Some time ago, Albert V asked me if I would be willing to audition a pair of VR33s and post my thoughts here on the VSA circle. My reply was something like, “let me think about it…ok”. With all the hoopla surrounding these speakers I couldn’t resist.
First, some specs:
Freq response: 30-30Khz
Sensitivity: 90dB
Impedance: 8 ohms average
Recommended power: 50-500W
Dimensions: 50”h x 16”w x 12”d
Weight: 103 #/ch
The VR33 is a 3-way, 4-driver speaker consisting of a 1” dome tweeter, two 6” midrange drivers and a 10” woofer. The tweeter and midrange drivers are front firing while the woofer faces the rear. The woofer employs Albert’s quasi-transmission line design…I’ll just leave it at that so as not to show my ignorance. Having heard this design in his other speakers, I can attest to its efficacy. The VR33 eschews a furniture finished cabinet in favor of the infamous “sock” to keep the costs down. The speaker’s aesthetic takes a bit of getting used to but after having spent a few weeks with it, the look did grow on me. The WAF is relatively high. The speaker has one pair of high quality jacks so it is not biwireable, again in an effort to keep the cost down.
I had the VR33s set up in my home theater room as a separate 2 channel system driven by inexpensive electronics: a Sony NC555ES cd/sacd player and a Denon AVR-1609. The ICs were el cheapo Audioquest Sidewinder and the speaker cables were Speltz anti-cables. The speakers rested atop a wooden stage (see picture) without spikes. They were positioned 12” from the front wall with no toe-in.
I listened to several cds but two in particular: Diana Krall “A Case of You” from Live in Paris, and Marcus Miller’s “Cousin John” from MM2 (squared). Diana Krall’s voice can’t be beat for testing the midrange and Marcus Miller and his bass will push the low end. On “Cousin John” there’s a lot going on…lots of bass but some very delicate bell sounds as well…a real test for any speaker.
Krall’s voice was resonant and full, with a lot of body…if that makes sense. It had a three-dimensionality to it and, dare I say, a tube-like quality. With MM’s bass, the bottom end was well controlled and very present but not overly so. I was surprised that the bass, even at higher listening levels, sounded so good through the diminutive Denon receiver but it did and it did in
spades.
I decided to not make comparisons with my primary 2 channel system (MAC electronics/Velodyne subs/VSA VR5 Anniversaries) because, quite frankly it would not be fair. But I will unabashedly say this: the VR33s driven by cheap electronics sounded WAY better than they had any right to. The VR33s were a part of a system with a total cost of about $4600. You would be hard pressed to find that level of sonics at anywhere near the price.
I need to talk a little about the soundstage as this tends to be the most talked about aspect of these speakers. Yes, it is ridiculously large, much more so than one would expect. There have been comments regarding depth of soundstage and how any real depth can be achieved with speakers sitting so close to the front wall. It makes sense that that could be problematic but depth didn’t seem to be an issue. On a Stereophile test cd where the gentleman walks to the back of the stage, with the VR33s he seemed to be properly placed well behind the speakers. It’s accurate to say that the VR33s throw a huge soundstage with good depth.
I have only heard three VSA speakers to date: the VR4 SR MKIIs, the VR5 Anniversaries and now the VR33s. One of the really cool things that apparently all of Albert’s speakers do is produce a “forgiving” sound even on cds that have a glassy or overcooked treble. The detail is all there but there’s nary a hint of stridency or edginess that can result in listening fatigue. This is one of the pedigrees of VSA speakers and it has been evident in all three of the speakers I mention. I hate to resort to clichés here but VSA speakers tend to be very musical…forgive the rhetoric. Often when I cue up a cd on my primary system to listen to one track in particular, I find myself listening to the entire disc. VSA speakers have a way of drawing you in because they are such a pleasure to listen through.
