Hi-Fi: Boston Acoustics VS 336 Floorstanding Loudspeakers – Review – 79

In the early days of his home theatre experience, this reviewer had owned and enjoyed one of Boston Acoustics’ monster speakers, the Lynnfield VR10. And a stunningly good speaker that hefty four-way driver of Herculean proportions turned out to be.

Somehow, however, the brand disappeared from the New Zealand scene, until Avalon Pacific Marketing picked up Boston Acoustics for distribution just a few months ago.

Boston’s flagship speaker is the VS 336, a generously proportioned and attractive three-way design employing no fewer than five drivers. Recommended for use with amplifiers as powerful as 400wpc, the 8-Ohm VS 336 has a sensitivity of 87dB. A good 100-watt high-current integrated amplifier such as Yamaha’s delicious A-S2000 would make a great partner for them; fewer watts would be okay but the high power rating of the VS 336 suggests more is better.

Three 165mm bass drivers, a 114mm midrange and an unusual 25mm ‘dimpled’ tweeter adorn the mirror-finish black piano gloss front baffle, while the five-way binding posts on the rear panel of each curved enclosure are heavy-duty items. Each heavily braced cabinet is constructed using layers of different wood material, reducing the chance of cabinet resonance. To further enhance sound quality and increase the stability of the slender VS 336s, a spiked outrigger bar is connected to the rear, which broadens the footprint and couples the speaker to the floor.

Powered by Bryston electronics, the VS 336s proved to be worth more than the sum of their well-constructed parts. The title track from Antonio Forcione’s Touch Wood album is chock full of plucked acoustic guitar, and the VS 336s gave a pacy rendition with nimble bass and nice soundstaging. Complex musical passages were unravelled by the 336s – it was easy to follow individual musicians when concentrating, but this didn’t detract from a nicely integrated and cohesive sound when listening to the band.

‘Inertia Creeps’ and ‘Dissolved Girl’ from Massive Attack’s Mezzanine CD were excellent via the VS 336s, a nicely extended yet articulate bass underpinning an involving and detailed yet suitably moody sound. It was excellent stuff, and I had the feeling I was listening to speakers worth more than the asking price of the big Bostons.

The VS 336s were most impressive, and they would be quite capable in a big-ticket hi-fi with their superior music making and pacy sound, let alone their striking appearance.

GARY PEARCE

Boston Acoustics VS 336 Floorstanding Loudspeakers – Tech Specs

Enclosure type: Floorstanding, three-way rear ported
Drive Units: Tweeter – 1 x 25mm SWB; midrange – 1 x 114mm OCCM; Bass – 3 x 165mm OCCM
Frequency Response: 35Hz-30kHz (+/-3dB)
Sensitivity: 87dB
Impedance: 8 Ohms nominal
Recommended Power Handling: 10-400W
Dimensions: 1170 x 250 x 325mm (H/W/D)
Weight: 30.12kg per speaker

Pros

• Excellent, room-filling sound quality
• No apparent foibles
• Great value

Cons

• Um, nothing really

Verdict

Boston Acoustics’ VS 336 is most certainly a great-sounding speaker

CONTACT

www.avalon.co.nz

This review is from Tone 79. Click here to check it out.