The Premium Line - Special Edition Speakers

Picture 1: VR-9 SE= speaker (front side)

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Picture 2: VR-9 SE= speaker (rear side)

Size: Height: 50”(127cm), Width Front: 11”(28cm), Width Rear: 18”(46cm), D= epth: 30”(76cm);

Weight: Woofer module: 255 lbs (116kg) each;

= M/T module: 95 lbs (43kg);

        =        Each Tower: total   350 lbs.(159kg);

        =       Pair system:   total 700 lbs.(318kg);

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Table of Cont= ents        &n= bsp;            = ;                &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           Page 05

Review –= ; Positive Feedback – Issue 2= 6       &n= bsp;              &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Page 06

     Breaking the Code = 230; by Mike Lavigne<= /span>

Review –= ; Positive Feedback Magazine       &n= bsp;               &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Page 17

      VR9 - First Impressions by David W. Ro= binson

VR-9SE – Owners Manual and Quick Set-up Quide       &= nbsp;        Page 18

Initial Room Placement     &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            Page 19

Interactive R= oom Correction    &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;     Page 20

Equalization Settings for Bass Response  =             &nb= sp;          Page 21

Picture of EQ Controls on rear    &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp; Page 23

Hi-Treble Equalization, 10-100kHz   &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;        Page 23

Mid-treble Equalization, 2-10kHZ   = ;            &n= bsp;                  &= nbsp;           &nbs= p; Page 24

Ambience Retr= ieval Setting       &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;    Page 24

Product legac= y and Awards       &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;         Page 26

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE - ISSUE 26<= /b>

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Breaking the Code= : The Von Schweikert VR-9 SE Loudspeakers
by Mike Lavign= e

Where the loudspeaker meets the room=

David Robinson ha= s been very patient with me. This 'review'—or whatever it is—of the Von Schweikert VR-9 SE loudspeakers was supposed to happen a while ago. Every t= ime I sat down to write something about them, another change would occur, and I would realize how incomplete anything I might write would be if I stopped at that point. After a while it became apparent to me that me writing about my experiences in my listening room is really about my learning as much as it = is about a speaker, or any other piece of equipment. Things always change when= you add or subtract components, or make adjustments in an audio system. I've ju= st had to get used to it.

And finally, I am= at a place where there is an ending… or at least a bit of a conclusion. It= was not till the end that I could see where I was going, and where I had come f= rom.



        =     Picture 3: Mike’s VR-9 SE speaker and listening room perspective (front side)

Theoretically, the perfect speaker for any room would be custom designed for that room. If the room was well enough designed, and the speaker had the capacity for perform= ing up to the potential of the room, a very high level of performance would be attainable. Normal limitations for in-home music reproduction performance c= ould be somewhat overcome ...theoretically.

=

The speaker would= need to be full range ... capable of significant response from below 20Hz to 50k= Hz, be very coherent, and reproduce music as an event and not just various separate parts of the music. If that could be done then your limitation would= be the resolution and characteristics of the speaker drivers.

On the other hand= , the process of designing that perfect speaker for that ideal room would likely = be challenging. That process would likely involve some dead ends and much trial and error. It would also require a clear idea of exactly what the performan= ce goals would be.

   My last fourteen months' exp= erience with the Von Schweikert VR-9 SE speakers was really just like designing the perfect speakers for my room, although at the beginning I did not understand that. The extreme adjustability of the VR9s also make it easy for those lac= king speaker design experience to get pretty screwed up ...wandering in the wilderness so-to-speak. Anyone with a less than clear and well considered reference would also be challenged. It would be like designing your first speaker while you are developing your standards ...a moving target.<= span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt'>

   In my case, I had developed a sonic reference in a small room, but finding my way to musical bliss in a l= arge room required me to improve my understanding of musical values and speaker design. I had to progress personally in my listening. In retrospect it has = been fun and satisfying.

The great thing is the payoff. Onc= e you 'break the code' and understand what you want and where you are; everything goes to another level of musical satisfaction. It's a tough job, but the go= od news is that this story has a happy ending.

   Two years ago I had a room designed and built from a clean sheet of paper by the folks at Rives Audio.= (To see my listening room's profile, refer to my photo essay of its design and execution in Positive Feedback Online Issue 16, at:

   http://www= .positivefeedback.com/Issue16/lavigneroom.htm.)

   I put no constraint on the designer and then I built exactly what was designed. One half of this theor= etical idea was in hand, now converted to architectural reality. Eighteen months a= go my room project was completed. I was very happy to be finished and really enjoyed setting up my system in the new room.

   But all was not well. As muc= h as I loved my Kharma Exquisites, they were just not capable of doing low bass in= my new 29' (8.8m) x 21' (6.4m) x 11' (3.5m) room. The Exquisites were n= ot able to deliver the same sense of micro-dynamic involvement I had fallen in love with in my previous 12' (3.7m= ) x 18' (5.5m) x 10' (3.1m)= room.

   Another problem surfaced whe= n one of the room designers, Richard Bird, visited and did some measuring. The numbers showed a 6dB 'suck-out' at 80Hz and a 5dB peak at 130Hz. Was this a speaker issue or a room issue? We were only getting bass extension to about 40Hz, and had some good sized 'bumps' in the bass. Richard (the room design= er) diplomatically said that all rooms had peaks and nulls along the long 'center-line' of any rectangular room. He added that the Kharmas might be t= he issue, but that investigation was beyond the scope of what we were prepared= to do. More on this later.



   This is not a knock on the K= harma Exquisites, but an issue of room and speaker matching. (Once more we see the importance of synergy at the level of system/room.) I had asked for = a room design without compromise; now I needed speakers to match.

   What to do?

   I loved the coherency and uncolored clarity of the Kharmas, but I wanted a speaker with enough effici= ency to work in my setting: a quite large and well damped room. I also wanted speakers that would mate well with the mid-powered amps that I liked. I wan= ted a speaker that sounded 'alive' and 'energized'; one that had the articulati= on and tonality in the bass; and yet one that could take full advantage of the potential of the new room by having very deep bass extension and high dynam= ic capability.

