mid bass tones are very warm and the highs are brilliant, but not at all disturbing. You could listen for hours on end and be constantly amazed. Old classics keep sounding better now with these speakers. Seems I'm hearing things I've never heard before. I could hear Elton John's lips smacking together on "tiny dancer". It was a remastered cd, and I thought, "Does it get any better than this?" I heard speakers worth twice as much, and they were too sharp, these are warm and perfect!

None. Just be sure to use with a sub if you want rich lower tones (I know I said that a lot!)

I decided after 13 years with my old "used" speakers, it was time to replace what I had. I really took my time to listen to a variety of speakers to get what I was looking for. I listen to heavy metal mostly, but also stuff like Mariah Carey, Dixie Chicks, etc. My original intention was to get Cerwin Vegas with the 15" woofers. I needed to have the power for my metal I thought. But at age 32, my ear appreciates clarity in my music, more than that "muddy" sound. Don't get me wrong, I need lots of bass, but clean bass. After listening to Paradigm, B&W, Mission, Cerwin Vega, and Energy speakers, it was no contest. These speakers were hands down what I was looking for. You do need a sub to get those thumping bass tones, but I compared these to the next level boston's, and the built in side firing sub muddied up the sound. It was clear the vr950's were better. I believe that this is because it seperates the sound much better. Your lows are seperate from the clarity of the mids and the highs. These have an amazing mid bass sound I never had or heard before. And the tweeter in these things are beautiful and crisp. Not to high to annoy, but a nice crisp sound which does wonders to trumpets, and piano, and acoustic guitars. I played some jazz tonight (Acoustic Alchemy), and I was gushing. I was so proud of my purchase and new I made the right decision. And what the last guy said is true, they sound 10 times better at home! Everyone said, get "Paradigm". Well I say no. These are right for all kinds of music. I bought them at a store made of audiophiles, not a warehouse place. And when we cranked Ozzy Osbourne with the sub, it was something they hadn't experienced before. One salesmen said, "I don't think this is a heavy music speaker". The other 2 salesmen that were present, laughed and said, "Hey, we were cranking Ozzy ans Pantera, Mariah and George Jones, and they sounded great!" My advice is though, you need a sub with these if you want bass thump, but don't let this deter you. Go listen for yourself, with a variety of music styles, you won't be dissapointed. I have these flat on hard wood floors, and I'll tell you, I will praise Boston Acoustics for years to come. By the way, the Cerwin Vegas would be great if you don't have a sub, but add these Boston's to a sub, and it's no contest (even with the rock music). These fill all the areas. Bass with sub, awesome mids and highs from the Boston's = pure heaven! They have a new series out called the vr965 by the way that don't hold a candle to this series. Grab this series while you can. By the way, my price was 900.00 Canadian funds, not US (it would be about 700.00 US by today's dollar).

Similar Products Used:

listed in my review above.

Highs, upper bass, mid bass.

Use a sub for frequencies below 45Hz. Midrange could be smoother - if only a 4.5" driver were included and a 3 way crossover were used.

Extremely nice sound. Gorgeous highs. Beautiful "warm" sound. I'm still breaking in my early Christmas present!

Similar Products Used:

BA VA940

Authoratative bass, accurate sound, rugged construction, made in USA.

None. Not recommended for the plush boomy tinny eared listener, but that's their problem.

I've had these speakers for about 18 months now. I still love them. They didn't sound so great at the show room. When I took them home to my average sized living room and hooked them up to my high current 100wpc class A/B amplifier and cranked up the volume my heart almost started beating faster. I didn't think they would sound this much better at home. The bass is quite authoratative and rock solid, amazing for 2 5 1/4 bass/lower mid drivers (watch out Bose!)and I have to actually turn down the bass knob a little on the preamp or else it's too much killer bass! The mids and highs are impressive, too! Bring out the violins you can almost "hear" the wood. Like with the bass, I have to turn down the treble knob to mellow out the highs a little i.e. with cd's or else it's too much. These speakers needed to be tamed just a little, but that's no problem especially since it gives me some reserve power i.e. in the bass because I really crank up the volume sometimes and enjoy feeling the high impact sound of these speakers against my chest! Forget the spikes these speakers are best suited to be used without. I did put the speakers on a 1/8 inch thick 12x12 inch aluminum sheet. This seemed to help make the bass a little tighter and more efficient. Now the bottom port is firing on the plate instead of into the carpet. It was a good tweak! These speakers are not for the weak and those who like plush boomy tinny sound. They are for true music lovers who enjoy the "right" sound. Sometimes the sound appears to become a little washed out after a few minutes of high volume listening. I believe this is not coming from the speakers but from the ears getting an over dose of audio adrenaline! Occasionally I notice a little bit of distortion especially with deeper bass passages at high volume, still amazimg what these speakers can do. When I say high volume I mean driving the high current stereo amp to the threshold of clipping. I usually keep the volume slightly below this point when I'm really getting into the music, then everything is just right and my ears and the speakers are not being abused yet still getting a decent dose of high sound pressure levels. Yes, these speakers are more efficient than most. They are perfectly capable of filling an average size living room with great loud sound i.e. when properly placed.

