Really good,true sound, solid product.

There are already a ton of great reviews on these speakers.

My primary reason to review is to say "BUY 4".

I had two 950's for front speakers for six months, great stereo (along with a VR12 center and a small woofer).
But surround and 5 channel stereo was lacking (was using some good old 70's Pioneers in rear). I kicked around what to do for good matching rears. When I called Boston they said the main thing I should try to do was "match the tweeters". To shorten this story, I realized the best match was to get another pair of 950's. About that time another pair came up on ebay for a fair price, got'em. This now fills the room with equal great sounds. As most of the other reviews state, you need a good subwoofer. Pull out the credit card, get the Boston PV800 (300 watts, but get better TV coax, this thing put out the RF).

My System:
2 Boston VR950 in front
2 of same in rear
1 Boston VR12 center
1 Boston PV800 Sub
Denon AVR-3300
Sony DVD & VCR & TV
Denon CD

And, like the other guy said, "I'm Happy"
(so is wife and she never asks "where the money went"!)

High Highs, Deep Bass, Large Ports At Bottom, Smooth Midrange Frequencies Reproduced, Slim Size, An Some Amazing Sound!

They Must Be Properly Placed To Ensure Maximum Quality, Also These Are Complete When A Sub Is Used

I posted a review, a breif review, for these back on the 3rd of April. Now, over 8 months later I've been amazed multiple times by these speakers! After purchasing a Yamaha RX-V995 receiver, I had to choose some good mains to compliment it, and start up the whole Home Theater thing, and the quality, and value lead to to purchase the Reference quality Boston Acoustics VR-950s.

At home they sounded even better than the demo room. The VR-950s have a 1 inch aluminum dome tweeter that produces some powerful highs, they are so good in fact some people complain about them being too high, but that's only compared to other speakers which lack the high highs. To me the highs are very realistic, smooth, and produce every frequency of reality well up to 20,000Hz.
The Dual 5 1/4" DCD (Deep Channel Design) bass units help counter the tweeters to produce a realistic midrange frequency. The bass units themselves are complimented with a large port at the bottom of the speaker. If you've ever put your hand at the bottom of the port during a low and loud bass effect you'll feel 100 mph of air slam out of the speaker and hit the ground. Truely amazing how the 950s move an incrediable amount of air! The bass is very powerful, and lacks just a little if placed improperly. Here are some placement tips to produce great bass:
Keep them separated, 3-6 feet without a center channel (mainly just to make up for that channel, but you should have it), and 6-12 feet apart with a center channel. Keep them away from walls, at least a foot to avoid conflicts with the resounding of the bass to produce tighter bass and to leave them open to have as much air as they can get. Also you may want to make them as solidly placed on the floor as possible.
The speakers produce between 46Hz to 20,000Hz frequencies, can accept between 15, and 150 watts at 8 ohms, and have virtually no Total Harmonic Distortion.
Made of MDF, with a stylish glossy black top, small front foot, solid build quality, and a slender design these speakers by themselves are truely incrediable. And when paired up with a good sub one of the best speaker configurations is achieved! Even better than the VR-960s, 965s, 970s, and 975s!

Overall these are some truely amazing speakers, and have been with every Pro-Logic tape, Pro-Logic TV broadcast, PCM CD, and especially EVERY Dolby Digital DVD and DTS DVD. They are a must buy, and at $699 a pair they are an incrediable bargain. Quality this good should be over 1K!

Current Setup:
TV: Panasonic 32" Superflat CT32SF36
RECEIVER: Yamaha RX-V995
MAINS: BOSTON ACOUSTICS VR-950s
CENTER: Boston Acoustics VR-10
SURROUNDS: Definitive BP1Xs
DVD/CD: Pioneer DV-525
Monster XP Speaker Cables (to all speakers), Monster Optical Digital Toslink Audio Cable (from DVD to Receiver), and Monster S-Video 2 (From DVD to TV)

For any questions regarding my review, or anything in my setup e-mail me at: stadeag@concentric.net

Similar Products Used:

