Von Schweikert Audio ESE Loudspeakers | Review

“Are you busy right now?” said the text from Von Schweikert Audio’s Leif Swanson. “Come back to the room when you can. We made a change.” This was back at the 2019 Capital Audiofest where Von Schweikert Audio and VAC were once again showing off what I call The System, approximately $1.5 million worth of high-end audio gear that usually snags Best Sound at Show Awards by an almost unfair margin. The loudspeakers that are used in The System most of the time are Von Schweikert’s own Ultra 11s, massive beasts that cost $325,000/pair. When I returned to the exhibit room, I discovered that Leif and VSA’s Damon Von Schweikert had replaced the Ultra 11s with the $25,000/pair ESEs (Endeavor Special Edition). Leif knew I would want to hear these much smaller speakers in The System because I had a pair of them at home for review. I’m not going to tell you that the ESEs were in the same ballpark as the Ultra 11s, because that would probably kill sales of the 11s overnight. No, that wasn’t the case at all. BUT. The Von Schweikert Audio ESEs were so good in The System that the show pair had sold […]