[jonbee]

As I've mentioned ad nauseum here, I've been seriously into the stereo hobby since 1968, having owned ~250 pair of speakers , starting with Dynaco A-25s and  moving up from there.
I've been well aware of Albert's speakers, but have never owned a pair. I've been adjusting my systems this last couple of years to deal with my tinnitus, which is less of a problem in the nearfield or with headphones. As such I've been moving resources to my 10x12 office, but still wanted good sound in my 16x20 living room without tieing up as much $ there.
As part of this downshifting I'd had Joseph Audio RM33LEs in this system for a few months, which have a lot of great qualities, but the matchup with my N-Core amp produced a thinner, brighter sound that wasn't entirely to my taste and which I couldn't adjust for using cable swaps and such.
Reading about Albert's "house sound", I bought a good pair of 2002 vintage VR-5 HSEs at a very attractive price. Well, they are "just right". They are very detailed, with a superbly clear, defined soundstage, very realistic, clean and deep bass and most importantly with a gorgeous midrange, all totally integrated. They simply sound wonderful. This is a seriously refined speaker that goes miles beyond "drivers in a box" that still defines most speakers today. Some intricate thinking and innovation went into these, and it is obvious  the newer models have carried this innovative approach forward. At this point I'd still like a bit more air on the very top, but I think I can adjust that with cable changes.
My hat is off to Albert, and my thanks for creating such wonderful instruments.
 

[leif8660]

Congratulations on your new speakers

[jonbee]

After using them for awhile longer, my opinions have solidified.
A change of interconnects to balanced Signal Cable SRs silver hybrids, which I own and know to be a bit bright, added a very nice lift to the upper range. They are now wonderfully present on top, with very good extension and detail. Still not the airiest I've had, but very natural and engaging.
I should mention that this is one speaker that really needs to be bi-wired. It is notably more open and dynamic, and with this level of resolution it is a big win, more so than most other speakers I've owned. I'm still planning to try Signal Cable SR speaker cables on them to play with the tonality a bit more.
The lower range continues to impress me. I've long had a soft spot for transmission lines, but most trade extension and low coloration for timing smear and often a weak midbass. Not so with these. They run deep and strong into the 20s, but the range from the mids down is also open, very linear, dynamic and uncolored. The triple chamber approach is a great success, IMO. I think it is the best lower range of any speaker I've owned.
The mids are clear, balanced, uncolored and present, with excellent expression of space.
Overall, I've heard and owned speakers that outpoint these a bit here and there, but these are more than the sum of the parts. They are in a small group of speakers that I've owned that give a truthful, unified view of the music, without qualification or distraction. That's my holy grail.
I'm pretty sure Albert has advanced his art further, but this model is one well worth seeking out if the budget doesn't handle the price of a used car for speakers but first class sound is a goal.

[Albert Von Schweikert]

Dear Jonbee,

Happy New Year!

Thanks for acquiring our VR-5 HSE speaker system and for sharing your listening impressions.  User feedback is quite important to us, being a yardstick of our efforts in R&D.  We especially took note of your mention of our Triple Chambered woofer loading design.  Your conclusions that this design is very accurate in transient speed along with deep bass power made me glad that I spent 15 years fine tuning this original design.

Prior to my research, ported systems had transient overhang, which thickened the bass notes and blurred fast musical passages like kettle drum rolls.  On the other hand, sealing the enclosure tightened the bass dramatically but wasted one-half of the woofer's energy, trapping it inside the cabinet.  This also lead to low efficiency and limited the overall dynamics.  However, these deficiencies could be overcome with very large cabinets and large cones.  As my goal (circa 1976) was to design a fairly small foot-print speaker,  I wanted to develop a woofer loading technique that would maximize the capability of two small woofers, which could behave faster than a single, larger unit.

I designed and built around 30 different prototypes of labyrinths, ported designs, and combinations of them. Using transient tone bursts and musical passages that contained piano ( to evaluate clarity), upright bass (to evaluate power and tone), and drums to test transient speed, I eventually came up with a unique hybrid bass loading system.  Since my system utilized three different chambers, each tuned to a series of three frequencies based on the particular woofers' electromechanical characteristics  (now known as the Theile/Small parameters), I called it the Triple Chamber Hybrid. Each of the three chambers had a different amount of fiberglass or Dacron stuffing, along with a port that fed the deep bass pressure into the next chamber. All three chambers had almost a full packing density, which absorbed the midbass excess caused by using small woofers. The type and quantity of stuffing material, the layout of the chambers, and the woofer characteristics had to be designed and assembled properly, requiring a careful procedure that had to be taught to our assembly engineers. Note that I called them engineers, not just assemblers, as I personally taught courses in physics, acoustics and circuit design to each and every one of our assemblers. Several more of our assemblers work part time and attend engineering colleges in the area part time.  Training is a huge part of our products success in the market place and the critical press.

Thanks once again for your support and validation of my life's work, Jonbee.
Happy Listening!

[jonbee]

  We especially took note of your mention of our Triple Chambered woofer loading design.  Your conclusions that this design is very accurate in transient speed along with deep bass power made me glad that I spent 15 years fine tuning this original design.

I can't think of another speaker (besides other VS models) that a) gets true low 20 hz. extension b) with power, clarity and low distortion c) from twin 6.5" woofers d) in a moderate sized cabinet  e) and with decently high sensitivity f) in a passive system. By most standards this would be considered an incompatible list of traits, but hearing is definitely believing.
Blended with wonderfully musical mids and highs and seamless tonality these provide a real treat for this music (and movie) lover.

[stewie]

Haven't been to the Circle in a while, and just noticed Jonbee's rave about the VR5 HSEs. I couldn't agree more. It's a fantastic speaker in every way. Maybe, just maybe I prefer the bass extension of the VR4 HSEs (with their dual 9-inch woofs), which I used to have, but that's more than made up for by the balance of the VR5s. There's just a seamlessness from top to bottom that I love in the VR5s; they often seem to disappear.
I bi-amped mine with rebuilt Dynaco MK IIIs up top and a restored Kenwood 700m for the bottom; Eastern Electric Minimax for the pre. Could be happier, so my hat's off to you as well Albert.