Floorstanding loudspeakers — Von Schweikert Audio VR.thirty

The VR.thirty is a floorstanding loudspeaker from Von Schweikert Audio, an American high-end speaker maker, and belongs to its VR line. It was shown at the Capital Audiofest in 2024 and is priced at USD 59,000 per pair. Buyers can choose a passive version or one fitted with the Foundation Hybrid Bass Management System.

Key specs that matter

On the front sit three Accuton AS168 7 inch ceramic honeycomb woofers in a bass reflex load, a 6.5 inch low-mass Accuton ceramic midrange and a ScanSpeak beryllium dome tweeter. A 3 inch Fountek ribbon faces backward to supply reflected ambience. Von Schweikert rates the frequency response at 25 Hz to 40 kHz, the sensitivity at 87.5 dB at 1 W and 1 m and the nominal impedance at 4 ohm. Each cabinet weighs around 86 kg.

Engineering and use context

Crossover boards are assembled by hand, wired point to point and use MasterBuilt Reference cabling throughout. They include the company's Acoustic Inverse Replication (A.I.R.) topology, described as an ambience recovery system radiating from the rear baffle, and the output of the rear ribbon can be adjusted by the user. The enclosure is made with the triple-wall laminate technique common to current Von Schweikert models, with an HDF outer layer, a synthetic stone core and a woven damping lining, reinforced by internal bracing of varying stiffness. In the Foundation version a custom 800 W RMS amplifier drives the three woofers through an analogue crossover with no DSP, and its output level can be set by the owner, giving independent control over bass and ambience. VSA-designed adjustable footers are supplied. The three woofers together give a large radiating area in a narrow cabinet, and the paint is a hand-applied multi-coat finish in automotive-inspired colours.

Pairing

The passive VR.thirty needs at least 80 W per channel, and a design with solid current delivery into a low load makes sense given its moderate sensitivity. In the Foundation version the external amplifier is relieved of the bass load, so a lower-powered unit can be used for the upper range in a 20 m2 room.

Alternatives

The larger sibling in the VR range is the Von Schweikert VR.fifty, which uses two 8.5 inch ceramic woofers in a deeper cabinet.