lots of questions...
Break in: Carls VR4jrs were the first on the block. They were serial number 00000, or might not have even had a number yet...and were the test units that were being carried around the country last year before these went onsale to the general public.
That said, they came with lead shot in them all ready (I dont know how much) and were all ready broken in.
However, I've spoken in depth about them w/my VSA man and he says they need a minimum of 200 hours before the mid/tweater really breaks in. They break in last as they dont move as much as a whoofer. Whoofers travel some distance, and they tend to loosen up quicker than a smaller cone does.
You should notice that these things start to really sing nice after 100 hours or so. Crystal mid range, yet very warm sounding. Overall, the speakers will get warmer and more detailed as they break in.
BASS I can't believe anyone would feel the need to run a sub with these things. Granted, Carls room is not huge, but it will pressurize the area with SERIOUS athority. Adding a sub to these finly tuned speakers would just ruin the sound, imo. They certainly dont need it. I dont know what th exact number is, but they must be rated to do down to at least 20-25hZ on their own, and pack PLENTY of punch. I love powerful bass, and I love sub whoofers...when speakers cant reproduce that deep bass on their own. VSA speakers, from the VR2 up, do not require additional bass unless you are an HT junkie and need something to plug that extra channel into.
WIRING VSA says that the way to wire up all of their (or any) modular speaker design is to send the cable to the mid/tweeter top monitor and then jump down from there.
With the 4jrs, and their beefy stock connection between the the two cabinets, I probably wouldnt bi-wire them off the bat. Bi-amping them w/some tubes up top and SS on the bottom would probably sound great, but might be a PITA trying to match componants in terms of power output. I'd put an email into chriss at VSA with these questions. He will give you the irrifutable correct answers. His email addie is on their www page.
PLACEMENT Being a dipole, they like lots of breating room. Like you, I have found that the VSA speakers i've had do not require much in the way of toe-in. IN fact, I think only an inch, or two at best will give you the perfect results. They work VERY well just pointing straight ahead. I'd start there. Dial it in with some white noise until you get that nice, tight ball of static that sits between them. You get that, and then you can feel positive that everything is dialed in. Stereophile test CD number II is perfect for dialing in speakers, and its what I always use. You can also order that online (
www.stereophile.com).
SPIKES I dont know if Carl spikes his or not. That is not manditory w/a heavy ass speaker like these. If you've got thick carpet, then the factory spikes will pierce it nicely and they will not budge. Aftermarket spikes are always an option. I dont spike my VR4s at all, and they sit on super thick carpet. But when your speaker is approaching 150lbs, I dont think its a big deal to spike it.
SPEAKER CABLES I think Carl has only used what he has. MIT term 2's I believe. Maybe some DH LAB cables as well, I'm not sure. I'd just try to find something transparent as possible.
UPSTREAM COMPONANTS Carl runs a BAT vk60 tube amp for his. They drive them just fine. We also hooked up a DNA-1 (w/a lot moe power) to them and they fucking blasted the wind out of our chests. awesome!!!
FWIW, VSA voices their speaker with digital amps. Personaly, I think they will excell with any good gear behind them.