VR-55 Aktive - First Impressions

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #60 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 01:57 pm »

That's a hellofa system you have there, Mountain man. Now, tell me the faces of your speaks are 54" or thereabouts off that bloody TV screen.

kernelbob · « **Reply #61 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 02:09 pm »

Hi Joe,

Regarding the positioning of the XS subwoofers, below is the link to the thread of my installation. If you scroll down about 2/3's of the thread to the pics that Albert posted on Oct 7th, you'll see a long shot of the room with the towers at the far end. The listening position is the couch just on the other side of the stairwell. The subs are sitting just where the photographer was standing, so you can see the subs are a long way from the listening position.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=129027.0

Robert

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #62 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 08:15 pm »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 30 Mar 2015, 01:57 pm

That's a hellofa system you have there, Mountain man. Now, tell me the faces of your speaks are 54" or thereabouts off that bloody TV screen.

Hi Jim - thanks - the system has been evolving over the last year and things are really starting to come together! Regarding the distance to my TV - is your comment in regards to potential magnetic interference? If so, that is not an issue with plasma TVs afaik.

Cheers, Joe

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #63 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 08:20 pm »

Quote from: kernelbob on 30 Mar 2015, 02:09 pm

Hi Joe,

Regarding the positioning of the XS subwoofers, below is the link to the thread of my installation. If you scroll down about 2/3's of the thread to the pics that Albert posted on Oct 7th, you'll see a long shot of the room with the towers at the far end. The listening position is the couch just on the other side of the stairwell. The subs are sitting just where the photographer was standing, so you can see the subs are a long way from the listening position.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=129027.0

Robert

Hi Robert - wow, that's quite a distance away! In my room, I would have to place them even with my listening position on either side - not sure if that's good or bad...

And what are the sensing wires for - is that to turn on the subs or there some feedback to the subs used for equalizing (if so from what)?

Btw - what is the difference between the non-XS and XS versions of the subs? I don't see anything on Albert's website that mentions this.

Thanks for the information - your setup looks killer and I bet it sounds amazing! How did the LDRxB preamp turn out for you?

kernelbob · « **Reply #64 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 01:16 am »

Albert is the guy to talk to about placement of the subs. M;y opinion is the more toward the back of the room is the better placement. One end of the sense cables are connected to the woofer terminals of the speakers and the other at the inputs of the subwoofers. They integrate the signal from the power amp and the backwave EMF from the woofers as input to the subs. They're not 12v trigger connectors. I leave the subs on 24/7 since they use class-D amps, consuming very little power at idle.

The XS subs have more powerfull magnets and the same triple wall anti-resonant material that's in the 100's towers as well as the 55's. They use very fast magnesium/ceramic drivers which complement the speed of the 100's 7 inch woofers. The 15" XS subwoofers each weigh in at around 250 pounds.

Robert

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #65 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 01:20 am »

Quote from: kernelbob on 31 Mar 2015, 01:16 am

They use very fast magnesium/ceramic drivers which complement the speed of the 100's 7 inch woofers. The 15" XS subwoofers each weigh in at around 250 pounds.

Robert

Holy moly - that's some serious weight!

kernelbob · « **Reply #66 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 01:29 am »

Joe, I forgot to respond to your question about the Tortuga. I'm still amazed at how good that thing sounds. It's the first passive preamp I've heard that has the bass power and punch of actives. It also has a wide, deep soundstage with speed, clarity, and a harmonic richness. I don't miss my active preamp a bit. Well worth auditioning. Also, it's a bargain.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #67 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 03:26 am »

Quote from: Mountainjoe on 30 Mar 2015, 08:15 pm

Hi Jim - thanks - the system has been evolving over the last year and things are really starting to come together! Regarding the distance to my TV - is your comment in regards to potential magnetic interference? If so, that is not an issue with plasma TVs afaik.

Cheers, Joe

No, Joe, it is regarding reflected waveforms summing in too soon and compromising three dimensional imagery and depth of field. Some well microphoned recordings deserve and require lots of space off surfaces.

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #68 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 03:50 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 31 Mar 2015, 03:26 am

No, Joe, it is regarding reflected waveforms summing in too soon and compromising three dimensional imagery and depth of field. Some well microphoned recordings deserve and require lots of space off surfaces.

Ah - thanks. I'm waiting for my Ultra cables to finalize position of my speakers as right now I'm limited by my existing cable length.

Cheers, Joe

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #69 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 04:05 am »

Quote from: Mountainjoe on 31 Mar 2015, 03:50 am

Ah - thanks. I'm waiting for my Ultra cables to finalize position of my speakers as right now I'm limited by my existing cable length.

Cheers, Joe

Cool beans. Some music, live music and classical recorded on location in a hall, in particular, will reward you.

gammajo · « **Reply #70 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 05:36 am »

MTJoe Looks like I will have a ship date for my 55's of this Thursday - they are now in the middle of the week long break in. Thanks for all your posts and responses which have been instructional and entertaining while I have been waiting.

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #71 on:** 31 Mar 2015, 06:48 pm »

Quote from: gammajo on 31 Mar 2015, 05:36 am

MTJoe Looks like I will have a ship date for my 55's of this Thursday - they are now in the middle of the week long break in. Thanks for all your posts and responses which have been instructional and entertaining while I have been waiting.

