If you are familiar with Vera-Fi Audio’s magical mid range, $299pr Vanguard Scout bookshelf speakers, or the LSA signature 80s, then the Rangers are going to surprise you. They are a wake up and hear the top end sound. In many ways, it reminds me of Focal’s budget speakers as well as Paradigm models. There is no fear in reproduce the upper note sparkle. At the same time for $149 a pair, there is some serious clarity in the notes without being painfully strident.
The Rangers come in a compact 12" H x 6.75" W x 9.5" D cabinet with a nicely done vinyl oak finish of medium color that were remind some of either a cherry stain or a traditional oak floor with that hit of orange look to it. A really neat feature is that the small port is on the front between to the side of the Twitter and the driver. This means these can easily set up on a bookshelf or close against the wall without the adverse effect of a rear report. Though in my case, I did bring them out about 15 inches from the front wall where I found my personal satisfaction. The Tweeter is a nice soft dome while the driver is some type of coated paper. The grill is a dark brown color, and it has the old style plastic tabs rather than magnets. Around back is just a simple five way binding post. However, I do appreciate the fact that the posts like many budget models is tilted at a 2 o'clock angle, thus allowing for banana plugs to sit in that may not grip real well.
Like the Scouts, there's four little rubber tabs attached to the bottom. For many that will prevent some scratching on the bottom. The tabs also get a better grip connection to the surface below it.
Since speakers arrive to me from my mentor, Jeff Dorgay of Tone Audio, they were already broken in. Therefore, I just set them up on my Celestion SI stands and took my first listen powered by the Eversolo Play at 60 W the channel into 8 Ohms or 110 into 4 Ohms. The Rangers are listed at This was a nice combination frankly because the AKM 4493 deck chip with its velvet sound technology just slightly softened the somewhat sharp treble. There was plenty of power to fill my 11 x 10' room. Now, in reality these don't produce much bass, but that’s to be expected. After a couple of days I plugged in Vera-Fi Vanguard Caldera 12 subwoofer, and after adjusting for a nice fuller sound, the support the Caldera 12 gave using the crossover cut off feature on the Eversolo, definitely made the listening time far more enjoyable. Personally, I would bet that most people who desire bass capability when initially purchasing the Rangers will probably opt to add in the Caldara 10 subwoofer at $199. Therefore, for $350 you have a really fun little set up.
Shifting to the WiiM Amp Ultra, the openness of the ESS 9039 Q2M DAC chip as well as the Texas Instruments class D amplification, there is definitely a few songs that were a bit too bright for me without going into the app and turning down the trouble a little bit. Is this a dealbreaker? By no means. All truly budget speakers have their limitations and as many of us who grew up with bass and treble, controls, especially in our youth with the speakers were limited, the ability to increase or decrease was not a big deal.
After the first handful of days, I swapped in my reference components of the Galleon TS A75 amplifier with its rich, lush class AB solid state sound at 75 W per channel into * ohms, though it always seems to feel like it's pushing out another 40 per channel. Along with the amplifier’s tuned, fuller bass sound along with the Denafripps Aries II, with its resistor ladder design, adding even a slightly more rounded touch to the upper frequencies than even the Eversolo Play. Of course,this is a bit much on the electronics end for these absolute budget bookshelves, still hearing what they're capable of with quality amplification, and an off board DAC showed that the Rangers can pull out details that no $150 pair of speakers should be able to do. But that's the beauty of the trickle down effect of speaker design that's come forth in the past 20 years. Thank you, Andrew Jones for resetting the bar.
The stereo imaging, especially involving various percussion instruments playing between the channels is the Rangers stand out feature. They have the ability to give quality separate channel sound, the imaging is stunning for their price. This becomes especially true with traditional, small jazz ensembles. The Rangers just have a knack with the genre that makes these artist come alive.
If there's one genre that I just didn't feel for myself was a good match. It was the European electronic music. Even with my Vista Audio integrated to amplifier the sharpness of the treble was just honestly too much for my ears and in my room. Now if I had full, thick carpeted floors, heavy curtains, a lot of upholstered furniture, and a higher ceiling then maybe it would work, but it's only fair to say that budget speakers like all budget components have their limits, and this was the Rangers Waterloo.
A phenomenal option for powering the Rangers in a minimalist setup, would be to invest in the Vera-Link bluetooth amplifiers that attached with Velcro to the back of the speakers. Just plug the banana cables into the binding posts, connect the off board brick power supply to the wall, and connect the phone via Bluetooth. I used the setup in my large living room where my wife and I read as we enjoy background music. The Rangers/Vera-Link combo was a perfect, inexpensive solution. For parents wanting to have the teens enjoy music in a recreation room without sacrificing limited shelf or counter space the pairing makes sense. When I mentioned this setup to Mark Schifter, the head of Vera-Fi Audio, he replied that anyone who buys both the Rangers and Vera-Links takes $50 off the regular $199 price of the Links. So, for $298, the purchaser is set.
Listening
One characteristic I look for in under $500 range of speakers is how individualized multiple instruments sound. Firefall’s “Strange Way” track, the synthesizer doesn't overwhelm, even though in parts of the song it is the main instrument. The lead vocals are pitched a bit high, didn't become unpleasant in the least, even during the chorus. While the drumroll in the background starting the second verse didn't disappear. It had a nice spot slightly back a bit in the soundstage. The Temptations classic “Papa was a Rolling Stone” was so well recreated it became my favorite track for rock music played through the Rangers. There was a really nice balance, as well as just an appropriate amount of total character, and the chorus was set back just right in the sound stage. Second was the Zombies “Time of the Season” for all the same reasons. The Rangers truly shined at 1960s rock music considering that these were mostly 4 to 8 channel stereo recordings. It doesn't really make sense for any particular reason, but it sure was fun.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, when it comes to very budget speakers, they're going to be sacrifices made in the sonic performance. However, basic engineering doesn't have to be one of them. The value of the Rangers is that the components used were not selected by blindfolding the designer and having them throw darts at a parts catalog. The crossover itself as you see in the photo is light years ahead of what we saw in speakers in the last two decades of the previous century. The Rangers are perfect example of what happens when the designer says I have X amount to spend and I'm going to find the best matching components for that price. Therefore, I can without reservation recommend the Vera-Fi Audio Rangers for those looking to start their journey or for a casual listening environment. Hats off to Vera-Fi Audio for once again bringing to the market another worthy budget product.
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