EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

J

Jason Lavoie

Junior
Jan 13, 2011
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16
Ottawa
so, the VR21 is gone, and it was one of my favorites.
the replacement is the VFR series, but I find them ugly and if I have to redesign my rigging brackets anyway I might as well spend the time to see if I should be switching to something else.

is there anything in the same price range that is a straight-up install box with no handles, pole cups etc and a nice clean look?

Thanks
Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Jason Lavoie said:
so, the VR21 is gone, and it was one of my favorites.
the replacement is the VFR series, but I find them ugly and if I have to redesign my rigging brackets anyway I might as well spend the time to see if I should be switching to something else.

is there anything in the same price range that is a straight-up install box with no handles, pole cups etc and a nice clean look?

Thanks
Jason
Click to expand...

For the money, it's tough to beat Community's Veris series. The 3-ways are only slightly more than the 2-ways. They do need significant eq.
VERIS

Grant
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

How about the Electro-Voice EVF series? There's a 12 and a 15, two types of drivers (one premium, one more cost effective), and a ton of options for the horn pattern.
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Jason Lavoie said:
so, the VR21 is gone, and it was one of my favorites.
the replacement is the VFR series, but I find them ugly and if I have to redesign my rigging brackets anyway I might as well spend the time to see if I should be switching to something else.

is there anything in the same price range that is a straight-up install box with no handles, pole cups etc and a nice clean look?

Thanks
Jason
Click to expand...

Favourites... for the price, I agree. I have 3 and I've installed many more.

As for the VFR wings, two quick passes on the table saw and some black paint, and the boxes would look ok.. :razz:
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

I'm a fan of the Veris for the price. I'm even more of a fan of the iBox. Mounting solutions galore. The EVF series is OK, but it's close enough in price to iBox, and that just blows it out of the water sound quality wise.
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

at the price of the iBox I would just buy Fulcrum
I'm trying to find something at half that price to fill the void for customers who can't afford Fulcrum.

Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Jason Lavoie said:
so, the VR21 is gone, and it was one of my favorites.
the replacement is the VFR series, but I find them ugly and if I have to redesign my rigging brackets anyway I might as well spend the time to see if I should be switching to something else.

is there anything in the same price range that is a straight-up install box with no handles, pole cups etc and a nice clean look?

Thanks
Jason
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that I have a new VR21 in box. I'll GIVE it to the first person willing to pay the shipping!

On the subject of your post, how about the FBT Verve Series?

Jeff
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Jason Lavoie said:
at the price of the iBox I would just buy Fulcrum
I'm trying to find something at half that price to fill the void for customers who can't afford Fulcrum.

Jason
Click to expand...

The Fulcrum stuff is significantly more than double the price of iBox once you factor in the FIR-capable DSP and extra amp channels. I'd reserve the Fulcrum stuff for the ultra-high-output, ultra-high-end jobs where no expense can be spared to have the best. For everything else, there is probably a more economical option, like iBox, or even more economically, Veris.

Disclaimer: I can't use anything other than Fulcrum anymore. Everything else just sucks in comparison.
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Silas Pradetto said:
The Fulcrum stuff is significantly more than double the price of iBox once you factor in the FIR-capable DSP and extra amp channels. I'd reserve the Fulcrum stuff for the ultra-high-output, ultra-high-end jobs where no expense can be spared to have the best. For everything else, there is probably a more economical option, like iBox, or even more economically, Veris.

Disclaimer: I can't use anything other than Fulcrum anymore. Everything else just sucks in comparison.
Click to expand...

Fulcrum CX12's are single amp. and more often than not I'm working with a multi-zone building that's already going to receive a Symnet or other DSP system so FIR is essentially free at that point, so my only consideration is the speaker cost and installation complexity.
Anything bi-ampable from Fulcrum is clearly not in the same league as the VR21 though I agree

Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Brad Weber said:
The Renkus-Heinz CFX121/CFX121-8 are around the same price and performance and have all the install provisions, however they do also have handles and a pole cup.
Click to expand...

At least they're not ugly handles sticking out the front
how do they manage a pole cup AND a yoke attachment point? I would think those would land in the same spot?

Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

I don't know the cost in the US but the Tannoy dual concentrics are worth a look, they have various dispersion patterns these days. If they're too expensive then another vote for the Veris and Ibox G
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

I, too, was disappointed to discover that the EAW VR series had been discontinued. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the replacement VFR series was about double the price, and they have those ugly wings on the front!

I just installed two of the Renkus-Heinz CFX121s in white and they work great! The price is comparable to the EAW VR series. I was dubious, at first, because I had not heard of Renkus-Heinz. They ship with covers for the handholds and an adapter plate replacement for the pole cup that has a tapped hole for the yoke mounting. The only complaint my customer had was that the friction washer for the yoke-to-speaker mount was black, instead of white. He plans to take care of that later with a little white paint. The horns are rotatable for horizontal mounting (just like the EAWs) but are a complex conical design that seems to work fine.

Jason Lavoie said:
At least they're not ugly handles sticking out the front
how do they manage a pole cup AND a yoke attachment point? I would think those would land in the same spot?

Jason
Click to expand...
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Ken Montgomery said:
I, too, was disappointed to discover that the EAW VR series had been discontinued. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the replacement VFR series was about double the price, and they have those ugly wings on the front!

I just installed two of the Renkus-Heinz CFX121s in white and they work great! The price is comparable to the EAW VR series. I was dubious, at first, because I had not heard of Renkus-Heinz. They ship with covers for the handholds and an adapter plate replacement for the pole cup that has a tapped hole for the yoke mounting. The only complaint my customer had was that the friction washer for the yoke-to-speaker mount was black, instead of white. He plans to take care of that later with a little white paint. The horns are rotatable for horizontal mounting (just like the EAWs) but are a complex conical design that seems to work fine.
Click to expand...

Interesting..
here at least, the VFR came out about 33% more than the VR
turns out they're actually worth the money. they go 10hz lower and sound better in the top end. but I still dislike the look

the pole cup is set back from the center so that one of its mounting holes IS the yoke mount.

the VFR89 comes in a bit under the old VR21 price so I'm curious to see how they perform.

Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Craig Hauber said:
Another example of manufacturers out-of-touch with the designer-installer people.
-Anybody have any idea what those stupid front handle-wings are actually for?

EVF-S series by ElectroVoice is a good similar box for the price
Click to expand...

In all fairness, they WILL sell more of the VFRs than they did VRs. it is a better product, just looks dumb. but it will appeal to more markets so it will sell.
And the handles ARE very useful (for the half hour that we spend moving them from the ground to the lift, then from the lift to the rigging) :)
But for the next 5-10 years they'll just be another point for someone to hang a banner from

Jason
 
Re: EAW VR21 discontinued, alternatives?

Jason Lavoie said:
In all fairness, they WILL sell more of the VFRs than they did VRs. it is a better product, just looks dumb. but it will appeal to more markets so it will sell.
And the handles ARE very useful (for the half hour that we spend moving them from the ground to the lift, then from the lift to the rigging) :)
But for the next 5-10 years they'll just be another point for someone to hang a banner from

Jason
Click to expand...


Yes, but didn't they already have higher performance 12" trap boxes? Now they are going to have a void in the low-end product line and competing-with-themselves product line with the JF, MK, LA and even the FR?
It's bad enough they killed off the Avalon DC series. -I've been scrambling to redesign for legacy clients and those that wish to expand existing rigs.
 
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