Von schweikert vr4sr up against mahler

Ozzy62, you caught me - unfortunately their bass sucks as downunder was saying ;)

Keep the Mahlers. I had (have)the VA Bachs for 3 years and upgraded to the VSA 4jrs almost a year ago. My comparisons are based on these two speakers and have spent a great deal of time listening to the VA line up through the Beethovan's. I've never heard the Mahler's but, I bet they are glorious sounding. So keep those comments in mind when disecting my thoughts. I found the VA speakers to be extremely listenable, probably due to the silk tweeter. My wife and I could listen for hours. Ultimately, I upgraded because they just couldn't hang on loud R&R music. I'm very happy with my 4's and they keep getting better and better as my system evolves. BUT they are more neutral/cleaner sounding to my ears than the Bach's. I don't want to give the impression that I'm not a fan of my 4 jr's, because I am. It did take a while to adjust to the difference in sound between the two lines. I still have my Bach's and will take them out of the attic some day to build another system. I guess what I'm getting to in a round about way is, I think at best you will be making a lateral move and may or may not like the sound better than what you already have. FWIW if I ever get rid of my 4 jrs' the Mahlers would be right at the top of the audition list.
Good luck.

I had Beethovens, and I now have the Mahlers. I am in love with their sound. I am very delighted with the musical reproduction. I visit a lot of high end stereo stores and often bring a cd that I am familar with and listen to various systems. I am very happy that I got my Mahlers. I do have a larger room, and I am driving them with a McIntosh MC-402 and a MX-119 pre/pro and a Underwood Ultimate Modified Denon 3910 player.

I heard the Mahlers, although very good speakers, I ended up buying the Von Schweikert VR-4 SRs. There haven't been many speakers in the retail $8k-12k range that impressed me enough to want to buy them during my speaker search about 8 months ago. After hearing the SRs, I was convinced that this was the best speaker I have heard thus far in this price range. I actually feel they can compete with speakers at double the price. There are so many things this speaker does very well. When I turn on my system now thru the SRs, I feel like I am listening to real music, not a high fidelity replication. I would seriously suggest you go listen to the VR-4 SR (hooked up properly that is) and judge for yourself. I didn't know much or heard about Von Schweikert products until I heard the SRs and JRs. It made me a believer after the audition.

Too bad I bought my brand new pair so early and paid almost full price (10% discount only). Now they are being sold brand new at deep discount with full warranty. That's a nice deal. The demo pairs up for sale now are even more of a better deal. But at least I was in sonic bliss for the past 8 months so I guess it's all good.

Good luck on your choice.

VA Mahler is for music lovers. VS is for audiophiles. So there is more a question of taste than which one is better.