vaf i91 vs krix floorstanders

[kiwijosh 1]

Hi guys, I'm in need of some solid purchasing advice. I have been looking to upgrade my current bookshelves (krix equinox)  I have auditioned the Vaf i91s and can really appreciate why everybody on these forums love these little speakers so much. I was a little concerned that they are a little bass shy but they are only a small speaker. My question is, I am better of for a very similar price getting a floorstander such as the Krix Harmonix, as its a large room (8x7) .  I am yet to demo these but from all accounts they are pretty good bang for buck. I realise the VAF's are probably going to be more refined but my amp is pretty modest Cambridge CXA60. Music genres vary a lot anything from Arcade fire, Jazz to Kendrick Lamar  Assistants is appreciated.  

[Mushroom01 547]

IMHO, VAF make amazing speakers, visually outstanding finishes... I would love to hear a pair one day...

 

May I also suggest talking to Edward, at Adelaide Speakers. If you are looking for "bang for buck" speakers, very hard to go past these. Many different models to pick from, custom finishes & various choice of speaker drivers, depending on your budget.

 

You may be able to organise an Audition with a few models. Ask if you can take your amp for the Audition...

 

http://www.adelaidespeakers.com/index.html

[Ooogh 2,142]

Hello Kiwijosh,

 

If you are in Adelaide I would suggest giving Krix a ring for an audition. If you are lucky you could drag your own amp along. In my experience I have found them to be a hugely helpful and passionate company.

 

Remember when auditioning at the manufactures they have the ultimate set up to drive their speakers which may far outperform your own amplifier so it is important to hear them in context. A speaker that works well with your amp is more important than just which can ultimately sound better, unless of course you are also in a financial position to upgrade your amp.

 

Both Krix and VAF pop up second hand on SNA so keep your eyes open.

 

The other option is to keep your current speakers and add a quality subwoofer. Those show up all the time on SNA and some crazy bargains can be found. Done right the resulting sound can be a revelation. If you like the mid / treble presentation of your present rig this may well be your best bang for buck approach. An active sub means your amp does not need to drive the bass cones which lowers the demands on it's abilities to reproduce bass well and control these woofers. Great Bass for some reason can often also fatten the midrange presentation.

 

You have a lot of options and plenty of passionate SA listeners, some of whom may own the speakers you are interested in. There are many fans of both manufacturers here and supporting these quality local manufacturers is a bonus. The mentioned Adelaide speakers may be of interest as may Legend Speakers in Tassie.

 

The size of your listening room and future upgrade intentions, if any, all come into play, many things to consider.

 

Good luck on your quest.

[Ooogh 2,142]

I should also add if the Wyndham pre-production BR1 for 2K is still available they are a stonkingly good buy.  (See commercial sponsor area)  A seriously good sounding Australian built speaker, easy to drive with a great "body" to the sound.

[Bunno77 1,435]

Dynaudio Emit series go very well with the CXA60

[kiwijosh 1]

thanks for some very solid advice guys. As some of you did notice yes I would like to go the Australian made route  What are your thoughts on comparing the floorstanders to bookshelves? does this just come down to personal preferences really ? 

[Ooogh 2,142]

Hi Kiwijosh,

People often think that floorstanders will go deeper / louder but this is not the case, it all comes down to box volume, design et al . Then again they take up no more real-estate than a stand mount and depending on your view look nicer / more impressive.

 

Personally I like the route of a stand mount plus a subwoofer. In this way you can place your speakers in a position best to reproduce mid, treble, detail, ambience and soundstage. The subwoofer can then be placed optimally in the room for bass reproduction which is rarely the same spot as the main speakers. Furthermore with a dedicated plate amp driving the very low frequencies your amplifier is trying to cover less tasks. Finally it makes  sealed box designs a real alternative as you are no longer trying to get more low frequency extension from a given box dimension so are not so reliant on bass reflex designs.

