The Von Schweikert Unifield 1

[JackD201]

Since the unfortunate events that led to the discontinuation of the very popular VR-1s, VR-2s and VR-4jrs, embodiments of great engineering and value, where it is alleged that company intellectual property was stolen by subcontractors in China as well as counterfeit products being made, VSA had all manufacturing brought back home to the USA under their own watchful eyes and own skilled hands. Abandoning volume, VSA had gone back to making small runs or even bespoke runs of their extended line of specialty products.

Since that time, VSA has come out with refinements on the existing products and few but very significant new ones at that. The VR-5 Anniversary Edition which was displayed at the November HiFi show and the VR-4SR Mk3 which along with the VisiUN 2 on display at the new Lair in an HT setting are examples of the ongoing refinement. As for the new models, we debuted the Unifield 3 before any of the reviews came out. Some months after, favorable reviews came out in most magazines capped off by a review in The Absolute Sound where uncharacteristically Jonathan Valin reviewed the loudspeaker even if the price was much lower than what his assigned duty which is to review loudspeakers that cost $25,000 and above.

The Unifield 1 was what was to grace the show this year but an accident with the freight company resulted in some very minor aesthetic damage that had us just put the unit up for auction instead. Like the Unifield 3 no reviews had yet been published at the time our brave auction winner had made his winning bid and while I think we managed to get good sound from speakers meant to be in a room 4 or 5 times the size of our room at the Mandarin, I can't help but wish the Unifield 1 had been available for use.

VSA does not advertise much and like companies like VAC rarely have production units for review as production is just sufficient to keep up with orders. Not a model of business efficiency but when as it once happened where the Emperor's VR-9s were delayed because they had to be stripped and refinished because of a minor blemish, you begin to understand that quality is the over riding concern.

Officially the Baby of the new VSA line, it is currently VSA's only 2way loudspeaker. You guys know that when it comes to our own products I do little talking and let the products do it for me. Keith is the exact same way. Let's just say we aren't the hard sell types of guys. What I will say is that those that didn't bid seriously lost out on one heck of an opportunity. I believe our good Doctor is smiling as he reads this because from word of mouth his UNI 1 system mated with a REL subwoofer is doing some bad a$$ fusion and rock.

Now here are a couple of reviews for you guys. So far the only reviews out on the Unifield 1. The monitor that I can honestly say, bias be damned, is my favorite two way yet.

The conclusion from Soundstage

Just when I thought I was starting to get my head around what to expect from "simple" two-way speakers, along came the Von Schweikert Audio UniField 1. In terms of precision and soundstaging, it is the finest speaker I’ve ever reviewed. It embodies a unique approach to cabinet design, and comes from the workshop of a man who has spent years fine-tuning his craft. The experience Albert Von Schweikert has gained building speakers has paid off in spades in the 1 -- you can pay a lot more without getting nearly as much. If you’re in the market for a long-term reference monitor, you’ll be making a mistake if you don’t hear these speakers. I don’t look forward to sending them back.

. . . Phillip Beaudette
philipb@soundstagenetwork.com

Full review
http://www.soundstage.com/index.php?opt ... s&Itemid=4

The conclusion from HiFi+ editor Alan Sircom

Surprisingly and accurately deep. No, it doesn’t ‘beef up’ the bass and it will need some reinforcement in really large rooms, but as a small room speaker it delivers pretty much all you need from the bottom end, in as clean a manner as you could ask for. This is why it’s heavy on the quality; any sense of mid-forward ‘detail’ or brightness in the electronics is laid bare here. Because it’s so honest, it demands the same from its partners, and such partners are rare.

It’s detailed and insightful without drawing attention to itself. Opera sounds like something more than a collection of vowels set to music. Rock has drive and energy and can be played at a fair lick. Jazz sounds close-knit and focused. Orchestral music has the energy and passion or it has the focus and precision needed to parse Beethoven at one end and Haydn at the other. It’s as happy as your room and your system will let it with anything from a solo voice to a massed choir. Which is remarkably hard to do properly.

There’s an obvious rival in the KEF Reference 201/2, also in this issue. Both sport a coincident drive unit (the famed Uni-Q, in the case of the KEF), both are standmounters and while the 201/2 is actually a three-way design, they have similar frequency response characteristics. A soundbyte comparison would place the KEF is the winner for those ruled by their heads, where the UniField One is the one from the heart, but as with any pithy comment, it fails to get the details across. The KEF is brighter and more ‘modern’ in its balance, and far more comfortable in a wider range of rooms, but the UniField One wins out in sheer musical naturalness. I’d struggle to choose one over the other because in fairness, comparing the two is almost an exercise in futility because their commonalities are more apparent than their differences, especially in terms of detail and soundstaging. This shows both companies are on the right track and even set against the home team’s best opposition, the UniField One has a lot of music to offer..

This is a very clever loudspeaker. It’s voiced to sound remarkably good, no matter what you throw at it. That’s not smoke and mirrors, just very attentive listening from an engineer who knows how to make a good sound. Using the right materials and the right components makes that easier to execute, but I dare say Albert Von Schweikert could make a good sound out of a loudspeaker made out of matchsticks and tissue paper given the UniField One.

Full review

http://www.avguide.com/review/the-von-s ... -75?page=1

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