Grew up on Venture Lows and made the switch to Indy in probably 2005. My introduction to Indy was the stage 9 (and eventually 10) geometry. When the 11's came out I disliked them so much I became an eBay dweller buying up all the NOS 9's & 10's. I don't ride tight trucks at all, but there is something about the stability of those trucks that's honestly probably rooted in my origins with Venture. Don't skate much transition (mostly ledges/manuals/ street stuff) so I like how they feel stable when you're popping but turn when you want them to... instead of just being super squirlly.
Anyways, grabbed a pair of the 5.6 Venture Highs this last weekend. "New truck/going all over the place/ weird stage" was over in about 20 minutes. Bushings are a little stiff still but once they break in a little I really think they'll end up feeling like a good set of Independent Stage 10, which, I guess is not a popular thing for people on here - but always felt "default / right" to me.
Ben's logic about riding them with a small wheel base makes sense, especially for people looking for Venture to replace the modern day Independent Stage 11 turn. I have them on a 14.38 WB (which I also preferred with my Indys) and it feels awesome to me. I'm only a year or so in to WB consciousness, but I'm just shy of 6foot with really wide shoulders and the extra bit actually seemed to help. Really solid square pop and response.
Definitely think there's going to be a niche of people who really like these, but they're never going to turn like an Ace or something. Ben hit the nail on the head when he said how you feel about them is going to be based on what you're actually looking to replace. If you were a fan of the Indy geo from the 03-2012....these could be for you. If you thought the stage 11 was a gift from god it'll be a harder switch...and if you are super stoked on Ace.... these won't be what you want at all.
I don't know where I stand yet, but they're way better than I expected so far so I was compelled to comment ha!