Von Schweikert VR-4 SR MKII Floorstanding Speaker Review

I have never heard the Pathos Classic One MkII integrated’s running in bridged mode sound poor. They are a scintillating blend of power, grace and intensity. Just how powerful, graceful and intense one does not grasp until used with clearly superior speakers. When I purchased my first MkII, the dealer commented that he sold many of them for systems with speakers in the $10k range. The Pathos amps sounded their best with the Von Schweikerts – a combination made in audiophile Heaven! Every single listening session with the Pathos and Von Schweikert combination was relaxing, fulfilling and enjoyable. With the right tube equipment, the 4SR2’s are enough to satisfy even the most jaded listener.

I was surprised at how good they sounded with a “wildcard” setup – the Eastern Electric BBA “Buffer” amp and the Channel Islands D-200 mono block amps. Designed to be installed between other components, the BBA does a “knock ‘em dead” imitation of the Melody P1688 preamp, which I laud for its crystal clarity and deep soundstage. The BBA’s limitations in features, such as one input and no remote volume, are made up for in sheer clarity and vividness that many higher end preamps aspire to. Coupled with the taut power of the D-200’s, I was mightily impressed with what the VR4SRs’ were sounding like!

While the Pathos amps were so romantically involving, the Eastern Electric/Channel Islands combo was fast and clean. The VR4 SR MkII reveals nuances between components with stunning precision. With these speakers, I don’t have to guess what a source or cable sounds like, I know what it sounds like.

When paired with the right source and amplification, the Von Schweikerts’ are magical, especially in their unconstrained midrange. Dido’s No Angel disc is especially well suited to weigh the quality of vocals. Her alto voice on “Honestly Ok” is far better than just ok; one can hear the velvety smoothness and fullness of her voice. The 4SR2’s do such a terrific job of recreating the recording conditions, that immediately I was struck by the echoic nature of the recording, almost as if she were standing in a bedroom, looking into a mirror singing about her wanting to “…feel safe in my own skin.” And there the listener is, standing off of her shoulder, looking at her reflection in the mirror as she sings. It’s almost eerie how close the piece sounds.

On “Isobel”, the drums are a perfect example of why a larger woofer enclosure is necessary to reproduce life-like percussion. The twin 8.5” woofers and spacious cabinet combine to make the drum beats sound large with an appropriately large metallic ring, not like a smaller speaker trying to make the sound of a large drum. As the guitar and piano blend into the music, one hears the body of each instrument. It is very easy to visualize the instrument playing, not just he string or hammer of the instrument.

Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer has, how shall I say this delicately, a fairy-like voice. It’s the kind of voice that has the potential to be wafted along as if on a breeze. I cannot emphasize enough the strength of the generously sized midrange in making her voice come across in a most ephemeral manner. The strong, persistent electric guitar accompaniment contrasts to her wispy siren-like song.

I strongly encourage utilization of select music when adjusting the rear driver. While these were being dialed in “to taste”, I found it much easier to calibrate them using quiet solo instrumental or vocals. So much electronic music is reverberant that it becomes impossible to say how much is from the primary wave launch, and how much is reflected from the rear. Cleaner, simpler, slower pieces allowed for nuanced adjustments, and once set, I felt no need to adjust it for busier music.

My son plays trombone, so I hear one in my living room quite regularly. Rob Kaufman’s Sunday Drive is an unexpected delight in that it’s of the smooth jazz genre, but with a twist – lead trombone! I am impressed at how accurately the Von Schweikert’s capture the instrument from the length of the brass tubes to the slippery transition zones as the instrument slides into a held note. The lead trombone has appropriate size, intensity, and appropriate characteristic warmth.

I am particularly critical of harsh high-end; if treble is not delicate enough on my ears, it may as well be hammers banging on trash cans. I wondered if the rear driver would tip the scales against the V.S. speakers by pushing the treble too much.

I found that it was fairly impossible to induce the “screech effect” with the 4SR2’s. No matter the level, no matter the artist, higher notes didn’t make me cringe. When paired with the Pathos amplifiers, I knew I was “in the zone” for unlimited listening without fatigue. Mahler, Dido, Sting – whoever, you can be assured that the VR’s will spill out every last drop of intensity from the music without acoustically electrocuting you.

Design choices always carry with them inherent limitations and consequences. The choice to slant the baffle of the mid/tweeter module backwards was obviously for time alignment of the drivers. However, it has the effect of relocating the sweet spot of the mid/treble drivers above the listener’s head. I assumed that this was intentional on the part of Von Schweikert. Make no mistake about it, however, it does alter the sonics.

I must have alternated between standing and sitting 25 times as I critically assessed the nature of the change in sonics due to the angled baffle. In a word, there was ever so slightly more focus when standing as opposed to seated. Do the test yourself. Stand, then sit, then stand… If your ear is well trained, you will hear the difference. And note that I said slightly more focus as opposed to slightly less focus. I chose those words precisely since at no time did I feel the 4SR2’s focused poorly. In fact, these speakers are superb at communicating the context of recordings!

Initially, I wondered if I would need to tilt the mid/tweeter module forward by propping it up in the rear. This was something quite impossible with the Data Link attached, and another reason for bi-wiring. After all, there was a miniscule amount of detail I was losing by having the sweet spot above my head by about 20”! Maybe here is where the genius of these speakers asserts itself. I never did it. As I kept listening, I thought occasionally about the offset drivers but the sound was so good that thoughts of jacking up the mid/tweet cabinet were offset by concerns over less stability and vibrations in the module (vibration absorbent feet for the M/T module, woofer module spikes, and spike cups for wood floors are included with the speakers).

I did, however, pose the question to Albert, asking for the rationale for the design. The answer? The decision to prevent the mid/tweeter drivers from directly beaming at the listener was to prevent listening fatigue. If one listens on-axis to those drivers, the response will be tilted toward the treble range. The frequency response is flat off-axis, to compensate for the angled baffle. The rear-firing ambience driver adds the three dimensional quality to the treble, and as the waves are reflected off the ceiling and walls, it creates the type of frequency balance as if one were in a concert hall.

To clarify, the ambience driver is not simply a rear-firing tweeter. It is an “ambient recovery system”, designed to replicate the sounds which enter the recording microphone from the rear of the mic. Albert decoded what was entering recording mics from the back and built the rear firing driver to play it back at the rear of the speaker. It contains its own circuit which recovers and decodes those signals for playback.

Listening to my favorite pieces was glorious with the 4SR2’s! After several equipment permutations, I have concluded there is virtually nothing that can be done with reasonable equipment to make these speakers sound poor. Conversely, their capacity to improve the listening experience along with equipment upgrades seems virtually unlimited. For the average audiophile, this can be the dream speaker that is never outgrown.

I cannot dream of living without them, so they have become my reference speakers.