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von schweikart
#11
Well I don't consider myself an expert, just an obsessive audionut active in this hobby too long! Wink But thank you for your kind words.

I understand a home audition isn't easy as they are very heavy (over 80kg each in total if I remember correctly) and even though they come in wooden crates it's quite a hassle to transport them. You'll need a big car too! Smile The Anni's (like owners like to call them) are quite powerful in the bass. Being nearly full range loudspeakers and having 2 Seas Excel W22 woofer left and right plus a non sealed cabinet ported design. So I hope they won't overload your room which, compared to American standards (VSA's home market), isn't very large. The bass ports are 'tunable' if needed by removing or adding dacron. The manual gives you details on this.

The manual is very valuable by the way. It's very elaborate on how to setup these beasts optimally so I'd study it well. Like with any high end loudspeaker careful placement is essential to get good sound and the most out of them.

I also do think they have quite nice looks and a nice finish but it's not to eg. Magico standards. Their design might be considered a bit less modern as well by some people. But of course the only thing that matters is that you and your wife like how they look, especially in real life/"in the flesh".

Their built and part quality is high. High quality audiophile level filter components are used which are hardwired and soldered point to point (so no current limiting PCB's!). Internal wiring is of a high quality (I believe the mkII has the Masterbuilt brand inside. Mine has Analysis Plus cabling) also all directly soldered (no clips etc.). Binding posts are the WBT-0702.12 Topline Signatures of $175/pair (6 pairs of them in total!) so not the crappy Chinese quality we see on our Devialets. And of course, very important, high quality Seas, Scanspeak and BMC drivers are used.

I'd personally not use the short cables supplied to connect the mid/treble head unit to the bass units but use bi-wire loudspeaker cables or (long) jumpers from the head unit to the bass unit.

Enjoy and I look forward to your findings, even if you don't like them of course. Smile
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

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#12
That s really very interesting, i will keep you updated and again thks!


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#13
Check out these big boys!  Tongue

https://youtu.be/kdp4CzrBRe0

Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research

220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD

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#14
These are out of my budget by far, but looks gorgeous!


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#15
Cool, I'll have 7 of these! Wink Big Grin
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

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#16
Hi antoine,
I auditionned today the vr5 . Firstable it is the mk1 with upgraded midrange mk2 . I started listening with the owner system, wich consist of accuphase e35 ( 35 w) integrated, feeded by mac mini thru berkley dac.SQ was really really bad. After 2 tracks i asked him to connect my devialet200 . The owner before starting told me that the accuphase is under driving the speaker and wasn t the best to throw the juice. After 30 mn of replacing cables and forgetting the braces, removing the bi amping cables, and connecting the 5$/m sheap cables he had, the show begin.I couldn t connect to internet cause the owner forgot the wifi code .
So i couldn t play play all the tracks i like from roon thru tidal specially the ones i can feel the extension and control of bass. Like *too rich for my blood*.Any way i started some tracks i know very well and wowww! Amazing sound! Highs , mids , resolution( details) , voices,transparency, dynamics, micro and macro dynamics
All amazing, i mean really amazing may be better than sabrina; eventhough speaker placement was really not optimized, the owner tried to move them here and there witout real knowledge.but and but......
Bass was not what i expected!on some tracks i felt it tight and just tight, on others it was really just average tight. On some ben harper tracks, voice, dynamic, highs were exellent but drums were like
Flat, not tight enough! Even the owner agreed that it can be tighter!
So ,the only small thing is the bass extension and control! I know you are using a subwoofer , so is in it the reason why?
The owner is willing to let me try the speakers in my home to see how it will perform! Do you thing with good placement bass can improve?

# by the way the owner loved the devialet sound and told me he never heard his speakers perform like this and love them more now!#
Thks


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#17
Hi Samsoum, nice to read about your experience! I'll try to comment on some of the things you've mentioned but it's difficult as I've not seen or heard what you did during the audition.

First, I've found an unofficial copy of the review of Collums I mentioned earlier. It's a very good but detailed and highly technical review, complete with measurements. Plenty of critical remarks as well. For some perspective it's important to remember he's comparing the VR-5's to other high-end loudspeakers like the Avalon Eidolon Diamonds (like he said 'extant references') so don't let these critical remarks scare you off to much. Anyway the review is here: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/2...icriticcom

A 35W amplifier is indeed far from properly capable in driving the VR-5's. They're a tough load on amps (see review) and need a stable amplifier capable of delivering high currents because of the low impedance. The Devialet 200 is of course much better capable to do this. In view of much recent experience with my 250Pro I feel the new Pro's are even better suited. Smart that you took the 200 with you BTW!