   Above all; I wanted a speake= r that made music and did not call attention to itself, a speaker that disappeared= and involved me ...a speaker that allowed the beauty and power of music to come alive.

   My friend Jonathan Tinn of Chambers Audio (the US Distributor of the Von Schweikert VR-9 SE and the enormous VR-11s) had been telling me about the Von Schweikert VR-9 SE. He k= new of my frustration with the Kharmas in my new room and of my search for the right speaker, and thought the VR-9 SEs might be an answer to my quest. Naturally, I wanted to hear them for myself to decide if they were candidat= es for my room. The problem is that the VR-9 SEs don't grow on trees; I'd prob= ably have to wait for an audio show to check them out.

   I didn't have to wait too lo= ng, though. At CES 2005 I finally got a chance to hear the VR-9 SEs in action. = The specifications were appealing: it had a 1000-watt powered subwoofer, was 94= - 96dB/Watt/meter efficient, was very dynamic, and had a very 'live' and immediate sound. I heard that coherence and clarity that I loved in the Kha= rma. Was it involving? Could it be beautiful sounding?

   Yes, I thought so. So I went= ahead and ordered the VR-9 SEs; 4 months later they arrived, and I went to work. = All that was a little over one year ago.

   Fast-forward to today=

   In the last few weeks I have finally 'broken the code' of my speakers. May 12th was the one year anniver= sary of the arrival of the VR-9 SEs. Interestingly, that was also about the mome= nt when the clouds fully parted and I finally 'got most of it' regarding the various adjustments the VR-9s offer. Let me explain what I mean.

On the VR-9s you have three tweeters, each with an autoformer gain adjustme= nt. On the rear of the speaker there is a mid-tweeter; on the front there is a dual-ring revelator tweeter and a ribbon super tweeter.

   Contained within the bass ca= binet is the 1000 watt Class D powered 15" subwoofer in a sealed enclosure w= ith a whole palette of adjustments: gain, phase, a 25Hz boost, and most importantly, an adjustable crossover. The dual front firing woofers descend down to 50Hz; the crossover o= n the sub allows for the sub to cross over to the woofers at any point from     50Hz up to 80Hz.=

   The VR9s have a separate enc= losure for the mid-range and three tweeters, and another separate enclosure for the two woofers and integral powered subwoofer. The subwoofer is not ported. Th= ese two cabinets 'nest' together and are shipped already stacked in one large crate; the whole speaker weighs a very substantial 350 pounds, but as both the speaker and its crate are on castors, I was able to easily move the crates around my room and unload the speakers by myself.

   Initially I was concerned ab= out the castors preventing the speakers from reaching their bass potential, as = they might not mechanically ground the speaker sufficiently. I also was interest= ed in other footer choices that might exist.

   Von Schweikert assured me th= at the speaker had been designed to remain on the castors and my wood over concrete flooring would allow for an ideal acoustical de-coupling. The design of the VR-9 does not allow for experimentation in this regard, but my ears tell me= I am now (though not originally—getting things right took time for me to understand how to make the most of the VR-9's capabilities) hearing the most detailed, articulate tuneful bass I have yet heard, so I must defer to the designer's perspective. I do have to admit that I still wonder what putting= a set of Grand Prix Audio Apex footers under the VR-9s might do.

   There are speaker terminals = for the mid-tweeter cabinet and the woofer-subwoofer cabinet. At first I bi-wir= ed with my Tenor 300-watt hybrid monoblocks, but eventually went with four channels of amplification from a pair of darTZeel NHB-108 Stereo amps. Adde= d to the two dedicated channels of bass amplification, I now had six amps in the loop.

   In the first few months of V= R-9 ownership I fooled around with the crossover somewhat. Other owners of the = VR-9 had recommended using the minimum crossover point of 50Hz. I had so many sy= stem and break-in issues that anything crossed over above 50Hz seemed to really cause muddiness and congestion. So I put the crossover at 50Hz and left it there. As I worked through the process of speaker break-in, speaker positioning, messing with power cords, racks, cartridges, amps, preamps, speaker cables, and overall system tuning ...I kinda forgot about the crossover. I had been convinced that keeping it at 50Hz was 'right.'

   Chasing the bass<= span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt'>

   I was also chasing bass line= arity. I started off with the VR-9s about 9' 8" into the room (29' long) from= the wall behind the speakers and 10' 6" apart (in a 21' wide room). After playing around quite a bit I ended up at 8' 10" into the room, and 9' 6" apart. This location gave me the best bass articulation and flattest response.

   The 6dB 'suck-out' at 80Hz w= as now gone, and the 5dB peak at 130Hz was also gone. I had essentially flat bass response ...actually slightly rising at 20hz from flat (my Phonic PAA3 does= n't measure below 20Hz) ...my opinion is that it is close to flat down to 15hz.=

   I was now just starting to g= et into the deep dodo of the interactive nature of this speaker. I was finding that the VR-9 SE was simply an open door to whatever it was fed or however = it was adjusted ...it was all a question of audio context, due to its terrific flexibility. To tell you the truth, after fourteen months of working with t= his speaker, I'm not sure I could say that the VR-9 has a 'sound' of its own.

   I would assume that I had ru= n into a limitation or characteristic of the speaker, and later find that what I h= ad heard was either adjustment, system limitation, or my limitation. I have ye= t to find a 'dead-end' where the speaker is left holding the bag and making excu= ses. The VR-9 designers have put enough state-of-the-art pieces and careful desi= gn into these beasts so that once you find the right approach, you are THERE.<= o:p>

   As I pursued bass performanc= e I found that everything I changed caused me to adjust the bass gain. At first= I was using a stock Belden power cord on the subwoofer digital amps. I was getting considerable bass distortion. When I tried the Jena Labs Fundamental One Power cords, there was an unbelievable improvement in bass linearity and coherence which allowed me to increase the bass gain. It also surprisingly improved the sound up the rest of the frequency range too. This JENA Labs p= ower cord is only on the subs, which were only going up to 50Hz. Why could it ma= ke such a large difference? My opinion is that the VR-9 SE's integral in-line power conditioner was preventing digital back-fill into my power grid from = the 1000 watt digital amp.