Similar Products Used:

A variety of lower cost speakers.

great, fantastic sound, price just right

low bass, had to get sub (our preference)

After much research and listening time. We purchased our BA VR950s which we also included the center and subwoofer, to setup our home theatre/music room and are just thrilled with viewing/listening to DVDs, CDs, you name it. We are so thrilled and many have come by and said and I quote, "What is that sound, I just got to have it", it really sounds fantastic, I never heard that before!". My bother who has the VR975 just had to have the VR950 to replace his JBL rear. We just love them, what do we go to work for anyway, it's all meaningless in the end, so enjoy now while it's still day. If you're really looking for a great, fantastic, above average sound and great price, get these, you won't regret it.

*clarity* beautiful highs, nice sound reproduction, tight bass.

maybe just a little weak in the bass section, but a sub definitely fixes that problem.

I started on a speaker listening spree about 3 months ago, going to the various stores in my area and checking out everything they had in my price range ($300 - $800). I listened to boston acoustics, klipsch, definitive tech, bose (blegh), polk, jamo, and a couple of others that weren't worth recalling. My main point of pursuit with a set of speakers is clarity, and after auditioning all the above brands, none had the perfect clarity and reproduction that the boston speakers possessed. The tweeter in these speakers is truly a fine piece of work. I recently bought these speakers, hooked them up to a Yamaha RX-V630 reciever and have been listening to them pretty steadily for the last couple of days. I'm still *really* impressed by the clarity of sound, and I've been throwing cds at them like mad, just out of curiosity to see what they sound like. Time will tell if they break in well, but so far I'm loving what I hear.

Very clean and accurate highs. Good mids and bass.

Less accurate at high volumes

I compared BA 950 Lynnfields to Infinity IL40s, Energy C-7s and C-5s, and B&W DM 603 S2s. All were broken in at least 50 hrs. All were powered by a Yamaha RX-596 Receiver. The BAs had the best tweeter by far. Very clean and crisp. Triangle sounds like in Tchaikovsky's nutcracker sound live. Picked acoustic guitars sound unbelievably real. Infinity tweeters are a little too harsh. Energy's were OK. B&W's tweeter seemed to be capped before the end of humnan hearing. Both the BAs and B&Ws were very easy to listen to without ear fatigue. Midrange was pretty good on all the speakers. Bass was most accurate and tight on the B&Ws. But I found plenty of bass on the BAs and the Energy speakers. BA's had good clear punchy bass which sounded very lifelike when playing bongos. Only the Infinity's were lacking bass. BAs seemed to me the most balanced, so I purchased them. My only misgiving about the BAs is that they don't seem to sound as good at high volumes. The Infinity's were very good at playing at loud without distortion. BTW, the Infinity's were very sensitive to type of receiver. I connected them to a cheaper JVC receiver and they sounded much worse (tinny and lacking even more bass).

Similar Products Used:

Energy C-5, C-7, Infinity IL40, B&W DM 603 S2

Clarity: A graduation from resonant and musically untrue inclosures and drivers to a fundamentally more true sound reproduction. My ears resisted at first but, once trainted I appreciated nuance, and sound accuracy previously not there.

In more widely dynamic passages such as Disneys Fantasia''s "Symphony No. 5" at extremely high volume did I encounter mid-bass misbehavior; an almost inaudible scratching sound as the whales swam over the clouds and 30 and below Hertz were being reproduced.

As some of you who may be reading this, I was also in search of a speaker that would replace a well worn, long appreciated pair of three ways that has given me long years of satisfying listening. I looked at both the Boston Acoustics VR-M50 as well as the VR 950. I also had listened to the Polk RT800, Polk RT55i, as well as the JBL S38 and JBL floorstanders. Since I was keeping a budget of $500-$600, I chose a more expensive JM Labs Cobalt 807 as a reference point to compare. Although the JM Labs Cobalt was the ideal sounding speaker that presented perfect imaging, wide soundstage, and crystaline highs as well as an accurate midrange, I could not spend the 1000-plus on the pair from a local dealer. Using numerous artists that I have enjoyed over the years I brought cd''s with me for each weekend in my 8 month search. I had initially became enamored with BA 950 with the svelte styling that I knew would make my wife happy. She was slowly but surely becoming tired of my old college boxes that adorned the living room like worn brown crates. The BA VR-M50 are beautiful speakers that came the closest to the JMLabs in regards to pure crystal sound, but the additional $100-$200 in speaker stands would bring me over my budget. Both the Polks RT55i as well as the JBL S38''s were satisfying in more punchy and bass-rich music, however they did not resolve nor project a stable sonic image as well as the VR-M50 or the JMLabs Cobalt. Using Cassandra Wilson''s voice to capture that sensuous midrange sound as well as a live jazz club bass-line in a bossa nova style in "A Little Warm Death" on "New Moon Death" cd, both the VR950, and the JBL S38 showed thier strenghts to capture the lower frequencies. I also noticed both the BA M50 and VR950 were less forgiving and a bit more analytical in the mid and upper regions in how the snare drums are so snappy that you could count the metallic strands underneath the drum membrane at each strike,and the cymbals had a more metallic tizz. The Polk 55ti as well as the JBL S38 could not capture that airy, clarity that I had heard on the JMLabls Cobalt. Both the BA products outshown with that AMD tweeter in respect to higher end resolution. To capture the speed and the ability to cover dynamic sweeps of sound in the mid bass and treble I used Yo Yo Ma''s "Libertango" as well as "Mumuki" on the Soul of the Tango cd.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics A-60, JBL S-38, Polk RT55i, JMLabs Cobalt 807, Boston Acoustics VRM50

