New Custom Color for the 9's.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #40 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 02:23 pm »

Speakers will ship from me in Colorado. HigherFi will handle the transaction. They have the capability to accept trades towards the speaker purchase and have been selling high-end gear, including VSA, very successfully for years all over the world.

gammajo · « **Reply #41 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 03:37 pm »

fplanner - Thanks for being so accommodating to all our nosy questions! I hope you enjoy your new babies once they come in. I have been waiting for new amps for a few months and it is hard to wait.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #42 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 05:31 pm »

Thanks for understanding. The quicker my 9's sell, the quicker I can get the new speakers from Europe.

Jean Sibelius · « **Reply #43 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 06:40 pm »

Quote from: fplanner2000 on 1 Jun 2014, 05:31 pm

Thanks for understanding. The quicker my 9's sell, the quicker I can get the new speakers from Europe.

Taking into account the league you are looking at, this can mean only one brand in Europe:). Really hope you will not regret your decision afterwards.
If I'm correct, I was almost 100% sure that my next speaker upgrade would come from this company, until I got the opportunity to purchase my VR10-MKII's.

gammajo · « **Reply #44 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 07:38 pm »

Well, I think that they look terrific in the color you choose. I have not liked the VR9's in dark colors very much. Yet in the light color their lines really show better and they look more modern. I love that I was able to upgrade to the VR5 MK 2 annies while keeping my African Hazel wood cabinets. Everyone who visits feels pulled to look carefully at them and run their hands over the finish. Of course the music is where its at but just like with my wife, the looks are a great bonus!

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #45 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 10:18 pm »

Jean-
As I've mentioned above, I have heard these speakers locally so know what I will be getting. Sounds like you might also..

There is nothing VSA makes that competes with them in the areas of sound reproduction that are most important to me in my current system. Again, a different level.

Joe-
I agree they came out looking pretty spectacular. My only regret is that I won't be keeping them - somebody else will get to enjoy the coolest looking paint job ever done (in my knowledge) on a pair of 9 Mk2s.

Wig · « **Reply #46 on:** 1 Jun 2014, 10:51 pm »

fplanner2000,

Congratulations on selecting the speaker that suits your taste and listening desires!

Wig

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #47 on:** 2 Jun 2014, 02:31 am »

Wig-
Thanks for your comment.

it was just one of those really fortuitous circumstances. When we went to listen to a pair 3 weeks ago, I was preparing to not like them, in which case I would keep the 9's and be happy. Instead, the speakers blew me away on many different levels, using electronics of a brand that had always hurt my ears. My guess is that they will sound even better with my own electronics. Given what I heard, the opportunity to own a similar pair just could not be passed up, especially since the dollars and deal were made workable by my buddy in Europe.

Hopefully the 9's will sell quickly, since the proceeds of their sale will be going towards the new speakers.

JackD201 · « **Reply #48 on:** 3 Jun 2014, 07:42 pm »

My 9s are good as sold so I will be leaving the 9 family along with you Harve. As I go to VR-11s and you go elsewhere I wish you the best in your audio journey. It's too bad that you never got to live with the 9s Having heard 9s and 11s with your Amps at my bro's place the match would have been spectacular. However, I perfectly understand how just opening the crates would have impacted the resale value.

I'll have countless fond memories of my 9s thankfully including three magazine articles and an online review to remind me not just of what I thought but what others did too. I'll share one with ya. It's written by a really cool young man, fresh ears coming from the professional side, who reminds me a lot of myself when I was in my 20s.

http://hearhead.com/this-hi-fi-system-will-make-you-see-sound-the-lair-pt-1/

gammajo · « **Reply #49 on:** 3 Jun 2014, 08:27 pm »

Jack - thanks for the link - great article, system and room

JackD201 · « **Reply #50 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 12:36 am »

Thanks Joe, have to admit that it made us blush a bit! We all talk about how we have to expose the next generation, just trying to do our part.

The print publications were The Vault, Town and Country and an inflight magazine for a flag carrier. These were more men's lifestyle pieces nestled with watch and automobile articles. T and C's was written by a true music/audio enthusiast but he was given very little editorial room to get into the sound and instead had to focus on the home aspect.

ceedee · « **Reply #51 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 11:35 am »

Great story Jack,

thanks for sharing.

Do you mind if I copy this on FB?

