New ULTRA Reference Flagship Models In Production

[Albert Von Schweikert]

Custom designed ULTRA VR-111XS six tower system. This is not a production model and will never be duplicated.


Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

It is with great pleasure to join this enlightened group of music lovers. Leif and I are here to answer any and all questions about our line of Von Schweikert and Endeavor speaker systems.

We have been in business since 1976, when I developed the VR-4 (originally called the Vortex Screen) and began research on our first four tower system, the VR-10. In 1992, we showed the VR-10 at CES, which was called the "Armageddon" by Guy Lemco of Stereophile. He awarded it Best Sound Of The CES Show. The term "armageddon" was his way to state that "it would be the last speaker you would ever need."


VR-10 Designed by Albert Von Schweikert, released at CES 1992

In 1994, Damon and I developed a small product line, I was the system designer responsible for driver and crossover design. Damon's job was cabinet and industrial design for the VR-4.5, VR-6 and VR-8. The VR-4 remained "as is," as it had become a classic, selling in the thousands. At one time we had 342 dealers selling this model.

The VR-4 went on to win 7 Product Of The Year awards from audio magazines world-wide, and in 2012, it was listed as "One Of The 25 Best Speakers Of All Time" by Audio Review. The list was formed by a survey of several hundred readers of their publication.

The VR-10 was replaced by our VR-11 in 2004, and a smaller version VR-9 was also released. These two flag ships used technology I had been developing over a 30 year period and in 2008, my son Damon Von Schweikert, Leif Swanson, and I reengineered both models to the Mk2 series. Major changes to every single part of the systems elevated the 9Mk2 and 11Mk2 to a level far above the originals.





Although the one-off VR-111XS ULTRA six tower system will never again be duplicated, the technology that Leif, Damon and I developed for the 111 will appear in our revised ULTRA 9, 11, and 101XS models. Our new ULTRA 101XS will be slightly smaller than the VR-111XS ULTRA and will be a production model. As more than a dozen seasoned audiophiles have proclaimed the VR-111XS ULTRA to be the "reference standard" of their experience, we believe the ULTRA 9, 11, and 101 will also become reference standards for many other audiophiles and music lovers.

All of these three systems will feature proprietary ceramic honeycomb drivers made in Germany, Duelund/Jensen oil filled caps, our Pat.Pend. Triple Wall "active" noise reducing cabinet, and most significantly, will use ULTRA alloy internal wiring by Master-Built. A division of a major aerospace company, Master-Built is a U.S. supplier of wiring harnesses used by NASA, CERN, laboratory and military clients. VSA has secured a distribution contract for this product as it is the best measuring (and sounding) cable we have ever tried. In fact, this brand of cables has been used by us and Constellation to win many Best Of Show awards in the past three years.

This November 25-27, the ULTRA 11 will debut at the Singapore Show. Our great distributor there, Bobby of AudioLine, has secured one of the large ballrooms at the hotel and will be playing vinyl, tape, and digital. If you will be in or close to Singapore, come by to meet our designers and hear the ULTRA 11's.

Next year, we will show the ULTRA 11's in Chicago and venues around the world. As we have even more orders for the ULTRA 9's, you can expect to hear these as well. We intend to beef up our presence at US shows while we continue to expand our dealer base around the world. In fact, we have just shipped our 4th pair of flag ships to Dubai.

We thank Steve Williams and Ron Resnick for asking us to become active on this great Forum. After studying the topics on discussion here, we at VSA and Endeavor are proud to be members. If you have questions about our products, do not hesitate to contact Leif Swanson at our Sales Office or just write a post with your question.

As Always, Happy Listening!

 

[Leif S]

I wish we could of seen the dual 18" woofers in those sub towers of the VR-10's Albert. I sure miss the VR-111's. Damon and I are going to have to catch a plane over to the Philippines from Singapore so we can hear them again and visit Jack and Mr. Jimmy

 

[es347]

..exciting stuff Albert!

 

[Bruce B]

Welcome Albert!!

 

[BruceD]

Welcome Albert!!

Indeed Welcome Albert--I met you many moons ago with John Firman--what ever happened to him?

Yes I heard of the Porsches/etc

Lovely speakers by the way--I took this pic of a friends system--also a WBF Member

BruceD

 

[JackD201]

Indeed Welcome Albert--I met you many moons ago with John Firman--what ever happened to him?

Yes I heard of the Porsches/etc

Lovely speakers by the way--I took this pic of a friends system--also a WBF Member

BruceD

Ah you're friends with Rodney! I had a blast when I visited him. Wonderful guy with a wonderful family and a dream home to boot. Loved the wine too! Oh so close to TPC Summerlin, someday I hope to play that course.

 

[treitz3]

Hello and good morning to you, Mr. Schweikert. Please allow me to offer you a very warm welcome to the What's Best Forum.

In looking at the first system displayed, I was instantly awestruck at the design of the towers. Do you feel as if the cabinet design has a big influence on the sound staging an imaging presented by the entire system?

