Cessaro or Von Schweikert

[Hieukm]

Hi guys,

I am considering my next upgrade to be Cessaro Speaker(Wagner/Alpha2) or Von Schweikert(VR-55,Ultra 9). I know they are 2 different school of speakers suited to be driven by different amps. But i would like to hear your opinions.

Thank you very much.

 

[Folsom]

What's the size of your room?

The Cessaro don't have as much need for room treatment, and can integrate into smaller spaces more easily since they have high directivity. Obviously you can get away with real low power amps with the Cessaro too, which does let you put more money in other places. Someone else can probably comment on whether they like Cessaro for vocals; are you a vocal person?

Sorry can't comment on preference since I haven't heard them all.

 

[bonzo75]

At that budget also look at evolution acoustics MM7. Pay Mike Lavigne a visit. It depends so much on the rest of your room and how much effort you can put on the set up. I have great the Liszt a lot, and the gamma at shows. Not heard the VR.

 

[Hieukm]

I have a relatively small room. Around 15m2 or around 14x14. The room can be expanded to around 20m2 in the future.

Due to the size of the room, i would prefer the speaker physical appearance not to overwhelm the room.

 

[bonzo75]

I have a relatively small room. Around 15m2 or around 14x14. The room can be expanded to around 20m2 in the future.

Due to the size of the room, i would prefer the speaker physical appearance not to overwhelm the room.

Too small for these speakers I think.

 

[JackD201]

The 55s could work in a 15sqm room given that the bass is adjustable. I'm absolutely positive that a 9 or Ultra 9 wont. I'd give them a lower limit of 25 to 30 sqm, 45 to 50 ideal. Haven't heard Cessaro speakers for a long, long while so I can't make any comparisons.

 

[bonzo75]

A cessaro Chopin that will fit that room is up for sale in London

 

[Mike Lavigne]

At that budget also look at evolution acoustics MM7. Pay Mike Lavigne a visit. It depends so much on the rest of your room and how much effort you can put on the set up. I have great the Liszt a lot, and the gamma at shows. Not heard the VR.

yes.....my room is open for visits (my adult beverage of choice is Lagavulin 16 ).......and the MM7's are very adjustable for a smaller room with active bass towers. some installations only use 1/2 towers.

 

[LL21]

yes.....my room is open for visits (my adult beverage of choice is Lagavulin 16 ).......and the MM7's are very adjustable for a smaller room with active bass towers. some installations only use 1/2 towers.

An excellent choice of beverage. If I may recommend along those lines: Springbank 18 and 21...2 of my personal all-time favorites. Also, Ardberg Alligator or if you are feeling adventures and up for a sweet seriously peaty whisky, then Arberg Super-Nova. I recommended the Super Nova to a local whisky shop manager, and he said when he got around to trying it...he and 2 friends finished the whole bottle in one night it was that good.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

An excellent choice of beverage. If I may recommend along those lines: Springbank 18 and 21...2 of my personal all-time favorites. Also, Ardberg Alligator or if you are feeling adventures and up for a sweet seriously peaty whisky, then Arberg Super-Nova. I recommended the Super Nova to a local whisky shop manager, and he said when he got around to trying it...he and 2 friends finished the whole bottle in one night it was that good.

thanks for the recommendations. I have the Ardberg 10 year old.....I do like peaty....and smokey.....i'll try those.

 

[jeff1225]

There is obviously a big difference between the systems you are considering; horn vs dynamic speakers. As a person who recently moved from horns to dynamic box speakers, I'll share my experiences. The horns excelled at midrange purity and had absolutely zero distortion. Bass integration was never perfect, as my Avantgardes played down to 300 hz with the horn before the subwoofer took over. Also, my horns had a very defined sweet spot, which was almost maddening. But I really miss that midrange purity, where music seemed to pour out of the speakers.

My new speakers, Quintessence Stealth's, give me what was missing in the Avantgardes. Most notably: driver integration, excellent tuneful bass, image accuracy, soundstage height and wide dispersion. Also, the ribbon super tweeter is a real star in this speaker.

Good luck on your quest.

