VR-33

SundayNiagara · « **Reply #100 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 12:28 am »

I've been away from this site for a while, so this is my first comment on this new product from VSA. The fact that the VR-33 has a rear firing woofer makes me think that they need to be placed well out into the room to do their thing. In the pictures I've seen, the '33's are fairly close to the wall behind them. Has anyone experimented?

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #101 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 12:40 am »

I've gone from 3" to 20" to the back wall.. settled on 12" from the back wall. Bass is deep, tight and clear as hell. No flubby bass here.

JackD201 · « **Reply #102 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 06:38 am »

These look more like DB-100s than VR-3s

ceedee · « **Reply #103 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 07:42 pm »

Hey Jack,

The DB 100 was a bigger tower.
Gregs VR 33 looks a bit higher due to the camera-lens-angle.

Size of the VR 5 SE - Height: 44", Width: 11", Depth: 24".

Size of VR 33 – 50” tall x 8” wide (front) x 16” wide (rear) x 12” deep.

Just 6" taller but twice less deep.

Regards,

Cor

Albert Von Schweikert · « **Reply #104 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 08:04 pm »

Hello fellow Audiophiles,

The new Vortex VR-33 is fabricated to a very high standard of build quality, and the savings comes from the simple cabinet - no expensive Steinway paint job or exotic veneers to raise the cost. However, if you are on a budget and need a great pair of speakers, we don't know of any other brand that can beat this build quality or sonic performance for the reasonable asking price.

We will soon have a cut- away photo, showing the internals, along with professional pics on our website. By the way, the bass response and image depth were designed for boundary placement, i.e., close to the wall. The VR-33 works well at distances of 3" to 20" from rear wall, and must be listened to off-axis, with no toe in, since that is how I designed the radiation pattern.

The bottom and top caps will be available in African Hazelwood, brushed aluminum, and Steinway Hi-gloss finish, all synthetics but nice looking. The photos show the optional solid hardwood trim caps, available at extra cost. A Bi-wire option is also available, along with a budget bi-wire speaker cable built for this model, please email for pricing.

The cabinets themselves are built with resin-impgregnated MDF and are highly damped and braced - there is very little cabinet resonance or distortion that is measurable, and no resonances are audible. This model was designed to replace the VR-4 JR and is 100% built in the USA with European drivers and crossover parts.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send us an email at either service@vonschweikert.com or albert@vonschweikert.com. These will be available with a 90-day In-Home Trial, but we don't expect that anyone could ever send these back due to the great sound, build quality, and high value.

Coming soon is the VR-35 Export Edition, to be sold by dealers in Europe and Asia. This model will be more expensive but will feature premium crossover parts, including solid copper foil and Teflon capacitors (sold by other companies for up to $600 each), along with premium gold plated bi-wire binding posts. If you live in Europe or Asia, please contact your local dealer shown on our website for the pricing of this Export Edition model. It is quite a bit more expensive, and don't forget to factor in the higher cost of Air Freight shipment and Import Taxes. However, if you want to spend your money on the sound and don't really need the beautiful cabinet, this model might be just right for you!

Best regards,
Albert Von Schweikert

mcullinan · « **Reply #105 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 08:29 pm »

Sooo... you are saying Americans are poor...

mr_bill · « **Reply #106 on:** 18 Mar 2010, 08:36 pm »

Albert,
Will the V-35 upgrades be available in the V-33?
Also, if you get time, it would be great to hear about the special drivers that you are using in the V-33 and what other manufacturers or higher priced speaks use these drivers.

Alex_G · « **Reply #107 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 01:58 am »

Quote from: DARTH AUDIO on 20 Feb 2010, 03:35 pm

According to Albert, the Vortex VR-33 spank the VR-4 jr's which I own currently(I owned the VR-2's then upgrade to the VR-4jr's). These were designed with one goal. The finest drivers, high quality parts & Wiring in the crossover, over built cabinet 103lbs per speaker(No Lead shot in these). The money in not spent on the finish or dealers. And they are made here in the great USA!! These speakers should give speakers costing $15k a run for their money. I will be posting my findings once I have them in house. Albert was kind enough to break them in for me, so they will be ready right out of the box.

Darth,

I own original VR-4jr’s and love them dearly.

Will the Euro upgrade improve the sound that’s more comparable to VR-33?

doctorno · « **Reply #108 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 02:19 am »

I would imagine upgrading the crossovers would be a piece of cake for most DIYers. Having Al do the legwork and figure out what caps and coils work best is priceless, if he lets this info out it would be easy to upgrade 33 to 35.

K

Bill Baker · « **Reply #109 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 02:28 am »

Quote

I've been away from this site for a while, so this is my first comment on this new product from VSA. The fact that the VR-33 has a rear firing woofer makes me think that they need to be placed well out into the room to do their thing. In the pictures I've seen, the '33's are fairly close to the wall behind them. Has anyone experimented?

These speakers were designed to be placed closer to the front wall. This is why you see this in the pictures. It is part of the design rather than a misplacement of speakers.

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #110 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 11:24 am »

Quote from: DARTH AUDIO on 18 Mar 2010, 12:40 am

I've gone from 3" to 20" to the back wall.. settled on 12" from the back wall. Bass is deep, tight and clear as hell. No flubby bass here.

Bill, That is their design..

scp2 · « **Reply #111 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 01:04 pm »

Quote from: Alex_G on 19 Mar 2010, 01:58 am

Darth,

I own original VR-4jr’s and love them dearly.