I'm using a subwoofer because this offered me ways to no longer compromise between optimal placement for bass response and all other aspects like mid/treble response, soudstaging etc. I failed to address bass response issues in my room (which is far from ideal) with adjusting placement and acoustical measures (like bass traps) without turning it into a studio and suffered from room modes and extinction of certain bass frequency ranges due to standing waves and accompanying cancellations. These cancellations for example caused a bass thin sound lacking slam on my listening position. Several meters further into the room it was OK. Using measurements I was able to find the best spot for the sub where it would create the least dips in bass response on my listening position. The DSpeaker Anti-Mode then took care of the peaks.

All this would happen more or less with any large powerful near full range speaker in my room so it's not really specific to the VR-5's, it's just one of those big powerful loudspeakers. Also I'm quite a perfectionist and all the above was addressed over several years. So yes, like I mentioned earlier I consider optimal placement and the room absolutely critical to get the best from these, or any, set of loudspeakers. Different loudspeakers do "load" rooms differently and thus some can be a better 'match' for some rooms than others thus I gave you the advice to try them out in your own room. Some need to be be really free standing, some can be placed nearer to walls etc. etc.

There's also some fine tuning options available like I mentioned earlier using dacron ("pillow stuffing") inside the loudspeakers. Currently the ports of my VR-5's are fully sealed this measured and sounded best with my sub (which is also a sealed type).
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

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#18
Hi Antoine,
Thks for the deep and detailed explanations. I ve read the full review you ve shared and founded it extremely favorable. The review explained how good the bass was and how it was so sensible to speaker placment( an inch made a difference).In our listening session , i roughly positionned them around 3 m apart without toe in and sat around 4,5m to 5m.
I v listened to flac files thru jriver.some tracks like fight for your mind from ben harper sounded exellent , the drums sounded real and deep and tight, i had goosebumps! In other tracks like excuse me mr also ben harper lower notes sounded fluffy but dynamics and the strange sound in the song,you hear from left channel to the right is soo real that you feel it performîg a 360 around the speaker and you !
Bag lady from eryka badu is a song i know well and the bass on it is hard to handle, It was really well controlled from bottom to top; and the bass notes were very ... Like kind of roled off or over controlled or maybe narrowed.
Anyway, i m not sure about the bass, and i m sure that a home demo will show off the truth.
The overal sq was nothing short than outstanding;specially in the upper register, i heard some subtle notes i never heard in my life!!the good thing that i know what i m searching for and my lovely amp is capable of driving them like it should.
.Another point is the speaker cables:we couldnt connect the bi wire super speaker cables from von swcheikeirt to the dev ,it didnt fit properly; and the review claimed a further enhancement with it,so we connected a sheap single wire cable.
I will keep you updated after bringing them home, may be you can help me in positionning!
Thk you very much for your devotion and help!


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#19
Hi Antoine,
Just a follow up on my previous journey regarding speakers upgrade. I actually made intentionally a skinny offer on the vr5 to make the owner refuse( what he did!) cause i made already my mind with my next speaker!( he could accept and i finish with a descent pair at home but quite old though!).
I finally made a downpayment on a demo black sabrina, and i can t wait for them to come!!
I can t believe myself that these beauties will be mine by end of march!
Pics and comments will follow!


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#20
Thanks for the update Samsoum. Enjoy the Sabrina's! Smile
PS Audio P3, Shunyata ΞTRON Alpha Digital and HC/Furutech power cables, Paul Hynes SR7EHD-MR4, DIY Roon Server & Roon Endpoint running AudioLinux Headless, Phasure Lush^2 USB cable, Audioquest Diamond RJ/E ethernet, Uptone Audio etherREGEN, Mutec MC-3+ USB, Shunyata ΞTRON Anaconda Digital XLR AES/EBU, Devialet Expert 250 Pro CI, Nordost Tyr Reference LS cables, Von Schweikert VR-5 SE Anniversary Edition, Anti-Mode Dual Core 2.0, JL Audio Fathom F112. More detail here.

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