First, And Maybe Only Pair Of Main Speakers I'll Ever Need.

clarity, smoothness, imaging

A little lacking in bass...only a very little bit however

I feel that I must submit another glowing review to this site. I have waited almost 10 years from the first day I started shopping for quality speakers until I actually made a purchase. I knew that I must have Boston Acoustic speakers after comparing them to Infinity, Klipsch, Mirage, and others I don't know the name of. I bought the 950's and one of Boston's new subwoofers (since I did note that the low end bass is somewhat lacking). I would have to consider this combo unbeatable. I can't imagine that BA's very own 970's would be a significant improvement after I added the sub!

These speakers have such a smooth relaxing quality to them that I just want to fall asleep to their sound every night. I am purposefully leaving out any reference to performance specifications because that would be missing the point when talking about the 950's. If you are looking for great speakers at a relatively moderate price, then by all means go ahead and buy the 950's!! And if you like a bit more bass then get a subwoofer and then you have maximum flexability along with a great sounding audio stage. I still rush home from a hectic day at work so I can be relaxed by the smooth sounds of my wonderful new speakers.

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nothing I've run into comes close

These speakers are a bargain at twice the price! I paid $699/pr. because the only place that carried them in this area was a full retailer. I use them primarily for home theater along with a Boston Accustics VR 500 sub, VR 12 center and VRS rears. The sound is awesome to say the least. Highly recommended!

The VR950's continue to provide the most accurate sound that I've experienced in the <$1000 price range.

None

This is a follow-up to a prevoius report. The VR950's continue to amaze me in terms of rendering the most accurate flat responce I've heard in years. In fact, I've re-discovered my CD music collection. DVD's are awe inspiring (In U-571, you'd think you're 200 meters under). It's hard to imagine how these units deliver the quality of bass from the dual 5 1/4" drivers, but I would suspect the mfgr's low end claim to be better a bit on the conservative side. From Vivadi to Dire Straits, you can't go wrong. Also, I called Boston's tech support inquiring as to availability of the spikes - three days later, UPS was on the front porch. Thanks Boston.


Equipment:

Boston VR950
Canton AV700
Canton Plus D
Yamaha RX-V690 Receiver
14 AWG stranded copper cable, RS gold plated banana jacks
Standard Toshiba DVD, 5 disk changer, etc...

(My listening area is 17 X 16', carpet with an acoustically dead rear wall.)

Similar Products Used:

Koss, Polk, JBL, Klipsch, Canton

Match seamlessly with other Boston Accoustic VR speakers

No floor spikes included

Bought these to go with my VR975's front, VR920 Center, now VR950's sides, Junk for rear and 15" Sub. The 950's integrated perfectly and very happy with them. Looking at the VR-MX for rears as the next buy. Bass from the 950's is good with the 975's and 15" offering to cover the low end. I did have to turn the sub down when I hooked them up. The 950's do have some low end. Be advised they do not have the floor spikes with them.
For home theater buy a Radio Shack digital sound meter and adjust the levels for all the speakers. Made a big difference in the sound.
Just got off the phone with Boston Acc. The floor spikes are free if you buy the 940's or 950's. Both do not come with them. Just call or send them an e-mail for a set.
The main reason I bought the 950's is the tweeter. The tweeter is the same for all the VR line. I have about 20 hours break-in on them and when new fresh, one of the speakers was a bit shrill. After 15 hours it settled down and is very smooth. All 5 speakers "not including the 2 rear, not the same brand" are seamless. I highly recommend if you buy one set for home theater buy them all.

Similar Products Used:

VR975, VR920 and others

Wonderfully engineered, awesome sound and appearence.

None.