Just a paragraph regarding Albert’s crossovers--I could be wrong here, and if I am no doubt Albert will correct me, but to my way of thinking, the magic of VSA speakers rests largely in the design of the crossover. Some speaker designers opt for simplistic crossovers whereas Albert’s crossovers tend to be anything but that. Those “magic” crossovers make for incredible integration of the drivers and that results in a seamless sonic character. Every pair of VSA speakers that I have heard really do produce sound that seems to emanate from a single source.
Conclusion--what would any review be without a conclusion? After all, it’s what we all fast forward to, right? I will not resort to Valinesque rhetoric here and state that
these are the best speakers I have ever heard. But I will tell you that they are the best speakers I have ever heard
at or anywhere near their price point. There is only one way to buy these babies and that’s direct from VSA so unless you live near someone who has already taken the plunge and can stop by for a listen, you will be buying without an audition. Let not your heart be troubled my audiophile friend. Even though Albert still offers the 90 return policy on the VR33s just like with all his speakers, it’s a moot point. Trust me.
Prologue—a couple of weeks ago, my circle buddies Bernie Sill (aka spab) and Steve Sammet (aka Steve) owner of SAS audio, drove over here by way of St. Louis and Peoria to hear the VR33s. Long story short, Bernie is now their new owner having picked them up just this past week.
Bernie (aka spab) and old fat guy (es347)
Steve brought along his SAS 11A tube preamp and a pair of his 50W Ultralinear monoblock tube amplifiers. Well guys, the improvement in sound was not a subtle one. The VR33s absolutely loved Steve’s amps as did I. I am not a tube guy but after hearing these things, I could be a possible convert. Everything was better…the mids, the highs…but bass was outstanding—well controlled and punchy. Bottom line, SAS amps are da bomb!
I have asked for and received comments from both gentlemen regarding their listening experience here. I post (paste) those comments following:
Bernie’s comments (he obviously is not as verbose as your’s truly):
I certainly concur that they throw a huge soundstage. As the upstream quality of the signal improved, so did the speakers. Our final configuration sounded very good indeed – very musical and enjoyable – as I believe I said at the time: “This is a system I could live with.”Steve’s comments (Steve is every bit as verbose as your’s truly):
1) The soundstage was very nice and the width was wonderful. It seemed like the sweetspot was huge. Even though I was sitting to the right by several feet I could still see the entire soundstage with very nice separation between instruments and voices.
2) Bass was taut with excellent definition and nice low end extension. This was good with a tube amp and damping factor of 10. I did not notice any moderate peaks or valleys through the bass, which also impressed me with the older 3s.
3) Mid's were very nice. Voices were clear and precise with great tonal balance; sounding realistic/natural no matter if it was the lower midrange or higher midrange. This demonstrated to me how precise the crossovers were, seamless between the drivers.
Although this includes the highs, percussion was simply dazzling. Triangles were super clean, accurate and seamless and cymbals had a nice shimmer, again as if there was no crossover. I think the 33's would be very difficult to beat in the mids.
4) Highs were exceptional as well and not tweaky in the least. Many times the tweeter will add its own tweak because of resonance peaks, but I did not notice the 33's tweeter doing such. And when combined with the mids, triangles, bells, voices etc sounded very natural.
5) Depth was very good, surprising me since they were only a foot in front of the wall. When playing track 10 of Stereophile CD # 2 the gentleman appeared well behind the wall as he should.
I am going to reiterate how seamless the drivers worked together. One doesn't seem to notice the crossovers at all, which is very difficult to accomplish since many times driver overlap occurs.
Last but not least, fit and finish were first rate. I noticed no miscues with the finish.
Very nice job Albert!Well that’s it gentlemen. A shout out to Bernie and Steve for taking time to drive over here and also for their feedback. But a very
BIG shout out to Albert V for providing the audio community with yet another wonderful speaker. Mr. Wizard’s got nothing on this guy! Keep it up Albert!
Gavin Hadley EE, PE