AMD VR-aluminum 1" tweeter is STANDARD REFFERENCE for speakers $1000 below -I challenge you to find something better, then e-mail me.

Rude BOSTON ACOUSTIC "over-the-phone" sales rep (haha), but get your free floor spikes from parts department over-the-phone.

My goal: To find the ABSOLUTE best tower speaker around $500-700 (a pair of towers that I would keep for decades to come). To achieve this GOAL, I auditioned all possible TYPES of music from sleepy classical to soft rock to heavy metal to progressive rock (as well as euro trance music). I did this continually for 1 month straight. Though I''ve had years of expert listening experience. I auditioned these BOSTON 950''s next to the KLIPISCH (Synergy model with Tritrix horn tweeter + two 6.5" woofers), ENERGY (e:XL tower with two 6.5" woofers + 1" aluminum tweeter and the Conniseur model), and since Good Guys did not have INFINITY (Interlude model with single 6.5 woofer and 1" C.M.M.D tweeter) I literally went out to purchase a pair open box from CIRCUIT CITY and brought them right into GOOD GUY''s showroom, next to the BOSTON 950''s. (Let me note that ALL these showroom speakers were BROKEN IN for at least 2 months). As you could see, I was SERIOUSLY taking action -trying to get the best sound for my MONEY. In the listening process, I stayed focused on the music notes, taking everything into consideration. I wanted life-like piano notes, asounding electric guitars, smooth vocals, crystal-clear treble and everything above and below the freqency band -as if the music were real. Geez, I figure sale''s rep thought I was a bit nuts because I took the sound production a little too serious! During the test, I canceled out the KLIPSCH (Synergy) because it did not offer precision life-like sound (vocals, electic guitars were muddy). Next, I eleminated the Energy (e:XL) towers because they couldn''t produce life-like PIANO notes. So I was left with the Infinty Interludes and these Boston 950''s. The Conniseur''s (Energy) were a bit too expensive for me and I didn''t like their sound -so I let them go. Cybal notes weren''t as good as the Boston''s. Their tweeters were totally different -hands down BOSTON''s patent AMD VR-aluminum tweeter sounded way better and ultra-pure compared to all mentioned. Finally I compared the INFINITY (Interludes) with these BOSTON 950''s. So again, I played all types of music to justify their differences (and tryed to find their weaknesses). RESULT: I purchased the 950''s straight-up. The Infinity Interludes have a poorly-designed C.M.M.D tweeter -not as pure.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch (Synergy), Boston 940s (Oval driver with SAME AMD tweeter), Energy (e:XL), Infinity (Interlude), DEFINITIVE TECH (Bipolar towers) -mainly everything around $700-below!

Overall balance, slim design, elegant high gloss black top, sound image

None

One point to former reviewer: These speakers were nominated as the top end best performers speakers by the Consumer Report Magazine (may 1999)in a comparative study over another similar priced speakers from other famous brands. So, maybe the problem is your receiver. It is recommended that the power from your receiver or amp exceed a little bit over the speaker capacity, so you have to buy a bigger receiver. On the other hand, these are speakers for reproducing music with high accuracy, not to be played loud in a disco (the audio curve is almost perfect within the speakers rated frequency response). Of course, you can complete your system with a good subwoofer, but they also will sound better if you place them at least 30 cm from walls. These speakers are really amazing.

Similar Products Used:

Boston subwoofer VR 2000, Boston CR 6

Excellent mid range and highs.

Per previous reviews - these speakers are awesome in their own right but if you're looking for earth moving bass you'll need a sub.

Did the review rounds and listened to a friends setup with the complete Boston Micro series. Very impressed. In the store I pitted the 950's against Bostons bookshelf series (VRM's)and a few other brands in that range. The 950's were easilly better than the other brands and also edged out the the VRM's for a fuller sound. Bought them as well as a couple of CR6's (for rears) and the VR910 center.

Setup at home with a couple of Yamaha components (RX V596). Nothing amazing but does the job. Anyway these speakers are outstanding. Having gotten them home and setup with the center and rears they are as awesome as I hoped they would be. This setup renders an excellent DVD home theatre experience but is equally impressive with CD's. The 950's aren't real stable on carpet but I'll live with this.

Make sure you do everything to avoid paying full retail but even if you do you will get your money's worth.