[WGH]

Compared to the VR-2's (which I still have), the Salk HT2-TL's are a big step up in quality. The  Seas Excel W18 and RAAL tweeter are extremely clear and musical, Dennis Murphey's crossover is seamless. Bass is cleaner, deeper, and stronger with no overhang. The midrange and treble is grain free and clear though not as sharply delineated as an electrostatic speaker. At first listen the highs sound soft but it's all there, there is just no sharpness or high frequency artifacts to draw your attention away from the music.

The VR-2's always had a slight bass bloom and male voices had a deeper chesty sound I could never completely eliminate even with all the extra bracing and Richlite dampening. The sound was not bad at all, just not as neutral as I would have liked. I figured it was the nature of the beast which is why I didn't go for the driver upgrade.

As a side note, the drivers and crossover in the Salk speakers cost as much as what I paid for the VR-2's.

Wayne

[magister]

I'm very interested in the original question of this thread, the 4jr's.  I've had mine for about the same amount of time as  jqunac and, like him, have sometimes thought about better speakers.  But anything physically larger won't work in my room, although larger speakers could make orchestral recordings sound bigger (i.e., more lifelike), which would be nice.  Tightness of bass has been an issue for me, which I've improved in various ways (placement, bass traps, stuffing dacron in the vents) but am still not 100% happy with.  I was a bit surprised to hear jqunac mention detail as an area to improve.  I suppose there are more detailed speakers than the 4jr's, but they seem pretty darn good to me in this area.  And every time I upgrade a source component I can easily hear the differences.

In any case, I'd really like to hear from anyone who had the jr's upgraded; what differences did you hear?

Thanks - David

[JackD201]

As a follow up to your reply I did  a little research on the III upgrade and it looks to be just the thing. The posts were a couple years old that mentioned new drivers crossovers and triple wall upgrades for $2500 plus shipping. I still have the crates so that won't be a problem.

I haven't had much luck with emails to VSA being answered. I realize they can be busy and may prefer a phone call but I would just like some basic information as to current upgrade details and costs before getting too excited. It sounds as if you are a dealer if so can you relay any details of this upgrade as it is at present?

Hi J,

The new email addresses are info@vonschweikertaudio.com or you can go directly to Damon at damon@vonschweikertaudio.com

At the moment all vonschweikert.com e-mail addresses are down. You can also contact them here via PM or via Facebook.

Hope this helps