Regards,

Cor

p.s. Harve, good luck and enjoy the 9's.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #52 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 02:55 pm »

Thanks Jack.
Thanks Cor - the 9's are for sale. Unused, unopened, factory sealed. Ads on e-bay and Audiogon.

JEaton · « **Reply #53 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 07:02 pm »

Quote from: fplanner2000 on 4 Jun 2014, 02:55 pm

Thanks Cor - the 9's are for sale. Unused, unopened, factory sealed. Ads on e-bay and Audiogon.

You never even listened to them?

WTF?

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #54 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 07:23 pm »

I know what 9's sound like. Opening the crates and listening to them hurts the resale value. Not easy to do, but I've made my decision - no sense in complicating things unnecessarily.

JEaton · « **Reply #55 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 07:33 pm »

I guess VSA doesn't have a 30 day return policy, eh? Or even a 0 day return policy.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #56 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 08:10 pm »

Not on custom-painted speakers.

JackD201 · « **Reply #57 on:** 4 Jun 2014, 08:27 pm »

I know what you mean regarding fortuitous events Harve. I wasn't looking to change speakers at all then the 11 lands on my lap because of the impending delivery of the 4 tower VR-111s to the 11 Mk2's owner. Gotta grab the opportunity. I'm just so lucky to have a VERY understanding wife! It also helps that my room's dimensions were actually built around the "eventuality" of having a 7ft behemoth someday. I just thought that that someday would be a few more years down the road.

@ceedee

Sure thing Cor. I'm sure the author would like that.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #58 on:** 7 Jun 2014, 03:42 am »

Me too, Jack. I never expected in my wildest dreams to ever have a chance to own the speakers I'll be getting. I already know they will play well with my VAC gear.

Albert Von Schweikert · « **Reply #59 on:** 14 Jun 2014, 12:08 pm »

Quite a few of our VR-9SE Mk2 customers have called or emailed to get at the heart of this short and rather unimportant story. Initially, I felt it was not worth discussing, as we are extremely busy catching up on over $1 mil in orders, many $$$ generated by the Best Of Show awards for the VR-100XS. However, our company investor wanted to air out the tale so there would be no more conjecture and unfounded speculation, so here I am, telling the tale.

'Tis a strange story, indeed. Fplanner has never heard the VR-9SEMk2, although he claims that he has. What he actually heard five years ago was a poorly set up Mk1 version built quickly for the show, with almost no break in (I was invited at the last minute by another manufacturer).

In addition, the demo was conducted in a ghastly resonant room that was 45 x 85 with an air conditioner mounted in the ceiling that could not be shut off by the hotel engineer, so the rumbling noise and resonant character of "the cave" over-drove the sound of the raw speakers. Perhaps even worse, our 9's were driven by electronics that had been assembled the night before! The electronics manufacturer is quite a good friend of mine and builds very fine gear, but was under pressure to show something new that wasn't quite ready. Sadly, a mistake made by two aging industry veterans who should have known better.

The room was so bad that I abandoned the room for most of the show. In fact, I was quite sorry to have been dragged into the mess with zero pre-planning; isn't that the way that all last-minute demos end up? However, fplanner liked the way the 9's looked and said he would get a pair some day, bad demo or not. To have ordered them under those circumstances was a very brave move on his part! Evidently, he bought them on reputation and appearance alone.

However, fplanners claim that his new choice is "on a different level" is amazing, when he admitted that he's never heard a new VR-9 Mk2! Well, he's a nice but very impulsive fellow so we understand why he became "antsy" while waiting the 12 weeks. To our credit, I gave him a free pair of expensive speakers at no charge to keep him happy while waiting, since he had sold his previous speaker system. It seems he is so satisfied with them that he is simply going to keep them! Well, we can't blame him for that, can we, it's a smart financial move on his part. If you haven't figured out his screen name, it stands for "financial planner." The speakers I gifted him were the original line-source planar magnetic speakers that FPS of Japan and I had co-designed for the german division of Steinway, and they were collectoer items, serial #0001 that I had hand-built and were in my personal museum. What they're worth today is anyone's guess ($30,000?) so when fplanner hooked them up, he called to say "Holy S__t, these are incredible!" What he eventually settles down with is anyone's guess, but who really cares, if he likes them?

Ahh, we audiophiles are a strange bunch, aren't we: judging components we've never heard and then pontificating about "what is best."

AVS