Tom

 

[Ron Resnick]

Dear Albert,

Thank you very much for joining WBF, and for your announcement about your new Ultra models going into production! Congratulations to you and Damon and Leif!

After hearing Jack's VR-11SE Mk. II, and the VR-55 Aktiv in your office and in Irvine, I am looking forward to hearing the Ultra 11s! As I wrote and said after listening to Jack's system I am puzzled how you can improve on the VR-11SE Mk. II but, apparently, you have done so -- and I cannot wait to hear the results!

 

[steve williams]

Indeed it will be difficult to imagine that the VR11 Mk II can be made better after hearing Jack's system but it will give me an excuse to visit again

Albert, you were right on in your assessment of the WBF community. They are truly a great bunch of people who, from all over the world bring great dialog to this hobby of ours on a daily basis here at WBF.

We all look forward to your continuing participation here at WBF on a regular basis

Thank you again for taking the time to join as well as to further enlighten us about the intricacies of Jim's VR 111 which IMO along with his room has become my new Reference against which all others are judged

 

[Leif S]

Dear Albert,

Thank you very much for joining WBF, and for your announcement about your new Ultra models going into production! Congratulations to you and Damon and Leif!

After hearing Jack's VR-11SE Mk. II, and the VR-55 Aktiv in your office and in Irvine, I am looking forward to hearing the Ultra 11s! As I wrote and said after listening to Jack's system I am puzzled how you can improve on the VR-11SE Mk. II but, apparently, you have done so -- and I cannot wait to hear the results!

Thanks Ron!!! I look forward to seeing you again.

 

[adyc]

Just a question on the speaker design. In a series of papers in AudioCircle, you mention that your speaker behaves like a omini emitting spherical sound pattern. Why would you not design a true omini speaker?

 

[jimmy]

I wish we could of seen the dual 18" woofers in those sub towers of the VR-10's Albert. I sure miss the VR-111's. Damon and I are going to have to catch a plane over to the Philippines from Singapore so we can hear them again and visit Jack and Mr. Jimmy

We're just waiting for yours and Damon's "detour" flight details, my friend!

 

[steve williams]

We're just waiting for yours and Damon's "detour" flight details, my friend!

now you're talking. Don't pass on the offer Leif

 

[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

Thanks for reading my post and welcoming me to WBF! I am very happy to speak with you through the magic of the Internet. We all have this amazing quest that we love to share, so I'm honored to be answering your questions and getting to know all of you.

The first question was posed by treitz3, who wanted to know if the cabinet shape of the VR-111XS has a major impact on the sound. The simple answer is "YES."

However, I'm sure that he wants to know why we designed this shape and how it works.

BACKGROUND TO THE FOLLOWING ANSWER: I had the luxury of visiting Jimmy a few years before starting on his custom speakers, so we knew how much acoustic space we had to fill with sound. We also studied the reverberation pattern exhibited in his professionally designed space, and we also knew what amplification and sources Jimmy was going to use. Knowing in advance what our acoustic target required in order to simulate the sound of a symphony playing in a hall, Damon (our CAD engineer) and Leif (Lead Production Engineer) and I created a list of design features that the speakers would have to encompass. The six cabinet system was suggested by our client, as he realized that the scope of this project would require a vast quantity of drivers and we all agreed that outboard crossovers would be a necessity. The twin woofer cabinets are simple rectangular towers, but are built to a standard so massive that they cannot vibrate; their weight is nearly 1,000 pounds per tower. Their shape is only a cosmetic feature; simple but elegant.

What I believe you wish to understand is why we designed the unusual shape of the main towers. They do look odd, indeed, although with the supplied grills, they look very uniform and elegant (although our client does not use them except as dust covers when he is not listening to them). The important two things to notice in the large photo of the speakers in our factory is that there is a "setback" for Time Alignment of the midrange and tweeters, and that the setback is shaped like a sideways "V." Time Alignment is a technique wherein the "acoustic centers" of the drive units are focused in space to overlap and measure as a single driver. For instance, crossing over a large woofer with a voice coil that is 3" behind the front baffle and a 1" tweeter with a voice coil that is 0.5" behind the baffle will result in the tweeter waves hitting your ears before the woofer waves; that 2.5" difference in mechanical offset will create a large dip in the frequency response overlap between the two drivers. Although a designer can decide to use an electrical offset using non-symmetrical crossovers, a purely mechanical alignment of the voice coils results in a simpler circuit and sounds more dimensional. Time Alignment is one of our "hot" buttons!

In our other models such as the VR-9 and VR-11, the drivers are placed vertically and symmetrically, but in the VR-111XS, you can see that the three tweeters are on the outside edge of the front baffle, while the midrange drivers are on the inside edge of the baffle. In addition, you can see that the setback for Time Alignment is also a horn-loaded wave-guide, shaped like a "V," towards the inside of the sound stage. As I have spent years studying the directivity pattern of baffle shaping, I knew that the width of the front baffle, along with the shape, would need to overcome the limitations of a singe wide front baffle.