 

[bonzo75]

Which AG were these, there is a big difference between duos and the trios with the bass horns

 

[Leif S]

I've had the VR-9's in a 13' x 17' room and with all the level controls on the 9's I could dial them in perfect. The ULTRA 9's will do the same. The ULTRA line actually work very well in smaller spaces.

 

[LL21]

thanks for the recommendations. I have the Ardberg 10 year old.....I do like peaty....and smokey.....i'll try those.

here you go...my wife just picked up a Yoichi 21 year from Japan as well...looking forward to trying! (now back to our regularly scheduled programming on Cessaro and VS...)

0. Glenfiddich '77, smooooth, rich, stunningly smooth actually
0. Springbank 35-year; smoky, the ultimate of Springbank non-sweet imho
0. Springbank 21-year (Y) smoky, sweet, smoooth, the ultimate of Springbank sweet imho...this is the recent global release of only 1500 bottles. i got 2 and am keeping one. locally, they have already doubled in price to the original release price in Jan. Nuts, frankly.
0. Macallan 30-year, smoooooth, clean...one of the most memorable and favored clean, smooth non-smoky whiskys of all time imho
0. Yoichi 20-year (Y)

5. Springbank 18 (Y), smoky, smooth, for what i paid a stunning achievement, and its doubled in price in the last 3 yrs since selling out.
5. St. Magdalene 26-year (Y), honey, pure honey
5. Ardberg Supernova '10 (Y), smoke!!!, but so tasty, so good you could drink the smoke for a looong time.
8. Ardberg '78, smoke, 'rougher'
8. Sazerac Rye 18-year Old (Y), smooth Bourbon, very smooth, very refined and a memorably caramely flavor
10. Super Nikka (Y), a touch of honey with a slightly rich burn
10. Glenrothes 1985 (Y) rich, syrup
10. Lagavulin 16 (Y) great value, smoke and one of my fav whiskys. period.
10. Macallan 18 year (Y), great value (once upon a time!)
10. Laphroig 18 Year (Y), smoke, oily but FAR more refined that the 10-year which is good if you like peat but can bother your stomach if you're not ready for it...
--------------
13. Glenmorangie 18 (Y),
13. Invergordon Berry Bros 1971 (Y)
13. Laphroig 10 year (Y), smoke...a strong, strong twist of peat and alcohol that can turn your stomach if you're not ready for it. there are stronger more peaty whiskys than this one that do not do it...but if you've iron-cladded your stomach with peat before, this is very nice affordable intro to Laphroig
16. Highland Park 18 (Y), med rich,
--------------
17. Craggenmore 12-year (Y), light, smooth
18. Ardberg 1991, smoke
19. Glenlivit Nadurra 16 yrs, sweet
19. Lagavulin Distillers Edition (Y),
19. Yoichi 10-Year,
22. Lagavulin 12year (Y), light smoke
--------------
23. Glenmorangie Cellar 13, sweet, smooth
24. Glenmorangie Signet, sweet smooth
25. Bowmore 18-year, Bruiccladdich 18

 

[DaveC]

VR55 are one of the nicest Accuton based speakers I've heard, they did a great job minimizing/eliminating the tendency of the drivers to sound a bit mechanical while still retaining the very high resolution they are capable of. They are also physically small for the speaker type and output potential.

I do like horns but TBH have never got a good feel for what Cessaro sounds like as I could never play my own test tracks at shows.

 

[Folsom]

Dave, you should hear the MM7's at Mike's. They don't even allow you to think you're hearing Accutons. The VR-55 just isn't there on that level but seems to still be talented "small" speaker.

While adjustable bass is good, the Cessaro horns directivity eliminates the need for a lot of room treatment. They still integrate in easier for everything if the bass isn't an issue. Ironically the physics work that the larger the horns the less room treatment is needed (as long as they're within so many degrees of being on axis). But then they become more obtrusive.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to integrate VSA's line into a room. But the smaller you get the more you need to treat the room because reflections will come sooner and sooner. That's the price of using a non-horn speaker in a small space. And actually the MM7 might be a little easier since it uses only a ribbon tweeter and no dome/ring tweeters. But they're big, real big, and heavy. Their horizontal footprint isn't too big and maybe you can buy without the subwoofer towers? Then they'd fit in surprisingly small spaces as long as you got the muscle to get them in!