 

The real choice however is simply what sounds best in your system for a given budget. This is often the last speaker you actually had in mind!  Also remember we all have an opinion and they can vary widely, follow your own ears. If you are in Adelaide you are a lucky man, it is a very active mob here and many systems can be sampled.

 

Those Wyndham BR1's still represent a great buy.........

[Hippy 489]

The VAF DC-X also great value in a floor stander. If you had to have a stand mount then Id go the i91's and add a sub to down a little lower.

[Peter the Greek 1,333]

IMO the i91 is much, much better than the DC-X....bass aside. Detail etc just superior.....worth a listen to both though, depending on what flicks your switch.

 

We only have the soundwall at present (same driver as the i91), love them.....but have no need for at present....nor a way to drive them.....nor a room to put them in   

[blakey72 1,419]

Don't discount standmount speakers. My pmc's go as low as a lot of floorstanders if not lower. Listen to as many speakers as you can is the best bet. 

 

Adelaide speakers are a transmission line design design same as my pmc's so may be worth a thought. Only problem with those though is that you can't audition them where they're made. Try to find someone in Adelaide that has them.

[astormsau 516]

VAF i91's in the right setting are far from lacking in the low end department. If you hear a new pair they will take some time to wear in. For a stand mount their bass response is astonishing.

The other alternative is a pair of VAF EVO's which is their new standmount - smaller driver but lower bass response as well.

I've had my i91's since new, purchased them in 2008. I've changed my whole setup and the better gear you put behind them the better they sound.

Drew


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Newman 3,451]

On 23/10/2016 at 11:40 AM, kiwijosh said:

Hi guys, I'm in need of some solid purchasing advice. I have been looking to upgrade my current bookshelves (krix equinox)  I have auditioned the Vaf i91s and can really appreciate why everybody on these forums love these little speakers so much. I was a little concerned that they are a little bass shy but they are only a small speaker. My question is, I am better of for a very similar price getting a floorstander such as the Krix Harmonix, as its a large room (8x7) .  I am yet to demo these but from all accounts they are pretty good bang for buck. I realise the VAF's are probably going to be more refined but my amp is pretty modest Cambridge CXA60. Music genres vary a lot anything from Arcade fire, Jazz to Kendrick Lamar  Assistants is appreciated.  

 

Have a read of this review and also test report (pdf) of the current model Harmonix. Tell me where you think it lacks refinement.

 

When people say the VAF is going to be more refined I ask on what basis they came to that conclusion. Both brands are very well engineered and very well built.

 

The main reason some listeners experience a stand mount with less bass as sounding superior will be because they haven't managed the bass properly and the more extended bass of (say the Harmonix) is resonating in the room and getting in the way. But if the bass is properly managed, there is ultimately more enjoyment on offer.

[Qwertyqaz 789]

It's not just lower but quantity is that bass, regardless of what people say there is more volume in the floorstander and will produce more bass always.

[emesbee 3,157]

I have a pair of i91s as well as DCXs (the gen4 mkII model).

 

The i91s are certainly no slouches when it comes to bass. Sure, they roll off a bit sooner than the DCXs, but that is what you would expect. I think they outperform the DCXs when it comes to the midrange though. To get the best out of them though, you will need to match them with a good quality amplifier. Get that right and they will really sing.

 

I did try using mine with a subwoofer for a while, but soon figured out that there was really not much to be gained from doing that. In my opinion they don't need it. The subwoofer is now doing duty in my surround system with the DCXs for movie soundtracks.

 

I haven't really had a good listen to Krix speakers, so am not in a position to give an opinion about them.

 

[kiwijosh 1]

thanks again everybody for your informative replies. I don't know if you have made it easier or harder to decide. A trip to VAF showroom is on the cards this weekend to check out the new evo series. I did have a listen to the DC-X last time I was in there and really loved them but .... the wife took one look and said they were to big and ugly

[OzJustin 58]

Another vote for the VAFs here but I'm biased.  I have not heard any of the Krix line but would really love to do so as I've heard great things.

