If you want a great sounding speaker that you can listen to for hours at a moderate volume with no fatigue, this is the right speaker. I have many sets of speakers, ranging from Elac, Martin Logan, Polk Audio and Definitive Technology, but they all can't match VR3's for their price. I think that Boston Acoustics is one of those underrated companies that don't invest too much on advertising and these limited expense is transferred to the customers pockets. I have so much admiration for Boston Acoustics that I am looking for an extra set of the M350 speakers. You can never go wrong with Boston Acoustics.

None.

I have owned theses speakers for about 2 years now. I bought them right as they went out of production, if you can find a gently used pair they are well worth the money. I have them bi-amped with a 7 channel receiver. These speakers are very efficient with 93 decibal rating, but they sound incredible when driven with enough power. These speakers have a midrange with a neodymium magnet so the detail this driver creates is incredible. Bi-amping will bring out their best because of signal separation between the bass and upper frequencies as well as the extra power that will deliver. Some people complain about the sound quality of these speakers but with enough power and bi-amping the sound quality will compete with much more expensive speakers, i know cause i have spent enough hours listening to other brands of speakers to get an idea of how the vr3's compare. Trust me these towers are worth it!

I had a pair of VR3's about 2 years ago, and didn't think they sounded all that great, to be honest. I had a pair of BA A150's back in about 1982, and they were Magnificent, to say the least. I use to let people listen to my Stereo back then with the BA 150's, and they were totally blown away. The newer VR3'S can't touch them. I know nobody's going to believe this, but the newer Boston's are not as good as the older ones. I know, I know, I'm a Madman right.

price paid, $650 per pair from onecall.com
best speakers i have heard to date. Looking for another pair to purchase but they're hard to come by because they don't produce them anymore. Awesome sound

Exellent soundstage and detail. Plenty of bass.(real not 60-100hz)

It all depends on your room. I had $5000 of various speakers I tried out (these were my second choice). I went for a very warm speaker because of my bright room. In my previous warm room I would have bought these. Looking for a $1000-1800 speakers.

Great sound, excellent bass and clear highs. great sounstage. Excelled with Billy Cobham "Spectrum". Don't NEED a subwoofer but fine with one. Flaw was I wanted a warmer midrange. Too neutral there. Auditioned these in my living room. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO JUDGE A SPEAKER! I have a VERY BRIGHT soundroom. In my previous dwelling (quite warm) these would have been perfect. Since my walls are 1/8 fake wood, too bright. Great bargain for the money! I was looking for $1000-$1500 a pair speakers.

Similar Products Used:

None. Always had under $600 speakers before.

None

Tinny sound and distorted base

Bought these speakers about 6 mouths ago and was very disappointed. The sound was very tinny and the base roll distorted the music on the low end. tryed to get my money back after 3 days but team would not refund my purchase even that I was not happy with the purchase so dont buy from team.

Customer Service

None

Very large range without any obvious coloration Very sensitive--you don't need a brute of an amp to drive these speakers Very convincing soundstage Would probably make great home theater speakers

Don't necessarily a true weakness, but I having only heard these through a very good amp (NAD C320 BEE). I can't attest to how these would sound if driven by a lesser amp.

My SO and I were unwillingly thrust into the market for audio equipment when the system I'd had since university (NAD 3020, boston acoustics A40s, NAD 502 CD (10 yrs old) and Denon 'table) bit the dust. We comparison shopped for several weeks, and kept coming back to BA's VR series speakers. They sounded better than anything up to $3K/pair, to our ears. I was surprised that I couldn't find US reviews of these (they have received some raves from the foreign press), but trusting our ears we made the leap. We are extremely happy. We have a system now (budget by audiophile standards, but not cheap as far as I am concerned) that produces better sound that I would have thought possible at any cost 18 months ago, when we first started shopping. We listen to mostly classical, with some a fair bit of female and male vocalists thrown in. We also have our amp hooked up to the dvd player (via the TV) and listen to movie sound tracks through the VR3s. The sound is incredible. Very clear highs, beautiful midrange and an amazing amount of bass are reproduced by these speakers, but it is all of a whole. Nothing is exaggerated or minimized. Our systems does several things I didn't think possilbe. In a large, carpeted and furnished room, it can create sound levels that are actually too loud without any harshness or unpleasantness (outside of slightly aching ears afterwards). Needless to say, realistic volumes for chamber music, solo piano pieces, and a cappella vocals are effortlessly rendered. We are going through a similar adjustment we made with our Grado 'phones: we get really clean, detailed and involving sound without overtaxing any aspect of the system. Another experience we are getting used to are symphonies presented with a realistic soundstage--if I close my eyes, I can fool myself into thinking I am at a concert hall, with the strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion all in their proper places and oriented correctly in space. All that's missing for true concert hall realism is someone coughing three seats over and an elbow in my ribs from the person next to me who's hogging the armrest. Finally, these are the most emotionally engaging speakers I've ever spent a lot of time with. Ella Fitzgerald, Eva Cassidy, kd lang just pour their hearts out, right into my listening room. It really is as if they are right there.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned B&W, Klipsch, etc. products up to $3K.

See above. I like them, a lot. I will need ohhhh, say about 3 grand to replace them with something that can spank them.