 

[Leif S]

Dave, you should hear the MM7's at Mike's. They don't even allow you to think you're hearing Accutons. The VR-55 just isn't there on that level but seems to still be talented "small" speaker.

While adjustable bass is good, the Cessaro horns directivity eliminates the need for a lot of room treatment. They still integrate in easier for everything if the bass isn't an issue. Ironically the physics work that the larger the horns the less room treatment is needed (as long as they're within so many degrees of being on axis). But then they become more obtrusive.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to integrate VSA's line into a room. But the smaller you get the more you need to treat the room because reflections will come sooner and sooner. That's the price of using a non-horn speaker in a small space. And actually the MM7 might be a little easier since it uses only a ribbon tweeter and no dome/ring tweeters. But they're big, real big, and heavy. Their horizontal footprint isn't too big and maybe you can buy without the subwoofer towers? Then they'd fit in surprisingly small spaces as long as you got the muscle to get them in!

You do realize you are comparing a $60,000 speaker to a $200,000 speaker that has twice as many drivers???

 

[bonzo75]

Actually, that should be MM3. I initially got confused between alpha and the gamma

 

[Leif S]

lol.....it happens

 

[Mike Lavigne]

here you go...my wife just picked up a Yoichi 21 year from Japan as well...looking forward to trying! (now back to our regularly scheduled programming on Cessaro and VS...)

0. Glenfiddich '77, smooooth, rich, stunningly smooth actually
0. Springbank 35-year; smoky, the ultimate of Springbank non-sweet imho
0. Springbank 21-year (Y) smoky, sweet, smoooth, the ultimate of Springbank sweet imho...this is the recent global release of only 1500 bottles. i got 2 and am keeping one. locally, they have already doubled in price to the original release price in Jan. Nuts, frankly.
0. Macallan 30-year, smoooooth, clean...one of the most memorable and favored clean, smooth non-smoky whiskys of all time imho
0. Yoichi 20-year (Y)

5. Springbank 18 (Y), smoky, smooth, for what i paid a stunning achievement, and its doubled in price in the last 3 yrs since selling out.
5. St. Magdalene 26-year (Y), honey, pure honey
5. Ardberg Supernova '10 (Y), smoke!!!, but so tasty, so good you could drink the smoke for a looong time.
8. Ardberg '78, smoke, 'rougher'
8. Sazerac Rye 18-year Old (Y), smooth Bourbon, very smooth, very refined and a memorably caramely flavor
10. Super Nikka (Y), a touch of honey with a slightly rich burn
10. Glenrothes 1985 (Y) rich, syrup
10. Lagavulin 16 (Y) great value, smoke and one of my fav whiskys. period.
10. Macallan 18 year (Y), great value (once upon a time!)
10. Laphroig 18 Year (Y), smoke, oily but FAR more refined that the 10-year which is good if you like peat but can bother your stomach if you're not ready for it...
--------------
13. Glenmorangie 18 (Y),
13. Invergordon Berry Bros 1971 (Y)
13. Laphroig 10 year (Y), smoke...a strong, strong twist of peat and alcohol that can turn your stomach if you're not ready for it. there are stronger more peaty whiskys than this one that do not do it...but if you've iron-cladded your stomach with peat before, this is very nice affordable intro to Laphroig
16. Highland Park 18 (Y), med rich,
--------------
17. Craggenmore 12-year (Y), light, smooth
18. Ardberg 1991, smoke
19. Glenlivit Nadurra 16 yrs, sweet
19. Lagavulin Distillers Edition (Y),
19. Yoichi 10-Year,
22. Lagavulin 12year (Y), light smoke
--------------
23. Glenmorangie Cellar 13, sweet, smooth
24. Glenmorangie Signet, sweet smooth
25. Bowmore 18-year, Bruiccladdich 18

I could drop some serious coin.....