 

As others have said there is no substitution for going to listen to both of your options with your intended equipment. Your own ears will never deceive you the way forum keyboard warriors might. Good luck.  

[Snook 8]

On 13/11/2016 at 11:35 PM, emesbee said:

I have a pair of i91s as well as DCXs (the gen4 mkII model).

 

The i91s are certainly no slouches when it comes to bass. Sure, they roll off a bit sooner than the DCXs, but that is what you would expect. I think they outperform the DCXs when it comes to the midrange though. To get the best out of them though, you will need to match them with a good quality amplifier. Get that right and they will really sing.

 

I did try using mine with a subwoofer for a while, but soon figured out that there was really not much to be gained from doing that. In my opinion they don't need it. The subwoofer is now doing duty in my surround system with the DCXs for movie soundtracks.

 

I haven't really had a good listen to Krix speakers, so am not in a position to give an opinion about them.

 

Hi There,

 

I have thought about getting a gravitas sub to pair with my i91's and use the high pass filter through the gravitas straight from my chord DAC.

 

What was your experience with a sub alongside the i91? Adding a sub to my home theater with the i66's was amazing, you don't realise how much you are missing until you do this... and I think the i91's in the mancave for 2 channel bliss would be the same and blow me away

Edited February 23, 2020 by Snook

[emesbee 3,157]

1 hour ago, Snook said:

Hi There,

 

I have thought about getting a gravitas sub to pair with my i91's and use the high pass filter through the gravitas straight from my chord DAC.

 

What was your experience with a sub alongside the i91? Adding a sub to my home theater with the i66's was amazing, you don't realise how much you are missing until you do this... and I think the i91's in the mancave for 2 channel bliss would be the same and blow me away

 

I must admit to being a bit of a novice when it comes to subwoofers. I was definitely interested to see if adding a subwoofer to the i91s would make a difference, but it was also a bit of an excuse to play with a subwoofer and take advantage of a sale that VAF had on at the time.

 

The results were inconclusive, but that may be due more to my inexperience with setting up a subwoofer. I was already happy with the sound of the i91s, and whatever I did didn't seem to make much difference. That may well be because I didn't calibrate things properly, and also perhaps I wasn't testing with recordings with enough low bass.

 

Bear in mind also that with home theatre you have a dedicated low frequency effects channel which has been mixed to give that wow factor to movie soundtracks (presumably), whereas with stereo you are trying to reproduce low frequency bass that is below the capabilities of your main speakers (as long as it exists in the recording of course).

 

Sorry I can't be of more help. It may well be that a properly calibrated subwoofer will indeed complement a pair of i91s on recordings with very low bass. Perhaps there are some other members on SNA who have successfully integrated a subwoofer with a pair of i91s who can provide some advice (I suspect there might be).

 

[Snook 8]

On 23/02/2020 at 7:59 PM, emesbee said:

 

I must admit to being a bit of a novice when it comes to subwoofers. I was definitely interested to see if adding a subwoofer to the i91s would make a difference, but it was also a bit of an excuse to play with a subwoofer and take advantage of a sale that VAF had on at the time.

 

The results were inconclusive, but that may be due more to my inexperience with setting up a subwoofer. I was already happy with the sound of the i91s, and whatever I did didn't seem to make much difference. That may well be because I didn't calibrate things properly, and also perhaps I wasn't testing with recordings with enough low bass.

 

Bear in mind also that with home theatre you have a dedicated low frequency effects channel which has been mixed to give that wow factor to movie soundtracks (presumably), whereas with stereo you are trying to reproduce low frequency bass that is below the capabilities of your main speakers (as long as it exists in the recording of course).

 

Sorry I can't be of more help. It may well be that a properly calibrated subwoofer will indeed complement a pair of i91s on recordings with very low bass. Perhaps there are some other members on SNA who have successfully integrated a subwoofer with a pair of i91s who can provide some advice (I suspect there might be).

 

Thanks! In my experience a sub always sounds better, it just needs calibration so it's 'invisible' but then when you take it away you notice that its gone big time.