At this price? None.

I have contracted a sickness, of sorts. I have an audio sickness, I think... At least that's what my wife calls it. I think of it more as a hobby mixed with a bit of obsession. I'm searching for a sort of immersion in sound. I love to close my eyes and see a picture painted by my speakers, much wider and deeper than the room can possibly be. I love to sit in the near field, and hear sounds come from impossibly further out in the sound stage than the speaker could go, like an illusion. This all started when I bought my first car speakers, years ago. I knew nothing of brands. I listened, used my ears, closed my eyes. I kept going back, again and again, to these (rather expensive) but just warm and wonderful and rich sounding speakers. My first Bostons, and I managed to snag them for about 60% of the sticker price just by being persistent! Years later, I finally bought my first home speakers. I went through the big box retailers, Circuit City, Best Buy, then Tweeter. Once again, the Bostons sounded the best. At $250, the VR940 was certainly not the fullest, nor the baddest, nor the lowest, nor the biggest, that I could have bought. Just one woofer, one tweeter. But the - is it timbre? - seemed just right. After a few months, I began to notice the "hole" in the midrange, and the serious lack of bass punch... Soon I had the VR950's - a simple trade-up at Tweeter. They are everything the VR940 can muster, plus much better bass extension and a more natural "voice" - I suppose that means a fuller midrange, probably with fewer valleys in the speaker's response. After another year, I noticed that Boston came out with a new line, the VR1, 2, and 3. I auditioned them at Tweeter and was just stunned by the VR3. I wanted those speakers, badly. The main obstacle? They cost 1250 bucks. No way. Then Tweeter decided to drop the Boston line altogether. I managed to swing into the store, and I scored the VERY LAST pair of black VR3's from a store somewhere in PA. They even shipped them to Bel Air for free - hehe! $850 for the pair, minus $375 I paid for the VR950's (another "upgrade"). I took them home and set them up and basked in the glory... How do they sound? Vocals come from a spot between the speakers - if you close your eyes and point to the "source" of the sound, you won't be pointing at the speakers themselves, it will be some point in space, a place in the sound stage that is defined by the recording. Drums, stage right. Sax, stage left. Vocals, a little to the left of center. Backup singers, behind the lead singer, to the right. Some sounds seem to appear in space well outside either speaker, far to the left or right. The speakers are warm, rich, full, with few discernable "dips" or weak spots in the frequency response. The VRHO tweeter sparkles, yet it does not "annoy" or ring excessivley, like many aluminum or titanium tweeters. Yo-yo ma's cello has a deep voice, and the voilins sound very similar to what I've heard in a concert hall. If a recording has poise and class - well that comes through without being altered. What's more, these speakers ROOOOOOOCCKKK. The bass is TIGHT, FAST. Van Halen's 1984 through the Bostons with my Bryston amp - holy cow. Listen, there are speakers out there that are bigger, badder, smoother, and better. They also cost a hell of a lot more money. For a grand, these are the speakers you want. Go get them.

Similar Products Used:

VR940, VR950

Life like sound reproduction. Bi-wire capable. Incredible imaging.

The cherry veneer finish, while not cheap looking, could be better considering the price of these speaker's. Boston is horrible in the customer service department. Impossible to get through to a live person, and they don't return call's when you leave a message on the voice mail. They also don't return e mails. Too busy making great speaker's I guess.

My entire life I've wanted a great set of speaker's. I'v alway's settled on, as an exapmle, the JBL 3 way with 15" woofer's on salee for $100 the pair, or similar one's, and thought what a wise shopper I was. After browsing all the audio video store's over the year's, I finally realized I am missing something. I purchased the Boston Receptor radio a couple year's ago, and was so impressed with the sound I knew the "Boston Sound" was what I was after. When I first auditioned these, I told the salesman to "turn the other speaker's off (the surrounds and center's as it was in a multi channel listening room). "The VR3's are the only one's playing" he said. Wow. Talk about imaging! "I want a pair of those!" I said. He insisted I listen to some other's (as we had been doing), so I did, but nothing (including the Vienna Acoustic's) compared. When I set them up at home using my Sony STR-DE895 receiver (I also bought the Boston Bravo's as surrounds and the VRC as a center), I was so angry with myself for having waited so many year's to invest in a great quality speaker set-up. But I was also very happy with my purchase. The seperation between the mid's and high's is outstanding. The imaging is also so outstanding, you could get by without a center channel if your budget can't afford it right now. Boston sell's a line of speaker's above this called the VR-M line ($2700 the pair for the best one's), but it is an older line, and actully use's the "old" VR tweeter, versus these having the VRHO (High Output), which is an improvement on the VR. Plus, these VR3's have a 7" DCD woofer, wheras the VRM's have a 6.5" DCD woofer. The only advantage to the VRM's is an aluminum heat sink for higher power handling. These VR3's handle 250 watt's, which is plenty for me. Even if you end up paying close to suggested retail ($1250 the pair), in my opinion these are an excellent value. My next set will likely be some Martin Logan's, but at $6,000 I'll have to win the lottery first. I'd rather keep the change since I didn't "settle" by any means in acquiring these speaker's. I was also prepared to return them if I didn't like them, but I am still extremely happy with these speaker's.