Personally, fellas, I don't see what the hoopla is surrounding these speakers. My local dealer got a pair of SR's in and I was drooling when they were being broken in, they were freaking gorgeous. Some kind of ebony, I think, a striped red-and-black finish. *Really* well-made, and imposingly large. I had heard *so* many great things about them from the taper crowd that I was really pumped to finally sit down for a listen.
But I was dumfounded when we first listened--they were OK, but nothing special. I felt the top end lacked sparkle, and the midrange was decidedly ho-hum. The far-less-expensive 3A DeCapo's he had kicked their arse in the mids. The Living Voice Avatar OBX-R2 walked all over them in every area but bass depth and solidity. I even preferred the Induction Dynamics ID1, not my favorite speaker by a long shot, on 7 out of 9 cuts. Now bass, yes, the VonSchweikerts were up there with anything I've heard at the $8k price, going deep and solid at any level you chose. And they soundstage well, with nice, solid 3-d images. The problem, for me, is they lacked the sheer communicality that involves me in the music. I kinda sat back and twiddled my thumbs while listening. A huge disappointment for me!! For 8 grand, you better get decidedly better than "OK," in my opinion.
My dealer went back and forth with VSA and Albert is considering building an upgraded VR4SR based upon our listening impressions. He should.
The JRs? Haven't listened to them yet, so I can't comment there. I'd probably pit them vs. the Totem Forest if you're into bass, even though they're cheaper. And I like the Avatar OBX-R2 (~$8k+) alot, so perhaps the Auditorium ($3.5k) would be an interesting choice, although I've never personally heard those and don't know if the magic boils down well. I did listen to the VR1 and VR2 and found both even more ho-hum (for their respective price points) then the VR4SR, and not very well finished.
I know some of you fellas listen differently than me; I don't recreate an outdoor PA in my home and I'm not going for sheer SPLs, instead preferring a more nuanced, light-and-shadows, communicative presentation. (Incidentally, one might thing 'statics would be my bag, but they aren't either as I don't like the lack of physical impact to their sound). I know this is what makes the world go round--there is no one perfect speaker, or there would only be one speaker
But I gotta go against the grain here and go on record as saying I wasn't impressed...