Will the Euro upgrade improve the sound that’s more comparable to VR-33?

I am with Alex on this. I read once jr stands for "just right" in terms of size and couldn't agree more.

Looks and size is what first attracted me to them and after I bought them I found out about their sound and have been amazed ever since. I talked to Al a while back about the Euro upgrade and it was in my future. Now I read about the 33's. I could sell my jr's and buy the 33's for less.

Right now I still think I would do the Euro..but am really giving it some thought.

SundayNiagara · « **Reply #112 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 01:08 pm »

Quote from: Response Audio on 19 Mar 2010, 02:28 am

These speakers were designed to be placed closer to the front wall. This is why you see this in the pictures. It is part of the design rather than a misplacement of speakers.

I read what you're saying here, but would still like to hear about someone placing them according to the "rule of thirds"!

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #113 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 01:48 pm »

Quote from: SundayNiagara on 19 Mar 2010, 01:08 pm

I read what you're saying here, but would still like to hear about someone placing them according to the "rule of thirds"!

You might want to give Albert a call on that. I used the rule of thirds with my VR-4jr's. I didn't change anything in my room but the placement of my speakers. I the recalibrated my Rives PARC and correct any excessive bass nodes. I only needed on small change on one channel @ 40hz. I have a pretty flat bass response with my VR-33's 12" from the back wall. And they do sound damn good!!

SundayNiagara · « **Reply #114 on:** 19 Mar 2010, 11:08 pm »

Quote from: DARTH AUDIO on 19 Mar 2010, 01:48 pm

You might want to give Albert a call on that. I used the rule of thirds with my VR-4jr's. I didn't change anything in my room but the placement of my speakers. I the recalibrated my Rives PARC and correct any excessive bass nodes. I only needed on small change on one channel @ 40hz. I have a pretty flat bass response with my VR-33's 12" from the back wall. And they do sound damn good!!

Would someone please try this?

Albert Von Schweikert · « **Reply #115 on:** 20 Mar 2010, 04:46 am »

WHY THE VR-33 ARE TO BE PLACED CLOSE TO THE WALL

I had two design goals for the VR-33 engineering platform. The first goal was to build an extremely high performance speaker for a low price. The second goal was to build a speaker that could be placed against the wall, since we have had literally thousands of requests for this type of product. Perhaps it is the Gestalt created by the change from large-box TV sets to flat panel sets? Perhaps there are legions of people with shallow rooms that cannot use a speaker placed out into the room? Perhaps our wives' opinions are important?

As audiophiles, we have all gotten used to placing our speakers out into the room, feeling that a compromise would be made if the speakers were too close to the wall - either the depth would suffer, or the bass would "boom out" and create bad sound. However, friends, this is not a "law of physics," but a mistaken belief propagated by the simple fact that almost every speaker on the market is designed for "free- field" placement. It is quite true that a free-field design will indeed sound bad when placed against the wall, since it was not designed for that application.

The VR-33 was designed from the outset to be placed against the wall, and will actually sound worse if placed 4 or 5 feet into the room! The wall behind the speaker was factored into the sound wave projection pattern of the VR-33, which includes both the bass reproduction and transient response, as well as depth perception.

Although depth is thought to be created by placing the speakers away from the walls, this not the case - depth of field depends entirely on the recording. The beta testers who have the VR-33 will testify that this design has more depth than conventional speakers. This is the result of knowing how the speaker will behave in the room, since the common denominator will be the wall.....

We did not design a "trick" to create depth, we simply designed the VR-33 to recreate exactly what is on the recording when placed against the wall, so you must realize that the crossover design, radiation pattern, and cabinet shape all contribute to this accomplishment. Although there have been several other companies that have designed speakers to be placed in or on the wall, the VR-33 is unique in the balance of it's entire sound quality- the tremendous bass response and dynamic range are simply "icing on the cake" so to speak.

I hope that this explanation will have you thinking about how much science is involved in listening to a stereo system - a 3-D sound-field is an illusion that is magnificent and mysterious at the same time! Borrow the book from the library entitled "Psychoacoustics," written by two German scientists named Fastl and Zwicker. I have conducted research in this field for 30 years and it still amazes me how our ear/brain hearing mechanism operates - it's a fascinating subject! I will agree with the beta testers that the VR-33 has "miles" of depth, but my research simply follows in the tradition of the research of hundreds of scientists before me, including my mentor, Dr. Richard C. Heyser. Read his books on measurements and perception to learn even more about how and why we hear the effect of depth perception and image localization. Fascinating reading!

Happy Listening,
Albert Von Schweikert

mfsoa · « **Reply #116 on:** 20 Mar 2010, 10:04 am »

Dear Albert,

With my VR4JRs I have 4" bass traps behind my speakers:

Would it bad to have trapping like this at the rear of the VR-33s, within maybe 12"-24" of the rear of the speaker?

Thanks very much

-Mike

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #117 on:** 20 Mar 2010, 04:06 pm »

Albert, They just make "Beautiful" music!! I couldn't be happier!! Well done.

Gary

Tan Daniel · « **Reply #118 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 07:05 am »

Albert,

Agree with Gary. They are one of the best loudspeakers I ever heard. I'm just glued to my chair. Thanks for making it. I have no regrets.

Dan.

barkerpj · « **Reply #119 on:** 25 Mar 2010, 05:48 pm »

Anyone had any news on the progress of the initial batch of VR 33's.

Have sent emails but no repies yet.

Poll

Pls let me know your thoughts on the VR-33

VR-33