Need advice for full range speaker with bottom end

Tvad,

I appreciate your advice on checking out the 25w Set amp. I am questionable on that too. Although, one VS dealer demo the vr4 jr with a 30wpc Thor tube amp.

I am looking at the VMP RM40 and the VR4 Jr on Audiogon at this point. It's a tough choice and I don't feel there's really a bad decision I can make at this point. Both have really won a following... Although, the RM40 seems to have more to offer, but it's going to be about $1000 more.

Gerald

03-06-07: Geraldedison
Tvad,

I appreciate your advice on checking out the 25w Set amp. I am questionable on that too. Although, one VS dealer demo the vr4 jr with a 30wpc Thor tube amp.

The 30w Thor is a push-pull ultralinear design. Significant difference between push-pull and SET. I can understand how the Thor would work on the VR4 Jr.

If that dealer is close, take your SET amp in and give it a try.

I auditioned the VR4jr and it is a great speaker but I went with VMPS, if shipping and price is a real issue then I suppose you will want to choose the Von, but both shipping and price are one time concerns so I would consider the long term nature of this investment and not a temporary issue stop you from what just may be the more desired speaker. Just my humble opinion

might be too late on this but :) ... with that amp it sounds like a stretch for big 'lower' eff. spkrs. i'd look into some nice eff. monitors and a good powered sub. opens up a lot of options for great monitors and for $ a powered sub is a great way to get real deep and adjust for room and spkr conditions. w/out knowing room size and spl desired i'm only guessing, but ability to tame deep bass is very helpful in certain room setups. lotta purists don't go for subs but i think they are a great addition for many tube lovers. enjoy the hunt!

A full-range speaker is nothing more than several part-range speakers packaged together, as no single driver can effectively cover the entire range of human hearing while allowing good volume, power-handling, and efficiency. The three-way speaker design has historically been most successful at dividing the spectrum optimally. Two-way designs tend to sacrifice mid-range or bass, or sometimes the extreme top end, depending on the design. The ported Rogers Studio 1 and Spendor BC-1/SP1/2 are very highly evolved two-ways, and in respects come very close to the ideal speaker. I owned the Rogers Studio 1 for 20 years, but ultimately I became dissatisfied with the coloration of the mid-band caused by using the 8" woofer/mid-range at such high frequencies. The mid-range always seemed 'slow'. This design used a tweeter and super-tweeter, along with a driver that covered the bass and a large part of the mid-range. The port allowed a deep bass, but it was 'boomy' at times. I sold those in 2002 and went to the true three-way Ymaha NS-1000M, with which I am supremely happy. The bass may not go down quite as deep as the Rogers, but the difference is hardly noticeable. I think some of the "deep bass" iwa shearing from the Rogers was in fact just distortion.

A few full-range speakers may have built-in subwoofers, but in fact very little programme material is found below 50Hz. Reproducing sound below that frequency is very difficult and expensive. I would not demand that a full-range speaker do that, but instead suggest that you consider a sub-woofer. Since bass below abot 200Hz is non-directional, it does not matter that the box is separate.