Boston Acoustics VR2

stereocilia · « **on:** 28 Jan 2010, 03:07 pm »

I've had these for several years and passed them over as my budget allowed, but I've dropped them into my system recently and I'm impressed. In fact, they are annoyingly good. I'm now trying to reconcile liking these while at the same time looking down upon mass-market mid-fi with the derision befitting a proper audiophile.

earplay · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Jan 2010, 03:37 pm »

I suppose that the remainder of your system was upgraded between then and now. I had a similar experience with my old Monitor Audio 852's (circa 1987). I was ready to give them away, when I thought I would try them with my new system. They are now in my primary system.

Also, I dug into them and reworked the crossover with new parts and wiring. What a difference it all made.

stereocilia · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Jan 2010, 04:15 pm »

You're right, the rest of the system has improved.

Reworking the crossover is a great idea. Did you just buy better parts with the same nominal values and replace them? If there's more to it than that I'm underqualified. I'm also thinking of tweaking them out with added dampening material on the woofer baskets and maybe the cabinet walls, and trying to correct the diffraction that likely happens by having the tweeter slightly recessed into the cabinet.

earplay · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Jan 2010, 06:04 pm »

The work I did on the xover allowed the improvements in the system to come thru.

I can tell you what I did, but you and I are both underqualified.

Here's what I did:
-replaced the old caps with new Gold Obbligato caps of the same value
-replaced the internal wiring with Ohno copper wire
-eliminated unnecessary joints and connected components as simply as possible
-bypassed the Gold Obbligato caps with VISHAY-RODERSTEIN MKP-1837 Metalized Polypropylene Film Caps (probably unnecessary)
-used WBT solder

I was surprised by the increase in clarity and bass extension. Also, they are now capable of projecting a true holographic soundstage.

stereocilia · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Jan 2010, 01:47 am »

Cool. Let's see: screwdriver? check. Soldering iron? check. Basic understanding of what goes where? check. Ambition? uh...let me get some coffee going. Thanks for the information and inspiration.

earplay · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Jan 2010, 02:15 am »

Yup! Mine was easy. Took a couple of hours once I got the parts and supplies. Partsconnexion, parts express, diyhifi supply, VH Audio and Madisound are just some suppliers.

charmerci · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 Jan 2010, 10:23 am »

One of the best in the business if you want to talk to someone about x-over design is Dennis Murphy.

http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=main.html

stereocilia · « **Reply #7 on:** 8 Feb 2010, 05:55 am »

I have to divert my ambition for crossover mods for awhile. They are glued in such that I risk destroying something (or everythting) by removing them. I did, however, replace the polyfill in the isolated midrange tube with fiberglass, and I used a little more dampening in the cabinet (taking care not to restrict airflow). I'm getting less of the hollow coloration I had before; an improvement for sure.