   I then tried the Grand Prix = Audio amp stands for my main amplifiers (which at that time were the Tenor 300-wa= tt monoblocks).

   This change had a huge effect again on bass linearity and coherence up and down the frequency range. There seemed to be no limit on the speaker's sensitivity to changes. Is this a go= od thing? At that time I wasn't sure. Later on I had the same experience with a second set of Opus speaker cables. The speaker seems to keep on revealing m= ore musical information as you work at improving the associated components.

   A confession: I am no techie= .

   Another admission: I ha= ve never designed a speaker and don't understand (or rather did not understand= at the beginning) very much about how drivers are combined to work together. <= o:p>

   So here I am with likely the world's most adjustable speaker, this big room with all this potential, and= I was making major changes in my system configuration as I went along, too.

   (An important side note: in = the last twelve months my whole system has changed to conform to and take advan= tage of the potential of the room and speakers. I switched all my power cords, a= ll my equipment racks and amp stands, upgraded my digital, changed amps, added speaker cables, and changed preamp and phono stage. The only remaining gear from my initial move into my room is one set of speaker cables and my turntable. Not all these changes were part of sorting out the room, but many were. The room and the VR-9 SE speakers leave absolutely no place to hide).=

        =     Picture 4: Mike’s VR-9 SE speaker and listening room (front side)

Shifting to the tweeters

The upper section features the VR-9 SE's tweeters. The front mid-tweeter and the ribbon super tweeter each have a 20 step adjustment for gain. The rear 'ambience' tweeter has a continuous dial with 10 steps. The range of adjustment for these twee= ter was from +2dB to -5dB (in 20 steps).

I found that the = front mid-tweeter had a dominating effect on the sound. It would determine the le= vel of naturalness or edge in the system. It was fascinating to hear how an adjustment of one small step would change the balance of the system, and ev= en change the level of imaging. Finally getting this right turned out to be ve= ry key to 'breaking the code.' The front super tweeter did have a good deal of influence in the degree of 'air' and it could cause a bit of background 'ha= sh' if set too hot. <= /p>
Most of the frust= ration with adjustments came from trying to squeeze as much detail as possible from these tweeters without causing any edge. It was not until I understood the influence of the bass adjustments to high frequency performance that I fina= lly got these parameters right.

Hunting the so= und shifter

I found that the = VR-9 speakers in my room are true chameleons; everything makes big differences. I got a sense that if I solved my system issues and really dialed these speak= ers, there would be almost no limit to where I could go.

Later I discovere= d that I am the only real limitation to these speakers.

Over the first 9 months of living with the VR9s a constant theme was finding the right tweeter settings for maximum naturalness while retaining maximum detail and air. I went back and forth numerous times but could never settle= on one set of settings.

The system sounde= d very good, but when I would turn up the tweeters there would be a slight edge on certain music. Many visitors would comment that they thought the system was sounding outstanding, but wasn't exactly what they liked. Many commented th= ey would prefer a bit more warmth. The speakers/system had amazing bass, amazi= ng detail, and amazing soundstaging ...but the level of emotional involvement = was inconsistent.

I ended up adjust= ing the tweeter settings for digital and analogue differently. This was due to = my Van den Hul Colibri cartridge, which would be too revealing on some LPs for= my tweeter setting, while the digital was natural sounding at the same value. = Eventually I purchased the Dynavector XV-1s cartridge [reviewed by David W. Robinson i= n PFO Issue 25 …see http://www.pos= itive-feedback.com/Issue25/monaco.htm] to allow more LPs to be listenable ...but then missed the amazing level of detail and explosiveness of my Colibri.

In late December I received the second set of Opus speaker cables; then in January I got the production darTZeel preamp. Things did smooth out quite a= bit at that point, and I felt that all was right. I was then able to return to = my vdH Colibri cartridge, and found that it now worked in my system. The probl= em had never been the Colibri; it had been that the Colibri was telling me what was truly happening with a given set of settings.

At this point my = sense was that I had reached a good point in room sonics. There would still be sm= all incremental improvements, but the big steps of speaker and system refinement were behind me.

Wrong! The biggest step was still ahead.

This whole process up to this point was really like climbing a mountain wit= h a series of 'false' ridges; as you approach each rise you think it's the top ...then you see that there is still another level beyond.

The big breakthrough for me was a visit from an audiophile from Dallas who was in = town for business. He was a friend of a friend and had arranged to stop in for an evening's listening session. He seemed to enjoy the listening, but said he thought something was missing from the bass around 60Hz; voices and some instruments were lacking the heft and richness he liked. I responded that I= had measured the bass and it was very flat in that region. He said he didn't do= ubt what I was saying, but that he much preferred a 'bump' in the mid-bass. At = that moment I dismissed his comment ...and we did some more listening.

A few days later I again thought back to the comments my visitor had made. I considered what I could do to possibly experiment ...the crossover?<= span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt'> &= #8230;. Maybe.

So I adjusted the crossover up about one-third of the scale on each speaker= .

There it was: MAGIC! I was floored. What I heard was music.

First, the detail and clarity increased. How could that be?

Second and even more astonishing; the high frequencies were dramatically mo= re natural ...smoother but more extended.

Third, the layering and organic solidity of images were greatly enhanced. Voices were transformed, fleshed out and more dynamically alive.

The sense of venue, ease, and ambience was transformed, and became much more real.

At that moment I realized how little I had understood how things really wor= ked; which was quite humbling. How could adjusting a subwoofer which was only extending up into the 60Hz to 70Hz range have such a dramatic effect? It did not make intuitive sense, but my ears did not lie to me.<= /p>
The VR-9 approach= does optimize the way in which the sub is integrated. The sub is in a sealed box= and is integrated into the lower enclosure with the twin bass drivers; it takes= its source signal from the bass speaker cable terminals and therefore mimics the character of the main amps (the digital sub amp is very neutral). The sub driver is very stiff and linear and matches the 'speed' and character of the woofers. In total the sub was simply doing its job correctly.