Sound coming from the midrange and treble drivers (as well as the woofers) are radiated as hemispherical waves; most of this pressure wave is directed towards the listener, but the waves that reflect from the front baffle will create a slight time delay compared to the direct waves. This is sometimes called diffraction, and is thought to be caused by only the waves that are scattered by the edges of the baffle as the pressure waves attempt to wrap around the cabinet. However, as you know that sound does not beam straight ahead like a flashlight, but are spherical and radiate in a very wide dispersion pattern, the shape of the front baffle and where the drivers are placed has EVERYTHING to do with the speaker's ability to distribute sound around the room and disappear as the source of the sound field.

The sideways "V-shaped" setback is used to control "where" we want the waves of sound to travel; this is what Controlled Directivity means in this application. As the narrow portion of the "V" is on the outside edge of the baffle, where the tweeters are mounted, the midrange drivers are located at the larger side of the "V" on the inside edges of the baffle. The combination of X-Y-Z spatial locations of the driver "groups" (tweeter cluster and midrange cluster) must be blended by the physical location along with the directivity pattern of the two clusters. The "V" shaped wave guides are aimed at each other, in compensation for a desire to focus the "center image" of the recording in a very tight spot. This enables the speakers to pinpoint small sound sources such as a solo instrument or vocal in a very tight spot.

Many large speakers increase the image size to an unrealistic degree; who really wants to hear human lips that are five feet wide? Controlled Directivity is the key to enabling the VR-111XS ULTRA to project a single small triangle, highly focused at the rear of the stage, while also simultaneously projecting a huge symphony orchestra. One of our key design points in every speaker we make is the ability of the speaker to sound both small and very large at the same time.

The second question was posed by adyc, who asks why we did not design a fully omni-directional system instead of a compromised system that only radiates from the front and rear. This is a great question! The truth of the matter was that our first attempt at designing a large speaker was indeed a true omnidirectional device. We placed six-inch two way speakers on each side of a tall rectangle, so that we had four speaker systems radiating in each of the four directions (north, south, east, and west). Although this was a fairly good sounding speaker, it had several problems that were difficult to resolve: a) We had the "sound everywhere, focus nowhere" that critics applied to the Bose 901 reviews back in the '70's, and b) We could not control the radiation pattern as well as we wished unless the room was treated with absorption to an unacceptable degree. This first omni system had to be placed in the middle of the room, as wall reflections created so much reverberation added by the walls that image focus was greatly compromised.

At this point, I began to study the pickup patterns of the best recording microphones used by the major record labels to record live classical music. We wrote to Telefunken, Neumann, and AKG, with a request for a copy of their specifications along with the polar response patterns. Remember, this was in the mid '70's and email had not yet been brought to the public, so all of this was done by "snail mail." After looking at the design of the best omni recording mics, irregardless of the manufacturer, it became obvious that only two directions needed to be captured: the front waves coming from the instrument, and the rear waves coming from the boundary reflections. Although only two diaphragms are used, back-to-back, omni mics pick up waves at their sides - not just the front and rear waves! This is why we design adjustable dipoles. First, we can replicate the sense of depth of the hall, and second, we can reduce the rear wave s.p.l. in the event that the customer has a glass or other hard wall behind the speakers. Many audiophiles, no matter how large their room, simply do not wish to locate the speakers close to the center of the room. So, to make a practical speaker that will do just about anything asked of it, the adjustable dipole seems to be a logical engineering direction.

The rear-facing dipole drivers, which we call our Ambience Retrieval System, consists of three tweeters in a vertical line source, located directly behind the front tweeters. There are two low frequency tweeters flanking a Heil Air Motion super tweeter. This array is driven from 1kHz up to 50kHz. The Ambience signal is derived with a passive SQ/Hafler decoder, and the level adjustment is accomplished by an auto former, which consists of eleven different transformer windings combined with a series of resistor groups. All of the internal contacts are military-grade, with extremely high quality wire and resistors used internally. These are not your ordinary "level control pots" which corrode and degrade the sound. We have found that our units are sonically invisible when a/b tested against a piece of wire.

I hope this was an interesting discussion, as I tend to write very long and scholarly articles when a sentence or two would suffice. If you're not bored of these details, I'll continue to answer as many questions as I have time for.

As always,
Happy Listening!

 

[steve williams]

Fascinating Albert

Thanks for the great synopsis

Can you elaborate more about the time delay switch as working with two towers per side makes sense to have one

 

[jimmy]

now you're talking. Don't pass on the offer Leif

Leif was originally scheduled to join Albert and Damon to commission the 111's last December but had to stay back to "watch the shop". We've been talking about this possible "detour" from Singapore over the last couple of months and I hope Leif and Damon can make it!

 

[Leif S]

now you're talking. Don't pass on the offer Leif

I know Steve. I've been waiting for this for a long time

 

[Leif S]

We're just waiting for yours and Damon's "detour" flight details, my friend!

Thank you Jimmy

 

[JackD201]

Let me know a couple of weeks ahead of time so I can dry age the beef

 

[Leif S]

Let me know a couple of weeks ahead of time so I can dry age the beef

You will have more notice than that my friend lol