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Review 4 of 44
Price Paid:
$2100.00
from Magnolia Summary:
These are a great speakers for the person wanting great detail and articulation of sound with just a bit of friendly warmth, far short of an overdriven midrange though. You really get just clear and precise image of what the music sounds like, without an added signature from the electronics.
As a few people before have mentioned - you NEED a very good amp to drive these 4ohm power suckers to let them sing. The top of the line Denon barely got there, rotel and anthem were straining - and I decided on getting a juicy 200 watt / channel McIntosh (MA6900) to actually get these speakers where they need to be. I'm very pleased with the outcome, and they're incredible on orchestral, small blues and jazz ensembles, and do a pretty good job on heavy metal. Go weak with the electronics and they'll sound like a cheap klipsch - don't make that mistake.
It's been brought up that the bass isn't booming, but I see this as a good thing, and moreover, there is no distortion of the bass (which is more important than loudness of the bass - to be able to actually hear the individual bass tones). If you need more bass, you can just turn it up on the equalizer on your receiver and the speakers respond wonderfully.
One of the greatest aspects of these speakers is the soundstage. The clarity of the sound I mentioned earlier is heightened by the wide, very precise, soundstage. I was considering getting a 5 channel surround setup, but except for sounds coming behind you - you get around 160 to 180 degrees of sound during movies and great "close your eyes and point to it" with CD's.
I've listened to BW, paradigm, boston, deftec, martin logan ,RC, and magnepans before buying the Viennas - with the last two being the closest competition (RC-80 had more bass than vienna, but not as clear of sound, maggies were very articulated but the sweet spot was so small and no bass / depth to sound). The mozarts, a slightly smaller Vienna also blew me away! The had more bass and a rich sound. To give you an idea - these speakers wwould have been in a close competition with the 10k+ each, 6ft tall mcintosh I heard in the store... if I had the money! Strengths:
clarity of sound
no electronic signature
soundstage Weaknesses:
no booming bass, depending on your tastes, isn't all bad Similar Products Used:
BW, paradigm, boston, deftec, martin logan ,RC, and magnepans,
with the last two being the best
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