As I had learned = about how to adjust my speakers, I had taken a kind of class in speaker design. T= he adjustability of the VR-9 SE had been a curse and a source of frustration; = but once I 'broke the code,' that adjustability became a real blessing.<= span style=3D'font-size:11.0pt'>

At this point I n= o longer needed to adjust the tweeters differently for analogue and digital. My Coli= bri cartridge was now completely happy ...and when it is happy I am happy. Not = that there aren't still the occasional problems; there are still a few very 'hot' LPs where some visitors prefer one step down on my mid-tweeter (mostly RCA Shaded Dogs that were mastered too hot).

For a month or so I did not touch anything; I just listened. I had gone thru two years of disruption to get to this point and I just needed/wanted to en= joy it for awhile.

I wasn't yet to the summit.

But ...I did finally 'get it'.

Over the last 3 months or so I have had quite a few visitors. I have asked = them all to be brutally honest with me about their feelings about what they were hearing. After each session I have thought about the feedback and tweaked a= bit more.

This helped me to figure out the relationship between the crossover and the subwoofer gain adjustment.

One revelation th= at is crystal clear to me is that the foundation of the music lives in the bass. Music exists on a bed of ambience that lives in the deep bass. When you com= bine a speaker that has essentially unlimited bass potential with a room uncompromisingly designed to allow that bass to work ... and then you 'break the code' on how to make it function perfectly ... you will not believe wha= t is possible. Honestly; words fail me. I just wish my skill with words matched = the magnificence of what I hear.

=

I reached a point= where I crossed a threshold into another place. A place where the whole reproduct= ion chain has simply ceased to be evident ... inconsequential ... not worth mentioning.

Two months ago I = think I reached the summit. The visitors started to get really over-the-top in comments.

   A few examples:

"...wanted t= o take another stab at articulating what made our listening session yesterday so n= oteworthy for me.

What I heard on your system re-defined my perception of accuracy vs musical= ity. If accuracy is one bookend and musicality is at the other extreme, then your system is NOT a balance between the two characteristics. =

It is the first I heard that is BOTH highly accurate (de= ep resolution) as well as highly involving.

This is ridiculous. I have been working long and hard, and finally achievin= g a very involving system at home. Now, I need to figure how to obtain the deep resolution I heard yesterday. This is killing me...."

Another comment:

"That was fun yesterday. I fel= t your system was impressive the first time I heard it, but in retrospect it wasn'= t as involving as now. Yesterday, playing records, it was incredibly involving, = like I feel my system is, but the difference is that yours does all the audio th= ings well, which mine doesn't and which I miss and which actually, of course, do= ne properly like you're getting, increases rather than detracts from further emotional involvement. Namely, big dynamics, freq extension, but mostly the extreme transparency.

Most transparent system I've ever heard, and not the pseudo-transparent tipped up edgy presentation most guys mistake it for, or= the transparent midrange only sound that mini-monitor guys have. But hearing yo= ur system has made me reconsider my current setup. I love it, but I want more = of what you have as well. I think that's why I have become interested in some modern cartridges at this point, and I think once I get in a house I'll be looking to some of the lessons you've learned to move in that direction as = an additional system."

These two guys are both SET/Horn lovers with heavy vinyl bias. They've both heard many systems and types of systems. One just arrived from NYC, and was exposed to the very best stuff while there.

This last weekend I had three visitors that have all spent time with the sy= stem over the last year so have a context of the changes. All three left in awe = of what they heard. There was not much discussion of the sound; it was more si= mply a connection and involvement in the music and collective enjoyment.

As I was ready to= call things finally 'set' I had another visitor who enjoyed the system and room = but had a recommendation that possibly image focus and stage depth might improv= e if I moved the speakers out about 6 inches each and toe them in a bit more. My first reaction was 'denial' but a few days later I played around with positioning.

=

I had not moved t= he speakers at all since my initial set-up (8' 10" from the rear wall and= 9' 6" apart). There had been so many changes to my system and speaker adjustments that I suspected that my friend was likely correct. What had be= en right back then was likely not right any more.

And he was VERY r= ight. I moved the speakers to about 20 different positions as much as 7 inches wi= der each and 6 inches forward ...with many different toe-in considerations. I e= nded up at 9' from the back-wall (2" forward), and 10' 5" apart (11&qu= ot; farther apart) ...and toed in, so that instead of aiming at the outside of = my shoulders, they are aimed at my ears.

I now have consid= erably better center-fill, much better image focus, slight improvement in tonal shading and greatly increased sense of stage depth, height and layering. Th= ere is a very slight reduction of the sense of wrap-around. Overall a much more compelling and involving sound.

Conclusion

For the last coup= le of weeks it has been listening bliss. I try to listen critically but I am suck= ed into the music.
Am I just climbin= g up to another 'false ridge'? No. This is the real deal. With a little help from some friends, I think that I have tamed these beasts. I am no longer the limitat= ion to the speakers.<= /p>
So how do the VR9= s sound? Go down your checklist of speaker attributes and check every one. No weaknesses. Perfect balance.

In the context of= my particular system and room the VR9s are sweet, detailed, holographic, and perfectly coherent. You cannot pick out any driver, crossover or cabinet issues, and yet this is a 6-way speaker with 7 drivers. With my choice of a= mps the system sounds like the best of tubes and the best of solid state ...and like neither one.

This speaker in t= his room has bass performance to die for in every respect. The treble delicacy = and ease is magical. The mid-range has textural nuance, clarity, tonal fire, and refinement.

Most of all; the speakers disappear and make music that pulls you in and grabs you. As my visitors commented; the speakers and system combine to bring all the beauty= and all the truth of the music. Whether it is small jazz combo, full orchestral bombast, female vocal, or Snoop Daddy ...it will take you all the way there ...or bring them to you ...whichever the recording delivers.

The more complica= ted and demanding the music, the more sense of control and ease you get. The mo= st musically complicated and dynamic crescendos are child's play for this spea= ker in my room and system. Think of your favorite high powered rock and roll an= d it'll take you there. Love piano or violin ...guitar ...any horn ...all life-like with full power and dynamics to the level of the software. Vocals just happ= en ... lifelike and full of life. Very delicate and nuanced classical pieces a= re naturally rendered and full of emotion and musical tension. At low listening levels the speakers and system are still able to energize the room with a g= reat sense of venue and bed of ambience.