I bought a satellite system from Canton about 5 years ago, and although impressive for a surround system when compared to Bose, etc., there was something lacking. (I'm in my 40's and I truly though my hearing was going out). So when I read the reviews and brought the 950's home, was I extremely impressed, to say the least.. Further, they sound much better at home than they did at the showroom. I auditioned a pair of Klipsch RF-3's for comparison purposes, which I might add, had the salesman's vote over the Boston's - must have been a higher profit margin on the RF-3's. Nothing against Klipsch, but during the audition the RF-3's were more obviously more efficient than the 950's, and much boomier (much to the salesman's delight). That said, the clarity and overall smoothness exhibited by the Boston's are absolutely first rate, and I might add, I've heard significantly more expensive loudspeakers that don't begin to compare to the 950's.

The bass is tight, realistic and well presented. Mids are smooth, natural and colorful giving the impression of a warm environment. The high end is unbelievably clear without the offensive tinny fundamentals and harmonics often demonstrated. Boston has a an excellently engineered product in this linage, which is probably why the 950's have been in production for a couple of years now.

On a side note: I love the "lacking in bass" comments by some previous reviewers. Believe me, if you have sufficient current to drive the 950's, the bass will be there - guaranteed! Also, if you are looking for a bass filled boom box, look elsewhere, but if you want honest musical clarity and definition with the absence of distortion coupled with engineered masterpieces right out of the box, the Boston VR950's are your only choice.

Similar Products Used:

AR, Koss, Canton, JBL

Accurate highs and mids. Tight mids

None so far

I have been using the Bose 701s as my fronts for the last 2 years. Being completely brainwashed by the "Bose" brand, I thought I had one of the best speakers in the world. Then I happened to come across this site. I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! Bose speakers were being bashed!!!!!!
Well, that was 2 weeks ago and ever since I have done a lot of researching. I wanted tower speakers to replace the 701s and decided to buy the BA VR-750s at a nearby Tweeter.
I came back home, hooked up the speakers, and played some music. It was incredible!!!! I was hearing sound that I'd never heard before!(And this was a CD I've heard at least 50 times) After listening to several other CDs with the 750s, I felt as though the 701s were purposely screening out sound from the CDs.
One thing that the 701s did not have was clarity. The details on the 750s are unbelievable. Especially the vocals.
The bass on the 750s were more accurate and tighter than the 701s. It seems like the 750s do not color the music at all. So, the 701s did have richer and deeper bass.(boomy though)
Consequently, I needed a subwoofer. Again, I came back to this site and decided to purchase the Hsu TN1225HO sub.
Honestly, this is the best sounding music system I have ever heard in my life!!!
As far as HT goes, I can not give you any advise. I'd have to get a set of rears and a center. But before I do that, I have to think of how to get rid of my 701s.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 701s

All I can say is WOW! I thought these sounded good in the store, but they are even better in my house. I auditioned several TDL models, NHT (2.2), B&W (302, 602), Platinum Studio 1, Klipsch, Infinity Kappa 6.1, JBL 4312, expensive-assed Mission bookshelf speakers(I forgot the model but they were $1200), some Mc Intosh towers, Energy C-2, Paradigm. And these beat them all. The problem I had with all of the bookshelf speakers was the bass response. I like a slightly heavier bass, but without sacrificing the imaging and definition. These fit the bill exactly. Honorable mention must go to the Platinum Studio 1's, though, they were quite good.
I auditioned with a wide variety of music (Everything but the Girl, Wu-Tang Clan, Sade, Paul Weller, Crystal Method, Seal, Roy Hargrove/Antonio Hart, Joni Mitchell, and Catherine Wheel).

Even my tone deaf (but lovable) wife could tell that these speakers are great. Plus she thinks they look good. I'm a winner all around :-)

I never had a pair of realy good speakers. After frequenting local shops for a month I still was not able to tell the difference between 100$ and 500$ speaker. So, one night I went to Magnolia HiFI to get a pair of VR20 that they on sale for 225$ ea., which sounded like a good deal, and bring the process of buying to an and. However they had this new model VR 950 and it sounded so much better that I just had to fork over some couple of hundreds dollars more. Since then I have never regreted. I never thought that, after listening to them day after day, I would still be amazed how well they sound, as I was that night at the store.
Conclusion: if you spend 700$ on a pair of speakers you probably have bought a good one, regardless of make and model. VR 950 is one of them.