[SoundsGood]

I recently acquired a pair of VR-7se speakers and wanted to share some of my learnings with the group. 
My first Von Schweikert speakers were a pair of VR4 originals.  Of all the speakers that have rotated through my listening room these were the first that had presense and palpability that allowed me to 'feel' the music.  I liked that so I traded up to VR5's.  Now I'm on the right track - extremely transparent, solid bass, sweet mids and plenty of extension on top.  The attack especially on percussion was startling.  So revealing, I had to pay close attention to all the other pieces in my system resulting in several changes/improvements.  Just when I had the VR5's singing their best I had an opportunity to get the VR7's.  I couldn't resist. 

They arrived in three large wooden crates.  One for each bass module L & R and one for both M/T modules packed together.  Shipping weight was over 800 lbs.  With some planning and help we were able to get them uncrated and into the sound room in an hour.  They are massive, heavy & solid.  Basically you lay the bass module on its side on a smooth surface so not to scratch the finish and screw in four casters then upright the module.  Roll it into initial position then place the MT module on top.  The casters allow for easy positioning and can be removed later.

Another hour later we had them up and running.  First impression - disappointment.  Lean bass, no focus, not musical at all, but a big presentation.  I knew these babies were not ordinary speakers and had the capability to blow away anything I had heard so I went to work to 'understand' them and bring them up to full potential.  Upon close inspection one midrage and one supertweeter were faulty.  I called Albert to discuss my findings.  He had replacement drivers on the way and advised me to remove some or all of the Dacron stuffing in the bass modules to improve the bass.  Appearantly the stuffing is used to tune the bass to your room or taste for bass.  Removing the stuffing from the interior of each bass module did the trick.  I have wonderful tuneful bass galore.  The new drivers arrived and that took care of the rest of my issues. 

These speakers are reference grade and are certainly capable of world class performance if set up properly and attention given to the entire system including the room.  I biamp with tubes on top and solid state on the bottom.  An attenuator on the bass amp balances the top and bottom.  Even in my treated room I had a huge peak at 32Hz that was eliminated using the PARC and that was a BIG improvement. 

There are many paths to take to achieve your audio goal.  This is where I am on my journey:

Equipment:
Rives design treatments in a 22 X 15.5 X 8 dedicated room
Mark Levinson 390s CD processor with volume control
No preamp used, straight to the amps balanced IC's
Rives PARC analog parametric room equalizer
Biamping with Atma-Sphere M60 Mkiii on top, Mark Levinson 334 bridged on bottom each side
Scott Endler attenuators used to balance top and bottom amps, attenuation on bass amps
Audio Magic solid silver interconnects, all balanced 
Audio Magic solid silver speaker cables, shotgun runs, two per MT, two per bass, total 8 runs
Audio Magic Stealth Power Purifier conditioner
Cordom EMI filters on each component, w/shielded power cables

Set up: 
Run pink noise on top amps, then two bottom amps, use SPL meter & balance with attenuators
Run pink noise with RTA (real time analyzer) or SPL meter to determine room modes
Use Rives PARC room equalizer to correct for the modes
Read VR speaker manual on room placement
Experiment with speaker and seat positions a free tweak that makes a difference

Notes:
I use True RTA software for room analysis
Scott Endler makes high quality attenuators used to balance the biamps
All room have modes - peaks and dips, you need to find them and try to correct them
The Rives PARC will eliminate the peaks - this makes a BIG improvement
Room treatments and absorbing first reflections will make a difference
Cables - power, IC's & speaker.  Get quality cables and maintain terminals and connectors
Separate power from signal cables
Power conditioner - a low level tweak, depends on you system if it makes an improvement

Well, that's it for my first posting here.  Check out the photo gallery.  Your comments and questions are welcomed. Thanks!

[Delacroix]

Welcome Soundsgood -- and it does sound good. Great to have you on board - you've found the VSA owners' home on the web.

For someone who experienced damaged drivers on newly delivered gear, you showed remarkable restraint - I would be livid but am glad to hear the upgrade is working for you. When you get things settled in, let us know a little more about how you find the 7se compares to the 5s you replaced (as a 5se owner I have more than a little curiosity in this regard). And you really got things set up for listening in an hour? Man, that's rapid, I usually take 10 mins to change an interconnect!

Keep us posted.

Delacroix

[SoundsGood]

With some planning yes, about an hour to uncrate and another hour to get them set-up.  A two audiophile job.

The VR-5's I have are upgraded VR-4's cloth wrapped.  The 4's (original) were excellent - perhaps a little smooth and polite compared to the 5's which put you right there with the performers and the bass is much improved.  The VR-5's are fantastic speakers with all new drivers, crossovers, etc. I still have them.  The VR-7 gives you more extension top and bottom & a bigger presentation.  Once you experience it, you can't go back.  The 5's give you 90% of the 7's performance at a fraction of the cost, so they are definitely in the sweet spot for value.  I must also admit that the 5's smaller drivers seem to be a bit quicker, like electrostatic or planar panels.  This gets you closer to the performers, you can feel their breath and hear them and their intruments moving around the stage or studio.  I don't quite get that with the 7's, at least not yet.   Still working on it.