This is a world c= lass speaker that can be fully optimized for any sufficient room or most systems= I am aware of. Since the VR-9 is 94dB to 96dB efficient, one could choose qui= te low powered SET's (you'd need two pair) if that is what you liked.

=

=

Anyone in the mar= ket for a speaker in this price range should listen to what this speaker can do= and realize you are only hearing a small percentage of what YOU could get it to= do.

=

=

=

        =     Picture 5: Mike’s VR-9 SE right speaker and corner in the listening room (front side)

Is this the best speaker? I'd say that it is easily the best speaker overall on the market I have yet heard (which obviously includes my room and system) ...so yes; it = is the BEST speaker for my room. It is hard to imagine a less adjustable speak= er having the ability to be fully optimized in my room. The VR-11 (the big bro= ther of the VR-9 SE) may be better, but I've not heard it optimized so that would just be an educated guess.

To sum up, I cannot recommend the VR-9 SE speakers more highly. They are definitely not cheap at US$75K, but from my experience they deliver the mountaintop. If you have the commitment and patience to 'break = the code' of audio playback, the VR-9 SE will take you as far as you want to go= .

The = Von Schweikert VR-9 SE Loudspeaker
First Impressions by
David W. Robinson 8/2007

Editor of Positive Feedback ma= gazine

First impressions of the VR-9 SE Loudspeaker in advance of the final review.

It’s no surprise at all to anyone who’s been reading my reviews over the years that I strongly favor full-range, dynamic audio reproduction in my listening room. I don’t really think that you can experience everything that a fine recording has to offer unless you can experience the full fre= quency range and maximum dynamics. Nowadays (given my SACDs and LPs) this means that you have to give me 20-25 Hz at the bottom end, really fine midrange, = and upper frequencies over 30kHz, minimum. For dynamics with a variety of amplifiers, I want as much efficiency as can be delivered (92-94dB/W/m is e= ntry level). These are tough targets to hit.

The real tri= ck is to deliver this with all the transparency possible. That means extremely we= ll selected drivers, placed for excellent coherence, phase and time correctnes= s, and a well-tuned crossover. I want detail…everything that the mic fee= d or the master tape had on it…I want to feel the air, I want to sense the room, I want to touch the musicians…I want to connect emotionally with that moment. The ideal performance can= be simply stated: I want loudspe= akers to vanish, to let the music in a recording be. If I close my eye= s and feel “two boxes” in my room, the spell is broken, and we’= re back to merely “hi-fi.”

After all these years schooling my senses in fine audio,= and all these years of editing and writing Positive Feedback Online, there are only a few loudspeakers that I’ve heard that even approached these ideal qualities for me. Most speakers range from “limited” to “OK” to “interesting”; som= e reach the point on my audio continuum of being “really good!” Several have been magnificent.

But a loudspeaker with the combination of all of my qualifications hadn̵= 7;t turned up for a review here — until the Von Schweiker VR-9 SE arrived for a review. I had heard these at CES in 2005 with the “none better” EMM Labs/darTZeel/JENA Labs combination — even under show conditions, these pleased me deeply with their obvious superiority. But it wasn’t until I had the VR-9’s= in my own well-known listening room that I came to grips with the exceptional accomplishment that they represent.

Look at the requirements that I listed above. This is to= ugh stuff, believe me; those parameters are demanding. And yet, from day one the VR-9s proved themselves equal to everything that I look for in a speaker. F= ull range? Unbelievable…everything from the deepest bass to harmonic ultrasonics are here. Coherence? Extraordinary…there is no sense of b= eing able to spot individual drivers at all. Authority…transparency…= the ability to vanish…unparalleled. I was connecting with the music in wa= ys that I haven’t done before in my room, that’s certain. This has been the experience of everyone who has been here, as well. I don’t t= hink a listener has come away from a set here at PFO River City without being amazed and moved by the experience. The VR-9’s are magi= c!

I am not finished with my review, but I can already say = this with complete confidence (you’ll see it again in my final review!): In my sixteen years at Positive Feedba= ck, the Von Schweikert Research VR-9 SE loudspeakers are absolutely the finest transducers that I’ve ever heard in my listening room.

If you are looking for what I do in a speaker…chec= k my list again…then you can stop right here. You’ve found it. =

VR-9SE

OWNERS MANUAL

Quick-Guide S= etup Instructions

Including:

·       Interactive Room Correction

·       Equalization Settings

·       Technical Setup Info

INITIAL ROOM PLACEMENT

Engineering Background

The VR-9 SE was designed to work with the room to provide a life-like three-dimensional recreati= on of the original live musical event. It is well appreciated by listeners as well as musicians that musical instruments radiate sound omni-directionally by nature of their construction. In addition, th= e best microphones are designed to pick up sound over a “wide dispersion pattern” in order to simulate the original sound-field. For this reason, the VR series of speakers are “wide dispersion” designs based on the study of Psychoacoustics. <= /span>

Since a “wide dispersion” design uses the ro= om acoustics to enhance the listening experience, great care must be used in setting up the VR-9 SE speakers if the best possible sound quality it to be achieved. The following information will help you extract the magic that th= ese speakers are known for.

In all rooms, no matter what the size or reverberation time, the setup ne= eds to emphasize the 3-D imaging focus of the speakers; don’t worry about the balance between bass and treble, as the frequency response o= f the VR-9 SE can be equalized with the on-board controls to enable the spea= kers to sound natural (and also have flat measurement response).=

If your room is rectangular, and you have placed the speakers on the “long” wall, you can spread the VR-9 SE by 15 feet before a “hole in the middle” will develop. If you have spread the speakers further apart than the listening distance, the image focus wi= ll be best if the speakers are aimed directly at the listener’s ear= s. Aiming them at you is called “toe in.” If= a wider and/or mellower sound is desired, try reducing the angle of “toe in;” in some rooms you may find that the speakers sou= nd best with no “toe in,” so experimentation is in order. If you are using a wide spread, the sound will be more dimensional and ho= lographic if the speakers are kept as far away from the walls as is possible. If necessary, use diffusion at the first reflection points, including side walls and ceiling. If you have a hardwood floor, or large coffee table, note that reflections from these hard surfaces will increase the upper midrange/treble range to an unacceptable level. In this case, you will need to use a large throw rug in front of each speaker and break up the reflections from the top of the coffee table with objects placed on th= e table to diffuse the sound rays from the speakers.

