Boston Question..Attn- Simon Brooke (1 Viewer)

[Evan M.]

Simon (or any other Boston experts), I read that you work for Boston so hopefully you could offer me a bit of advice. I have Vr3 fronts. I bought a Vr920 center at Tweeter for 300$. It was a returned unit so the person could upgrade. I also bought an open box (3 day old) VRC center for 325$ Both are in MINT condition and come with the 5 year waranty. My question is, which one do you think I should keep? I have been comparing them like crazy and cant come up with a decesion. I e-mailed Boston and the guy first told me he would stay with the 920 then after a few more conversations he said he would stay with the VRC!! Not a lot of help . I know the VRC is the "technical" match for my mains...has the same tweeter and mid-range but the 920 is a monster and probably Bostons most popular center and I got a great deal on it. Any advice you or anybody else can give me would be greatly apreciated as the "return window" Tweeter gave me is up in a week.

 

[Evan M.]

Anyone out there?.........Simon?.......anyone?:frowning:

 

[cabreau]

I'm here. Stick with the 920, it's more bang for your buck (and it's cheaper than the used VRC). If you want, you could always sell it for $400 and just buy a brand-new VRC.

 

[Simon Brooke]

hi evan sorry for the delay, time zone problems, i just got home from work.

anyway, i was discussing it with my manager who has been with boston for 13 years now and he came to the same conclusions as me. we both agreed that the vrc sonically matches the new vr line but it can sound a bit thin, i fell the vr920 has more bass, although this is maybe just my observation.

i think if you did stick with the vr920, you might regret not have a timber match across the front stage.

if you asked me i would go with the vrc because all the base is going to the sub anyway.

whatever you stick with you win either way because both are great speakers

just out of interest what are you using for surrounds?

 

[Evan M.]

Simon, thanks a million for getting back to me. I am currently using micro 90II's for my surrounds. They were the fronts that came with my system 9000II i got a few years ago. They seem to do a decent job.
I was leaning towards the 920 but now i dont know. Is the vrh.o. tweeter that much different than the lynfield that it would not be timbre matched? I agree that the VRC can sound a bit thin but that was at higher volumes. The 920 almost sounds like it is begging for more juice. Any idea if Boston is going to come out with another center that would be along the lines of the 920? I heard rumors that they are rplacing the Vr-mc. I like the VRC because of the size and weight of it. I do apreciate you talking to your manager too. This type of customer support is what makes Boston as good as any internet company when it comes to the support you all offer. Anymore inside info on the center issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[cabreau]

It's like this Evan M., timbre matching is ALWAYS the safest and most conservative bet. Keep the VRC and you are sure to have a matched sound. Keep the 920 and you run the risk of either winning big, or losing big.

 

[Greg_sford]

Evan, do you have a sub in your system? or any plans to go that way? Maybe a (future) sub would make the vrc thinness a moot issue...

 

[Evan M.]

Yes, I have a sub. The thin-ness has nothing to do with the bass as it seems to happen at higher volumes. And no it is not the amp either so clipping is not the issue either. It is really not a bad thing. The speaker just sounds a little more thin than the 920. Thank you for all suggestions. Anymore advice about which speaker I should keep would be greatly apreciated.

 

[Jesse Sharrow]

Not to confuse the issue. But I have VR-950's for front's. Im guessing I should go with the VR920. But if I cant get a hold of one, would it be ok to go with the VRC?

