These are the current Residents of The Lair. I will post pics soon. I have been an audio enthusiast for more than twenty years. Unsatisfied with what was available at the time we decided to order factory direct brands we had heard on trips overseas. This is my Personal system and a true reflection of my sonic tastes.
Disclaimer: Since VSA and Lamm industries were not available here in the Philippines and were products we really loved we took it upon ourselves to be the Distributors. Nonetheless, the selection of these components are the result of my personal aesthetics and practical matching considerations.
Future Upgrades will be based on the new home my family and I will be building very soon. In the current setting any added expense/upgrades will be negated by the limitations of the room itself.
I've got everything hooked up to the VRays except the amplifiers which get their juice straight from the wall. Unfortunately, I never owned a Hydra 8 so I can't compare.
To be honest, I didn't add the Shunyatas for sound's sake. Being in the tropics we are subject to a lot of lightning storms and being in a condominium our current is not exactly what one might call stable. In one instance power surged to a degree where my lights just got extremely bright and the power cut of from the mains transformer. When the power came back , all the gear was none the worse for wear. I'd say the VRay paid for itself right then and there. Before the V-ray my former amps, BAT VK-150 monoblocks would blow B+ fuses routinely. I had them hooked up to the V-Rays and they never blew a fuse again up until I sold them to get the Lamms.
I found the direct mode via the DCC2 less involving but hey I'm a tube guy taste varies. I've since upgraded to the L2 reference which sounded a tad forward until I put them on Critical Mass platforms and everything snapped into place.
Hi Mike,
I have around 1000 hours on the VR-5s and yes I am very, very happy with them. The bass tightened up finally at around the 600 hour mark but the highs improved in as little as 100 hours. If you can, try to get your hands on the Purist Audio Design Burn In CD. This is the only burn in CD that works without making your neighbors think aliens are invading.
These 5's will always be special to me because I recall asking VSA to build a VR-4SR using the drivers found on the VR-9SE sans the ribbons and the 1000w Sub. I was bugging him because we wanted VR-7 or VR-9 sound for medium sized rooms since houses over here (Philippines) are not as large as over there i the States.
At the time, Albert said they needed to redesign the bass module's transmission line and find better damping materials for the cabinet walls so the magnesium drivers could go as low as the aluminum ones. Well, they figured it out and the result was what is now the VR-5 SE.
How special are they to me? Perhaps because I bugged Albert so much about building one I was given Serial No. 0001L and 0001R. When i saw the SN I decided to keep it for myself.
How cool is that? :-)
I am now bugging him into making a high sensitivity version off the VR-4SR and VR-5SEs in the 97 to 99 dB sensitivity range by designing a booster amp for the bass modules like he did for the DB-99. I hope he finds the time to do it. The guy has been busy designing the UniField line.
The HRX is a splendid table but I do recommend the Graham Arm to go with it. I like to cart roll and the Phantom, with extra armwands, can have me up and running in less than 10 minutes. It is just so easy to set up. I also prefer the standard platter over the heavy super platter which i also have.
Indeed, Jack - a most excellent system. I aspire to obtain the TNT HRX myself someday soon. Until then, my little Scout is working out ok . Question: How are you liking the VR-5SEs? How many hours do you have on them? I purchased a pair myself a couple months ago and am still breaking them in. At the moment, they are a bit bright in my listening room... - Mike