In a long and narrow room, if you are placing the speakers on the “short” wall and are sitting at the other end of a reverbe= rant room, you will notice that the room’s natural reverberation caus= ed by boundary reflections (walls, floor and ceiling) will dominate the sound. In this situation, you may wish to sit closer and/or use room treatment to absorb the excess reverb. Scientists working in acoustics have found that highly reflective rooms have so much reverberation that 60% - 70% of the total sound field is reflected. This means that without some = type of room treatment, the rooms’ colorations will dominate the over= all sound; the majority of rooms may have so much reverberation that the speakers cannot focus a three-dimensional image of the instruments floating in space. Sometimes, the speakers themselves may be incorrect= ly blamed for the poor resulting sound field. If this is the case with your particular room, the two options are a): sit closer to the speakers or= b): use adequate room treatment.

INTERACTIVE ROOM CORRECTION

Engineering Background

One of the most important aspects of sound reproduction = is to match the original recording’s frequency balance as recorded in the original venue. Since the average listening = room does not have the same acoustical signature as the original concert hall or sound studio where the music was recorded, it is very likely that the liste= ning room’s signature may have a negative impact on the resulting sound fr= om the speakers.

Indeed, the room may cause bass lift (often called “boom”) and/or excessive treble reflections that may cause a “bright” (harsh) sound. Both of these room aberrations will cause listening fatigue and/or boredom to set in quickly. This is the major reason why certain audiophiles change speakers every few months: they are looking for that elu= sive “magic” sound that the room is destroying. In most rooms, the only practi= cal solution is to enable the speaker to compensate for non-flat frequency and/= or phase response caused by the room conditions.

Although “all” frequency ranges are affected= by room reflections, there are two main regions that are most bothersome to the listener and are amenable to adjustment with simple equalization controls.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The two most important ranges are:

= a.&n= bsp;     Deep bass to mid-bass (16Hz to 100Hz);

= b.&n= bsp;     Upper midrange to low treble (1kHz to 10khz).

Both of these frequency ranges are amenable to correctio= n if access to electrical equalization is enabled. In the case of the VR-9 SE, the correction has been designed into the speaker system itself:

The bass range of the woofer system is actively controlled by the built-in 1,000-watt ICE-BLOK amplifier module, see the next section regarding t= he controls and how to set them up for your particular room and/or listen= ing taste. (Although the bui= lt-in amplifier drives only the 15” High-Speed rear-mounted subwoofer,= the entire bass range up to 100Hz can be altered by the subwoofer’s interaction with the main woofers.)

The upper midrange-tweeter frequency range (1kHz upwards) can be attenuate= d or boosted with the rotary knobs that control the passive Autoformer devi= ces, which are simply transformer input/outputs with 1dB selector switch points. Please note that= the autoformers WILL NOT affect the sound quality negatively, since they a= re not simple, inexpensive “pots.”

The Main tweeter (Scanspeak Dual-Ring Radiator) can be controlled upwards = of 1.5kHz; this is the ear’= ;s most sensitive range and covers the upper midrange region of female voices, violins, pianos, guitars, and other instruments.

Note that the VR-9 SE’s frequ= ency correction ability does not com= e at the expense of “purity” of the signal; these controls cannot negatively affect the overa= ll sound unless they are misadjusted. The following technique can be used to easily adjust the system bass and treble response:

EQUALIZATION SETTINGS FOR THE BASS RANGE

Please refer to the built-in ICE-BLOK amplifier control = plate, mounted on the rear of the VR-9 SE woofer enclosure. There are two rotary controls mark= ed with numbers and three toggle switches below them. (The 3^rd togg= le switch is not for room EQ).

Starting from the top of the subwoofer amplifier control plate, you will see:

Volume Level<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Control

Adjusts the volume level of the ICE-BLOK subwoofer ampli= fier driving the 15” subwoofer. This knob has a default setting marked by = the silver dot on the amplifier plate (approx. at 12:00 o’clock position). IF the deep bass s= ounds too loud, turn down the control slowly on both speakers, if they are arrang= ed symmetrically with equal distances to the side walls. In the event that one of the speak= ers is close to a room corner and the other speaker is out in the open, the speaker loaded by the corner will require much less bass boost than the speaker in = the open area.

In one particular room, the setting for “flat̵= 7; response turned out to be at the 10:00 o’clock position, but in a different room (that seemed to be lacking in bass with other brands of speakers), the setting for “flat” turned out to be at about 1:00 o’clock. Do not be alarmed if you find yourself adjusting this control to compensate for recordings that have too much or too little bass in the mix,= as there is no “standard” for bass level; it is set by the recordi= ng engineer’s tastes.

Frequency: Low Pass Control

This knob adjusts the crossover point between the 15R= 21; rear-firing subwoofer and the twin 9” front-firing mid-bass woofers.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Note that the main 9” woofer= s have response to 40Hz in their sealed configuration, so the job of the 15” subwoofer is to fill in between 10Hz and 40Hz and also add the impact of li= ve bass. Based on your particular room situation and/or listening tastes, you may wish to overlap the crossover area between 40Hz and 80Hz in order to reproduce very powerful orchestral or jazz recordings that should be “flapping your pant legs” in real life. However, too much midbass gene= rated by the 15” woofer may overload a very small room – in this case, reduce the midbass overlap by turning the Low Pass knob to the left, towards the 50Hz mark, as well as turning down the volume level of the rear mounted= sub amplifier.

25-Hz Bass Bo= ost toggle switch

In many rooms, the extremely deep bass (10Hz to 40Hz) ma= y be “missing in action” due to the standing waves set up by the boundaries created by the floor, ceiling, and walls. In our particular room, we use the= 25Hz Bass Boost to increase the deep bass power, so the Factory Default Setting =

is marked by the silver dot on the right side of the tog= gle switch. In the event that you= are hearing too much deep bass, turn off the 25Hz Boost.