 

[Simon Brooke]

hi evan
to tell you the truth, the difference in the tweeters is subtle and not night and day difference.

we run a lot of demos and training for our dealers around the country and they remarked how they liked the new vrc because the size of the center was slimmer and easier to fit into cabinets, but the new tweeter was not that different sounding from the previous vr920 and vr910 unless you were looking for it.

the good thing about boston is they have what boston like to call the "boston sound", which means that the entire range sounds similar because they are all modelled on the vrm50 if i am correct.

i haven't heard anything yet about a new vrmc, but it does seem a good idea, the vrmc feels a bit small in size compared to the rather large vrm90's and vrm80's.

even though we are not boston ourselves and rather the agents in south africa ( we are also the agents for rotel,linn and loewe) we get great support from boston usa on all the new products so we can prepare our dealer base for anything new, in fact in the custom installation side of things in south africa, the boston flush mount speakers and outdoor range are the biggest seller in the country.

i like your surrounds, i am actually planning to upgrade my surrounds myself, just waiting for the new micro range to arrive on our shores, i remember the first time i picked up the micro 90's, i nearly droppped them because they were so heavy for their size, and i wasn't expecting that.


hope this helps

 

[Evan M.]

Simon, Thank you again for the info...interesting stuff about the speakers being modeled after the Vrm50.....it makes sence, great speaker. I watched The Phantom Menace yesterday with both centers and I tell ya, that 920 cranks!! After comparing it greatly with the VRC it almost sounds as if the VRC wants to give out a bit on big action scenes.....not badly or anything most people would even blink at but I noticed it a bit. I wonder if the only difference in the tweeters is that the VRC is a bit more sensitive. I think if I turn the level up on the receiver for my center when using the 920 if it would compensate. I did notice that with a few voices the 920 sounds almost "robotic". Like the Chanselors....but I think he sounds robotic anyway . I have a few more tests I am going to do though and I'll let you know what I decide.
Yeah the Micros are pretty neat speakers. I think one would be very hard pressed to find better built sats. They do weigh a ton!! I almost dropped mine when I took it out of the box!! I had NO idea they were that heavy duty. I would recommend them to anyone for surround duty. Micro 10 as well if they can be found.
I heard something about the new VRMC through a dealer in New Hampshire. He said they were talking about it at CES. He also predicts a new VRM line to be introduced at the end of this year or spring next year. He said that Boston took a lot of vrm ideas and incorporated them in the new VR line so Boston will have to come up with a few new upgrades soon in there "flagship" line. He said it was all speculation but he said he noticed a pattern with Boston where they tend to upgrade their equipment every 5 years or so.
Oh well, we'll see. It would be nice but then again ....I DON"T WANT TO HAVE TO UPGRADE AGAIN!! Take care Simon and thanks again for all of your help and insight.

 

[Greg_sford]

Simon, Evan, Jesse, cabreau,

thanks for all the good input on Bostons
I'm heading in that direction - what receivers do you find work well with the Bostons? I'm looking at a referb HK325 or a new yamaha 1400...

 

[LanceJ]

Evan: I would keep the 920 and not get all worked up about the 100% Perfect Sonic Matching issue. In the long run I really believe you will enjoy the fuller & richer sound of the 920 more, compared to the wimpier sound of the skinny VRC. Trust me, I've been in this type of situation before: I used pure logic to decide on something, got it home, was in the middle of a great song or movie......and all I could think about was how the other choice made my gut feel better as opposed to my head. And since to me my gut is the "real me", and when in situtations like this when faced with choices that all seem to have equal value, I tend to trust it more than my head.

Sure the 920 takes up more space and isn't as loud--relatively speaking--as the VRC. But when watching Terminator 2 with all your buds and that 18 wheeler is chasing that kid through L.A., I'll bet that "big" 920 will seemingly disappear as it casually reproduces all those rumbling and crashing noises, barely breaking a sweat.......while most probably the VRC would be huffing and puffing trying to keep up with the front mains and all those thoughts of correct timbre matching go right out the window because it plain doesn't sound as good as that other choice.

And remember this: unless by some miracle of furniture & wall placement you can put your Perfectly Matched center channel in the same type of physical location as your front mains, it STILL won't sound exactly the same anyway! There it is, sitting on top of your TV, in a totally different acoustic environment than your mains. Even if you used three identical speakers in front, the one in the center position would still not perfectly match the ones on the sides.