[McTwins]

Hi
Nice system, looks like mine setup

Welcome to VSA circle.
Thanks

[Housteau]

I had the opportunity to listen to SoundsGood's VR7's earlier today.  I found them sounding very good indeed.  The VR-5's were also sounding quite amazing before being replaced.  I had listened to some very recent changes and tweeks to those VR7's today and I felt they are now capturing what I had admired about the VR-5's, while still maintaining their own strengths, which are plentiful.

Although he titled his thread as The Journey Begins, in reality this 'Journey' had started quite a while ago and long before the first first Von Schweikerts arrived.  Understanding that journey will give a real appreciation of the research, testing and patience involved in creating a true reference system such as this.  I have seen the evolution and transitions from the beginning that had started in a much smaller room, and involved more nice pieces of gear, cables and different speakers than I can neither count, or remember.  Maybe in the future he can share in a new thread all that has occured.  Even though I was a witness to most of it, I would still love to see it written down in a timeline that lists everything.  I wonder if he even remembers them all?  There were some pieces that came and went so quickly, that when I blinked I often missed seeing them .

I feel fortunate to be able to experience and learn from what continues to go on in what SoundsGood calls his 'audio lab'.  Having such a high quality reference system to listen to and compare with is such a help in recognizing possible issues in ones own system.  Comparing two systems becomes a game of leapfrog over time as learnings and progressions become shared between both, as each takes a turn as the leader in different areas.  Well, this VR7 system has certainly now taken the high ground in several of those areas.  Just maybe the next break-through will be mine and set even higher goals.  That is the fun of it all.       

[Ambiance]

Looks very nice and sounds some what formiliar the issues with placement and tuning. I wonder if the VR4SR are the same way when it comes to removal of stuffing??


Not trying to coop your thread!!  Very nice setup!!


A.

[es347]

Housteau,

Your room is one of the most tasteful I have ever seen.  This VMPS speakers are lovely and must sound great.  Could you talk a bit about the center front wall acoustic treatment that looks a little Asian in appearance?  Again, what a beautiful room!

[Housteau]

Your room is one of the most tasteful I have ever seen.  This VMPS speakers are lovely and must sound great.  Could you talk a bit about the center front wall acoustic treatment that looks a little Asian in appearance? 

Thank you, and there is a bit of a story there about those treatments, but this really isn't the proper thread to go into that.  I don't want to distract from the real story here which is how wonderful the VR-7se's are sounding.  Here is a link that details from start to finish what my very recent project was:  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=69957.0

The VR-7se's are a point source design, but being so are the first that upon closing my eyes would allow me to believe they were electrostats, or pure ribbons in they way they present the acoustic space and air.  It is very impressive.  Some of that and possibly a good bit is from the nice room design itself.  There is a certain synergy at work there that just comes through as clear a window as I have experienced.

[SoundsGood]

Hi
Nice system, looks like mine setup

Welcome to VSA circle.
Thanks

Thanks McTwins!
I like the way you tastefully integrated the room treatments into the decor.  Very nicely done.  Those Mac's sure look fine with the blue lighted panels.

[SoundsGood]

Looks very nice and sounds some what formiliar the issues with placement and tuning. I wonder if the VR4SR are the same way when it comes to removal of stuffing??


Not trying to coop your thread!!  Very nice setup!!


A.

Thanks Ambiance.  That means a lot coming from someone with such a terrific looking room.  It looks like a professional magazine photo shot.  I too have an HD projector that I use for music concerts and blu-ray movies.  Works fine with 2-channels.
Yes, speaking with Albert the acoustical stuffing is totally tunable to the individual's room or preference for bass response.  It can be removed through the port with a bent coathanger, or remove the port and remove it by hand or carefully remove the woofer and take it out from the front.  This last method will take some planning - the driver is sealed to the cabinet with gasket clay, it will come off but may take some effort and be carefull with any sharp object near the driver, there is a strong magnet there, also the driver once remove is still connected to the wiring so plan on using a lanyard to tie it off or have someone hold it.
More material = more dampening = less bass output, but this can also provide control for a tighter sound.

[SoundsGood]

Here is a tweak that worked great for me.  Adding material around the tweeters improved the focus considerably.  See the photo gallery.
I bought some plush high-pile polyester carpet replacement at Walmart's auto dept.  Cut out the pattern and used double sided tape to attach it to the front of the upper enclosures.  It really worked well.  Imaging, clearity, even the bass improved.  You can put the original grills back on to cover it up.
You might even experiment with taking the material around the first beveled edges.  I'm playing with that now with good results.