Phase toggle = switch

This switch could also be labeled Monopole/Dipole settin= g, since the polarity of the 15” woofer can be used to either strengthen= the 10Hz to 80Hz region by setting the Phase switch to 0-Degrees, which is the Factory Default Setting marked by the silver dot. In the event that the midbass (or = entire bass range) is too overpowering for the room, set the Phase switch to “180-Degrees.” Th= is setting will result in a “dipole” woofer arrangement that focus= es the bass power in a front-to-rear direction, with cancellation of the bass = at the sides of the cabinets. Th= is setting will reduce the effects of “one note bass” generated by room nodes and side-wall boost. The best way to determine how to set this switch is to start with the 0-Degree setting and listening to a variety of recordings. If you feel that the bass is too l= oud (or too slow) compared to the midrange, use the 180-Degree “out of phase” position. <= /o:p>

Auto Off togg= le switch

Since it is not convenient to turn of the subwoofer amplifier by using the On-Off switch at the rear of the speaker, the Auto O= ff switch will turn off the ICE-BLOK amplifier after no sound is detected with= in a 15-minute period. The Factory Default Position is marked with a silver dot = and is the “auto-on” position.&nbs= p; This control has no effect on the sound quality and is just a convenience feature.

MIDRANGE AND TREBLE CONTROLS=

If bad recordings and/or boomy or bright listening rooms didn’t exist, o= ur hobby would be far more pleasant, wouldn’t it? We could actually sit down and enj= oy the music instead of worrying about “bad sound” every time we turn = on our stereos! It is well known= that a speaker that is designed to be as accurate as possible will often sound unpleasant – this is not due to the speaker itself, but the fact that= the speaker system is letting you hear EVERYTHING IN THE RECORDING, including b= oth good and bad sounds. Can we do something about this? Yes!

I decided that a really accurate speaker should be able to compensate for the= se unwanted artifacts. In fact, many of the recordings I = own from the past 50 years either have too much bass or treble, or even worse, = have harshness in the upper midrange due to the “bright” nature of t= he recording studio electronics and miles of inexpensive cables. (This doesn’t even count the engineers who love boosting the treble with equalization due to their loss = of hearing caused by excessive volume.)

For these reasons, I have developed a method of enabling the speaker to be accu= rate and also sound musical. This was accomplished by two metho= ds:

Reducing the distortion and coloration created by the speaker system;

Designing bas= ic equalization controls that will NOT interfere with the transparency of the basic so= und.

Since most of the harshness of older recordings is caused by upper midrange distortion and/or boosting of these frequencies by the recording engineers, this type of unpleasant frequency imbalance can be corrected by lowering the volume level of the offending frequencies themselves. Our study of the spectral imbalanc= es in recordings and/or listening rooms determined that two ranges need to be addressed:

Upper midrange/treble: 1kHz to 10kHz.

High treble = range: 10kHz to 100kHz.

Now that we know what frequencies we need to adjust, how do we go about doing it without causing additional sonic problems?= My answer was to utilize “autoformers” that could attenu= ate (reduce) the offending frequencies. Autoformers, if you are not aware of them, are low distortion volume controls based on transformers and do not negatively affect the sound quali= ty – they are expensive but worth the added cost.

CONTROLS MOUNTED ON REAR OF UPPER CABINET<= /o:p>

LOCATION OF THE ATTENUATORS AND THEIR SETTINGS:

Note: all of the Default Factory Settings for Flat Frequency Response in a typical listening room are marked with silver dots— by increasing or decreasing these settings, you can= adjust the sound of the speaker to match the particular situation.

Looking at the rear of the VR-9SE’s upper midrange/tweeter module, you will s= ee a control plate on either side of the RIBBON Rear-Firing Ambience Retrieval Driver:

HIGH TREBLE ATTENUATION (10kHz - 100kHz)

On the left side of the upper spe= aker, you will see that the black control plate has two different knobs, a small = knob at the top for Rear Ribbon Twe= eter for “ambience retrieval” and a larger knob to control the front Ribbon Super Tweeter, below the small knob. The front mounted 5” ribbon operates between 10kHz to 100kHz -- note that these frequencies are so high that it is difficult to actually hear them unless you listen carefully to t= he ribbon tweeter with the volume level off, then on. A long-term comparison will prove = to you that the subtle

addition of extra “air” in the frequency response up to 100kHz enables t= he VR-9SE to have far more clarity and transparency than speakers that donR= 17;t go up as high in frequency.

Note that the silver dot painted on the number plate indicates Factory-measured Flat Response, and that there is a “pointer groove” on the top = of the large knob that is set to the silver dot. (The large knob is set comple= tely to the right and the selector switch at the bottom of the knob is set = to the “0-dB” setting).

If your room = tends to sound “bright” and/or you own equipment that needs less “air” at the high frequencies, please turn the control knob counter clock-wise until you hear what you are seeking from the front Ribbon Super Tweeter.

If you hear aggressive high frequencies in the lower treble, you should try turning down the Main Tweeter with the large control knob on the right side of= the speaker, see below. In o= ur experience, the ribbon super-tweeter does not operate in the “harshness” area unless the electronics have distortion.

MID - TREBLE ATTENUATION (1 kHz &= #8211; 10 kHz)

Looking at the right side of the upper speaker, you will see another black control plate, with a large black knob = at the top under the binding posts. = This is the frequency range where the room reflections and/or harsh recordings m= ust be adjusted. The round Main T= weeter on the front of the cabinet operates from 2kHz up to 40kHz, so we have set = the Autoformer to attenuate the sound between 1 kHz and 10kHz, where the ear is most sensitive to harshness and distortion.

Note: all of = the Default Factory Settings for Flat Frequency Response in a typical listening room are marked with silver dots. The Factory-measured Flat Res= ponse setting is numerically marked “ 5/4” on the number plate, = with a silver dot on the right where the “pointer groove” is marked. The slide switch= under the large knob is set to “0-dB” and there is a silver dot = for reference.

REAR-FIRING AMBIENCE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM CONTROL

The VR-9SE has been designed to replicate the pickup pattern of a typical omni-directional recording microphone to enhance the Three-Dimensional image focus of good recordings. To = enable this effect, we have installed a rear-firing Ambience Retrieval system usin= g a 5” ribbon to replicate a decoded reverberation signal derived from our Ambience Retrieval Decoder circuit.

