The Times They are a-Changin' 

Today’s ultra-high-end audio marketplace is witnessing a virtual no-limit rise in cost. At the same time, the affordable end of the spectrum offers superb sounding kit at ever more appealing price points. Vera-Fi Audio, headed by Mark Schifter, is one of the companies leading the latter movement, and he has assembled a top-shelf team to help him accomplish his goals.  

With close to 60 years in the audio business, Schifter has a résumé filled with successes, including time spent at Audio Alchemy with Peter Madnick, Genesis with Arnie Nudell, and Emerald Physics with Walter Leiderman. Vera-Fi’s current team includes Madnick and NASA engineer Viet Nguyen. It was Nguyen who did the heavy lifting on the Vera-Fi Audio Vanguard Scout compact 2-way speaker (US$299 per pair), which is the subject of this review. 

The Scouts Arrive 

The Scouts arrived carefully packed and individually bagged in a single, stout cardboard box. The first thing I noticed was their gorgeous satin rosewood veneer and a fit and finish I’m accustomed to seeing on far more costly speakers. Each shoebox-sized Scout (12”H x 6.75”W x 9.5”D and 12 pounds) is made of high-density fiberboard and is internally braced. This construction made for a solid result when the speaker underwent the knuckle rap test.  

Designer Viet chose a 5.25” treated paper cone mid-woofer and a 25mm silk dome tweeter for this 2-way, and there is a port on the back as well as a recessed binding posts. According to Vera-Fi, it took Viet over a month of listening and voicing to dial in the crossover, which is set at 1700Hz and incorporates an asymmetric topology that keeps both drivers in positive polarity for the best transient response. The company’s stated goal when voicing the Scouts was to deliver a non-fatiguing balance that encourages long listening sessions with all musical genres. When a manufacturer shows pictures of a crossover, they are demonstrably proud of it, and Vera-Fi’s website reveals an uncomplicated board, with expensive film capacitors and quality inductors typically not found in speakers that are priced under $300.  

A speaker’s crossover is vital, but in many designs it does not get enough consideration. Even if it is properly matched to the drivers, the crossover’s execution can be compromised with cheap components such as electrolytic caps. Unusual for a speaker at this price level, the Scout uses film caps, and these are said to contribute to its sonic clarity. The rated sensitivity is 84.5dB @ 1 Watt 1M, with a nominal 8-ohm impedance. Staying above 6 ohms presents a benign amplifier load (Vera-Fi’s specifications cite a 50Wpc power rating). 

Setup 

I placed the Scouts on 28” tall Acora Acoustics stands positioned in the same locations used by my much more expensive Acora SRB standmount speakers ($18,000). Comparing the Scout to speakers costing 60 times more may be a stretch, but the SRB speaker is my reference, and it serves as a benchmark that while plainly aspirational for the Scout, is well-known to me. Driving the Scouts were a pair of Odyssey Kismet monoblock amplifiers. 

I ran the Scouts for two weeks of casual listening and TV watching before making any evaluations. I then cued up The Cowboy Junkies’ “Mining for Gold” from The Trinity Sessions (RCA 8568-2-R). To make sure my speaker connections were correct, I sought to hear Margo Timmins’ voice located dead center in the soundstage. As it turned out, I had made the right connections, and Timmins was indeed tightly focused front and center. The soundstage was slightly wider than the physical location of the Scouts, which did a good job of portraying the acoustics of the church where the recording was made. 

Moving the Scouts closer to my room’s front wall (about 22” away) firmed up the low bass, letting me more easily follow bass lines and better enjoy the sound of the drum kit. The Scouts easily portrayed the vocal decay of Margo’s voice into the void of the church, revealing the depth of the large space. I kept telling myself “just one more track,” but then 45 minutes later, “Walking After Midnight” finished and I had unexpectedly listened to the entire album – a testament to the Scout’s musicality. 

Further Listening 

One of my favorite musicians is Ray Brown, and on his album Soular Energy (Concord Jazz CJ-268) he is the band leader. His bass is front and center in the mix, and Gene Harris’ piano is recorded seemingly without compression. The imaging and instrument separation were excellent, the texture and timbre of Brown’s bass were spot-on, and Harris’ piano had good tonal color and dynamics, especially on “Exactly Like You.” Here, the Scouts fell short of reference caliber, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the cut, as the speakers let me easily follow Brown’s bass lines and his genius interplay with Harris’ piano. 

James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James album (Warner Bros. Records WS-1843) is another favorite of mine. It was recorded quickly and simply without a ton of production, making for a natural-sounding album. The Scouts were spot-one when it came to the tone of Taylor's intimate tenor (i.e., warm and conversational) voice.  

Taylor and his guitar were clearly positioned right up front, with overtones from fingerpicking, and the band seemed just a few feet behind him, with impactful, easy-to-follow, drums and bass lines. Indeed, the Scout conveyed the power region of 60Hz to 200Hz with enough weight to unleash a taste of the propulsive forces that can be created by percussive instruments. 

On the track “Steamroller,” for example, Taylor again appeared close enough to reach out and touch, and the midrange bloom in the sounds of his voice allowed for not only authentically rendered vocals, but an emotional connection to music. Voices in general with the Scout were natural and clear, and the upper octaves were shelved just slightly enough to ensure non-fatiguing sound, but not so much that air and details were diminished. In this instance, listening to Sweet Baby James brought back fond memories, and the Scouts again caused me to listen to an entire album. 

David versus Goliath 

Unsurprisingly, the Acora SRB speaker did everything much better than the Scout did. This includes at least attempting to fill a large room with loud, clean, undistorted sound. But there is more to the story. To put the cost difference between the two speakers in perspective, a pair of Scouts represents roughly the amount of the sales tax on a $3,500 pair of speakers – let that sink in. And the Scout is free of the errors common to many budget speakers, such as bright, tilted-up treble, boomy one-note bass, and an overly lean tonality that makes vocals sound unnatural.  

Final thoughts 

Vera-Fi Audio’s Vanguard Scout is a shoo-in if you are searching for an exceptional sonic value in a compact bookshelf or desktop speaker. It also looks gorgeous with its rosewood veneer finish. For those (like me) who want it all, adding a Caldera 10 or 12 subwoofer from Vera-Fi and a powered streamer will let you bring an entire stereo system home for under a grand. But that’s a topic for another review. 

Vera-Fi Audio Vanguard Scout Loudspeaker 

Price: $299 per pair USD Warranty: 3-year limited, parts and labor Dimensions: 12”H x 6.75”W x 9.5”D Weight: 12 pounds each  

Vera-Fi Audio LLC Newbury Park, CA  verifyaudiollc.com 

Associated Equipment: 

• Digital source: Desktop computer optimized for audio playback running Foobar 2000 

• DAC: Bricasti M3 DAC with network board  

• Preamplification: VAC Signature IIA  

• Amplification: Odyssey Kismet monoblocks  

• Loudspeakers, Acora SRB and SRS-M stands  

• Power conditioning, Synergistic Research PowerCell  

• Cables: Synergistic Research Foundation   

• Accessories: Synergistic Research Ethernet Switch, AC duplexes, and HFT room treatments, VeraFi Audio Vibration Black Hole footers, Snubway, and Swiss Digital Fuse Boxes