Very cool! Looking forward to getting your impressions of the VR55s in your system. Are you still running the NuForce amps?

gammajo · « **Reply #72 on:** 2 Apr 2015, 08:40 pm »

Update - My 55's will not ship this week

The VSA team wants to put another week of break in on them so they will sound even better when they do ship

While impatient to hear them I really do appreciate the factory break in as I have tubed equipment and a wife - both make long break in hours a challenge.

Joe - I am still planning to use my Nuforce Ref 20 mono amps. They sounded terrific with my VR5 Annis. One of their strengths was amazingly detailed and controlled bass with great dynamics. If I understand correctly, the way the 55 Actives bass amps are set up they allow the characteristics of the driving amp to show through transparently, so this should mate well with the CI bass amps strengths in the speakers. Also at 200 watts RMS into 8ohm , and 800 watt peak into 4ohm peak per channel I should have great headroom, and the Ref 20's are very liquid and natural in the mids and top as well as having proper timber and weight (unusual for Class D at least in the past). The Nuforce are very clear windows, The Ayon tubed preamp provides a bit of bloom, weight, and warmth. As with everything audio, the proof will be in the hearing.

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #73 on:** 2 Apr 2015, 09:32 pm »

Quote from: gammajo on 2 Apr 2015, 08:40 pm

Update - My 55's will not ship this week The VSA team wants to put another week of break in on them so they will sound even better when they do ship
While impatient to hear them I really do appreciate the factory break in as I have tubed equipment and a wife - both make long break in hours a challenge.

I had the same issue on both counts - wife and tube amps

I think you'll be much happier with the additional break-in at the factory - even after 500+ hours, mine are still settling in and based on feedback from Albert, still have a way to go before achieving their ultimate performance.

gammajo · « **Reply #74 on:** 22 Apr 2015, 03:35 am »

Ok, my pair of 55 Aktives are now due to arrive this Friday. I will go to airport about 75 minutes away and pick them up in my Tachoma truck, weather permitting and have some helpers lined up for Sunday to unpack - wish me luck!
Joe- any last minute tips (such as how to easily get the spikes attached) also any further feedback on your listening and positioning experiences. Are you still waiting for the Ultra cable?
Joe

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #75 on:** 22 Apr 2015, 04:09 am »

Quote from: gammajo on 22 Apr 2015, 03:35 am

Ok, my pair of 55 Aktives are now due to arrive this Friday. I will go to airport about 75 minutes away and pick them up in my Tachoma truck, weather permitting and have some helpers lined up for Sunday to unpack - wish me luck!
Joe- any last minute tips (such as how to easily get the spikes attached) also any further feedback on your listening and positioning experiences. Are you still waiting for the Ultra cable?
Joe

Great news! Be careful installing the spikes - at least my Stillpoints took some fiddling to get the threads started and one of the threaded inserts came loose. I plan to epoxy it in place.

Regarding placement, they seem quite tolerant of being close to the wall but I moved them out to help with some bass suckouts I'm getting due to room reflections. I plan to add some bass treatments to help with this but even so, the bass sounds better than what I was getting with my VR44s.

I have the speakers toed in but not so the tweeters are pointed directly at my ears - that and the rake help smooth out the highs and the imaging. Even with a rather non-ideal room setup, I amazed at how well these speakers image - should improve when I get my Ultra cables as I will be able to move the speakers farther from the wall. Hopefully my Ultras come in soon - should be another week or two.

Regarding imaging - I had my wife sit in the sweet spot the other day to get her opinion on the sound of the system - she listened for a while and when I asked what she thought, she said, "sounds nice but the center speaker seems loud". She was surprised when I told her the center channel was not on

Even with the ~500 or so hours of break-in at the factory, I'm finding the speakers continue to improve - they are now more relaxed and very, very smooth sounding. The dynamics are impressive - I played a killer vinyl pressing I have of The Doors Soft Parade for a couple of friends and they were blown away - they said they had never heard anything like that

Good luck with the unpacking - looking forward to getting your opinion and experience with these speakers!

Cheers, Joe

gammajo · « **Reply #76 on:** 22 Apr 2015, 06:24 am »

Mountainjoe - Thanks for the tips and the update on the sound. Getting very excited! Did you put the speakers on their sides to attach the Ultras or have the speakers standing up and lean them over a bit to do this?
Joe

Mountainjoe · « **Reply #77 on:** 22 Apr 2015, 06:40 am »

Quote from: gammajo on 22 Apr 2015, 06:24 am

Mountainjoe - Thanks for the tips and the update on the sound. Getting very excited! Did you put the speakers on their sides to attach the Ultras or have the speakers standing up and lean them over a bit to do this?
Joe

I stood them up first and leaned them over to install the feet. I did one side, front and back, then did the other. This worked out well - I think it would put too much stress on the feet to do it the other way.

gammajo · « **Reply #78 on:** 22 Apr 2015, 07:06 am »

Makes sense - I will try it that way, thanks
Joe

gammajo · « **Reply #79 on:** 28 Apr 2015, 03:42 am »

With my hat off to MountainJoe's excellent thread here, I just posted my impressions of the VR55Aktive on a new thread entitled VR55 Aktive, Another Happy Listener! Would love folks comments.