Theo= ry : Since a recording mic picks up sound from a 360-degree window, reflections from the back of the recording hall or studio end up at the rear of the mic – this signal is phase reversed and is = also time delayed due to the distance from the rear wall to the back of the mic. Our Ambience decoder ret= rieves this ambience signal and feeds it to the rear-firing ribbon speaker, thus completing the original 360-degree sound-field.

The Effects Level is controlled by the small knob on the left side control panel, directly above the large black knob. N= ote that the small knob has a white arrow, set at 12:00 o’clock (referrin= g to a clock face, not numbers on the dial).&nb= sp; Note the silver dot painted directly above

the small knob is the Factory-measured Flat Response setting. If your room has curtains or wall absorption treatment behind the speakers, turn this control all the way up.

If you have placed the VR-9SE close to a highly reflective rear wall, such as plaster or a glass window, you may have to lower the volume level of the Ambience Driver if the effect is boosted by the rear wall. Turn the small knob to the left to reduce the Ambience Effect. <= o:p>

If you have the VR-9SE out into the room and you wish to have more depth to the sound, then turn up the small knob clock-wise. Our factory sound room is somewhat over-damped, so we use the Ambience Effects level set to 100% full volume.<= o:p>

Please take the time to play with all of these controls to learn what they can do = for your sound. If you have read = the detailed review of the VR-9SE at our website, you will find that the review= er who published his odyssey with the VR-9SE spent a year playing with all of = the controls on his personal pair. Not only did he have a lot of fun, but his friends were also helpful in offering suggestions for the control settings when different components were switche= d in and out of the system. <= /o:p>

Note that the VR-9SE is considered to be the most accurate speaker system ever b= uilt and was awarded Product Of The Decade in Hong Kong and the USA due to not o= nly the incredible sound quality, but to the innovative engineering found within this ground-breaking design.

If you have any questions about the adjustments, please call the factory for detailed help in setting the controls.&nbs= p; Albert Von Schweikert w= ill be pleased to speak with you and has had 100% success in helping each and every VR-9SE customer, in countries all over the world, to achieve the sound they have been seeking for years.

Happy Listening!

@2008 by Albert Von Schweikert

INDUSTRY AWARDS

Von Schweikert Audio - VSA.

2006 Best New Speaker
HiFi Magazine, Hong Kong, Awarded for th= e VR-9 SE

2006 Editors Choice Award
The Absolute Sound , 10/06 Awarded for the VR-4 JR

2006 Gold Award
Tone Magazine, Austr= alia 01/06 Awarded for the VR-4 JR

2006 Editors Choice Award
The Absolute Sound , 10/06 Awarded for the VR-2

2005 Most Wanted Component
Stereo Times. 05/05 Awarded for the VR-4 JR

2005 Editor's Best Buy Award
The Perfect Vision Recommended Product section, featuring the system 12. May/June 2005
2005 Best Surround Sound at CES
Von Schwweikert Audio VR-9SE loudspeaker . Awarded by Chris Martens. Absolu= te Sound magazine April May 2005

2005 Best Room of CES/T.H.E Show for SACD Multichannel
Awarded by David Robinson of Positive Feedback for the VR-9 SE room at T.H.E. Show.

2005 Best Sound of Show T.H.E Show
Awarded by Clement Perry of StereoTimes for the VR-9 SE

2005 Best Sound of Show T.H.E Show.
Awarded by Greg Weaver of Positive Feedback for the VR-9 SE

2004 Writers' Choice Award Positive Feedback Online
Awarded to the VR4jr. <= /span>

2004 Golden Eye Award
Awarded by The Perfect Vision magazine for Multi-channel System 12.

2004 Most Recommended Component
Awarded by The Absolute Sound for the VR-2.

2004 Most Wanted Component
Awarded by Clement Perry of Stereotimes for the Db-99 SE.

2004 Best Sound of Show
Awarded by Clement Perry of Stereotimes for the VR-11 room at T.H.E. Show

2004 Best Speakers
Awarded by On Sound and Music for the VR-11

2004 Best Compact Speaker System
Awarded by Home Studio Magazin= e, Netherlands for the VR-4 JR

2003 Editors Choice Best Buy
Awarded by The Absolute Sound for the VR-2

2002 Best Surround Sound of The Show
Awarded by Clement Perry of Stereotimes for The New York Stereophile Show

2002 Best Sound of the Show
Awarded by Bangkok Audioshow for the dB-100 by popular vote of show goers <= /span>

2002 Most Wanted Component
Awarded By Greg Weaver of Stereotimes for the VR-4 Gen III HSE

2000 Most Realistic Speaker
Awarded by Audio Home Studio magazine for the VR-5 speaker system, May 2000= .

2000 Top Quality Speaker
Awarded by HiFi Video Test Magazine, Holland for the VR-7

2000 Best Sound Of The CES Show
Awarded by David Glackin of Positive Feedback magazine and published on enjoythemusic.com, for the VR-7, with Bel Canto electronics and Analysis Pl= us cables (room partners).

1998 Component Of The Year
Awarded by AudioLand magazine for the VR-6, Winter 1998, Hong Kong.

1997 Design and Engineering Award
Presented by the CES Innovations Committee for the VR-4's Global Axis Integration Network, January 1997.

1997 Best Sound Of The Show 2nd Place,
Awarded by Stereophile for the VR-6 and VR-8,1997 Stereophile Show in San Francisco.

1996 Entrepreneur Of The Year
Awarded by the Small Business Administration for business growth and development, New York State. <= /span>

1996 Best Sound Of The Show
3rd Place, awarded by Stereophile Show attendees for the VR-10 at the NY Waldorf-Astoria in June 1996.

1995 Product Of The Year
THX Home Theater Speakers for Counterpoint Electronics, awarded by Video Magazine, June1995.

1993 Best Sound Of The Show Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
Best Speaker Syst= em awarded by Guy Lemcoe and Stereophile for the Concert Master Armageddon ($60,000) later renamed VR10. =