Here's a possible clue that even large manufacturers know about this problem: that big Infinity center I want to buy, the Alpha 37C, is an acoustic suspension design. But UH OH, its "matching" floorstanding & bookshelf front mains all use a bass-reflex enclosure. Talk about a radical design difference! But my theory on this is that since centers are usually placed in lousy acoustic locations, and bass reflex designs--because of their fussy woofer/port interactions--are more sensitive to their placement location, IMO Infinity engineers used a sealed design instead to eliminate this potential problem, thus making it easier for the center to provide consistently good lower mid/bass sound from home to home (they also did this with their Primus center, but not with the small Alpha center--like I said, this is all theory! ).

Anyway, I say keep that 920!

LJ

 

[Tony Genovese]

Evan:

What LanceJ said. The 920 is a MUCH better center than the VRC and the timbre match is very good with the VR- series. A friend of mine recently went through the same thing and decided to get rid of the wimpy VR-C and get the 920. He is a very happy camper.

 

[Evan M.]

LanceJ and Tony,
Thanks a billion!! You have swayed my decision and will go with the 920. My brain kept telling me, hey this Vrc is "timbre" matched and IS the center you should get. But my gut kept telling me that this 920 is a beast and has to be as good if not better than that Vrc. They both sound great but when it came to real action scenes like starwars episode 1's pod race and the battle scenes near the end of episode 2 the 920 was taking all of it in stride and sounded like it was begging for more. I hear people talk about that but this is the first time I ever experienced it! Yes the thing looks rediculuos on my itty bitty 27" t.v. but that will be upgraded in the next year or 2. At any rate thanks for replying guys.

Greg, glad to help. If it were me I would get that Yamaha. I am partial to Yamaha so I will be biased (I have a Rx-v2200). Yamaha and Boston really seem to go well together. With the aluminum dome tweeter that is in Bostons vr series I think they really need to shine. Yamaha I think tends to be more dynamic than H/K. H/K is excellent, don't get me wrong but I just don't think they would be a great match with Boston. That 1400 has pretty much every single new thing out on a receiver that you would possibly need as well, upconversion, DpL2x, pre-outs for all channels, multi-room etc, etc. AFAIK no receiver in that price range has those things....for now . Plus the Yammie is new. Try to listen to both of them though with the speakers you are getting. You may like the H/K better. What speakers are you leaning towards?

 

[Greg_sford]

Evan, thanks, I agree with everything you said about the Yamaha - the 1400 looks terrific, but nosing around I see the H/K 325 can be had for less than $400, a big enough savings over the 1400 to give me pause.

I demo'd the 1400 with several speakers, and liked the B&W line (603 mains) and the Boston VRs (couldn't do an A/B on these cause they're in different stores here). Surrounds seem to be an afterthought for both these lines, and in my room, I'd like something as unobtrusive for the rears as possible (the Micros seem to fit that bill).

Of course, now you've got me worried that the vrc won't cut the mustard .

 

[Evan M.]

LOL, don't worry about the VRC Greg. It is an EXCELLENT center. Very dynamic and vocals are excellent. The thing is the Vrc retails for 399$ and the 920 retails for 599$. The 920 should be a bit "better" but I tell you, they are not that different. The Vrc is a great value and will be an excellent speaker for a long time. The 920 just goes lower and can handle more power. Not a lot of differences after that.
I have the Boston Micro90's for surrounds and they really are great little speakers. They are so solid and well built and are solid aluminum. The things weigh a ton.
As far as your receiver goes, that H/K is a great receiver. I have a buddy who has the 330 and it is a nice piece of equipment. I think for a refurb of a discontinued model though you may be able to get a better deal. You could probably find a new one at that price. If you do like the sound of the Yamaha and the 1400 is bit out of your range, try the 740. It seems like a nice piece for less money and still offers pre-outs and has a lot of the same bells as the 1400. You may be able to find a few 1300 or 2300's around too. Good luck.