[Zuman]

I was fortunate to aquire the VSA ESEs that Sense63 had listed for sale on the Trading Post here. In case any of you ever have the opportunity to buy something he's listed (and he's listed a LOT of gear here over the years), I cannot recommend him too highly. Scott is meticulous in his care of his equipment, packs things at manufacturer-level or higher, and is a gentleman to deal with. He also sold me eight Auva 70 footers at a generous price to go with the speakers.
The Von Schweikert Endeavor SEs I bought from him only have 250 hours on them and are impeccable.
He and I each drove about 90 minutes to a mid-way hand-off point yesterday. These are in Aston Martin Arizona Bronze and are spectacular (the color is a kind of "champagne," and the light through our window made it even lighter in the photo).

[dpatters]

Congratulations! They look fantastic. Great purchase.

Don P

[magister]

Thanks for sharing this – the speakers look wonderful! After they settle in some, I would be very interested in learning how they sound in your system. (As you may know from my recent post, I’m contemplating a speaker upgrade.)

[Zuman]

It's now been about six months since I added the Von Schweikert Audio Endeavor SEs (now renamed the Model One, but with no changes) to my system. Sorry, Magister, for the untimely response!
My VSAs are connected to my Modwright KWH 225i hybrid integrated amp with a biwire (not bi-amp) run of Voxativ Due Edition cables and Audio Art SC5 ePlus Cryo cables. The KWH 225i is fed by a Clearaudio Performance TT with Hana ML cart that runs into a Modwright PH9.0XT phono pre, and by a HiFi Rose RS130 transport/Pachanko Constellation Mini SE server combination, which connects to a Denafrips Terminator DAC.
It's silly to talk about audio gear in absolute terms, especially when there are now speakers approaching the million dollar mark on their own. But I'm fairly sure that at my stage of life, in my present room (and likely in any future listening room I might have) I consider the Von Schweikert Endeavor SEs to be the best of all possibilities.  While I'm happy with the rest of my gear, I can't say that I don't occasionally dream of an upgrade. With the Endeavor SEs, I'm not tempted.
The Endeavor SEs share several traits with their much more expensive brethren, including an apparently seamless audio integration of bass, midrange, and HF drivers, absolutely incredible soundstage, and the largest listening sweet-spot I've ever heard from any loudspeaker.  The narrow baffle helps explain the imaging, but it's much more than that, with VSA's proprietary crossovers, cabinet construction, and adjustable rear-firing ribbon tweeter all playing important roles.
Today was a long, tiring day, so I went downstairs to my listening room after dinner and told my wife I was going to take a nap. I cued up a section of my favorite playlist (locally-stored on the Pachanko) on Roon, and settled into my chair. I did eventually fall asleep for about fifteen minutes, but not before I heard Buddy Guy standing right in front of me as he shared his love for Anna Lee, only to give up the stage to Bill Evans, Chuck Israels, and Larry Bunker, who were supposed to be at Shelly's Manne-Hole, but showed up at my home in the Midwest instead. I simply cannot verbalize the reality of the Endeavor SEs' soundstage. I've heard much more expensive speakers in much more expensive systems, but I've never experienced anything like what I get on an everyday basis from this package in my own home.
There is a downside. Crappy recordings can really sound crappy. It seems that every clipped transient is presented on its own little pedestal with a spotlight shining on it. My old recording of Sir Malcolm Sargent driving his Huddersfield-Liverpool V8 monster truck through Handle's Messiah can sound irresponsibly glorious on other systems, but through the Endeavors just sounds like the mics couldn't keep up. But oh-my-goodness, what they can do with the good stuff from HDTracks, or careful recordings from Sound Liaison or Newvelle!
In summary, the Von Schweikert Audio Endeavor SEs/Model Ones are the finest piece of audio gear I've ever owned or am likely to own. After six months I'm still excited to listen to them, and I'm no longer quite so surprised when someone - like Buddy Guy, Bill Evans or Keith Moon - shows up in my listening room.

[Bodhi]

Congrats on your Von Schweikert Endeavour SE's. They're very nice speakers . Maurice Jeffries noted their imaging and staging abilities in his review for Enjoy the Music. And that's a nice setup you've got there. I like Modwrigtht amps which sound natural, have nice tonality, and have that knack of sounding good at low listening levels.
I'm currently running Magico and Vitus gear, along with Jorma wire in my system. Though I plan to sell my whole system in the next 6 months and build a new system around large planar magnetic/ribbon panels. So, very different to your system. Enjoy the forums!

[magister]

Zuman, thank you very much for the extended and thoughtful comments about the Endeavor/Model One; I’m glad you’re enjoying them so much.  At my age, my next major speaker purchase will probably be my last.  I’ve enjoyed the VSA IV-VR jr’s for over 20 years.  Your comments, along with other things I’ve read, make me think that the Model One might be a good move up while keeping many aspects of the jr’s that I enjoy.  Saying that “I've heard much more expensive speakers in much more expensive systems, but I've never experienced anything like what I get on an everyday basis from this package” speaks volumes.

I got my house painted this summer, and the cost was way more than I expected.  This blew a hole in the budget for speakers such as the Model One (which are at the top range of what I can afford).  Also, in the spring I found a good deal on a used pair of Magnepan LRS+ speakers.  I’ve always wanted to try Magnepans because they do so well with acoustic music, which is what I mostly listen to.  But they were always too big for my room.  I read about the LRS and its later Plus incarnation, which are small by Magnepan standards, and decided to buy the used pair I found. 

I am mightily impressed with the LRS+; I’m hearing things not noticed before in familiar recordings, and sound of voices and instruments is very natural and really draws me in.  On the recording of Henry Mancini conducting his music for The Pink Panther, the sax in the Panther theme is THERE in my room — amazing! The bass, not surprisingly, does not match that of the jr’s but is much better than I expected.  I’m now about to reconnect the jr’s, which will be an interesting experience.  I will position the jr’s as carefully as I can (for a long time I didn’t move them), which may reveal some things.

So I will spend the next few months rebuilding the bank account, and then see what direction I want to go in for my serious speaker upgrade.  There’s a part of me that would like to stick with VSA, but those LRS+ are really amazing, so I might go over the other side (i.e., planar speakers with subs).  I guess I will have force myself to go to NYC (nearest VSA dealer) to hear the Model One, but of course that will not be in my room with my gear.