Increadably smooth, pleasurable from the mid range up with tight definition and control. Awsome detail, beautifull construction of the speaker box and not too big.

The bass is lacking but still there and what is there is very good.
I combined with a REL sub to cover the frequency down to 16HZ.

Not the right speaker if u like to play dance music and techno. I used to have a pair of cerwin vega that were better for that.

Previous setup1990's Musical Fidelity Setup MC4 Speaker, B200 Amp, not a bad setup at all.......

Current setup:-
Vienna Acoustics Mozart (Not bi wire version)
Krell KAV 300i
Sherwood Tema CD1 (yes its a Sherwood but they cost origionally 1500 Uk quid as a flag ship model which never took off even when reduced to 1100 UK pounds)
Gryphon Guildline II Balanced XLR Cables.
Classe CT10 High End Tuner.
REL Storm SUB.

These were on offer at half price. An absolute baragin.

The speakers make listening to high quality music such fun, you can hear the personality in each individual instrument, sounds fantastic with string instruments especially and vocals are very very smooth and emit increadable detail and emotion. The speakers are not harsh in any way or tiring. The speakers are so revealing of poorly recorded CD's that some magazine cover CD's I used to enjoy on my old Musical Fidelity system are now sounding very inferior to well recorded material. The difference was not possible to determine on my Musical Fidelity Setup prior to this.

My Tema CD1, CD player was reviewed and critiscised for being over engineered, highly detailedand removing the musical quality from a performance. However the warm sound of the Vienna's works very very well to produce a likebale sound of awsome detail, its especially good at low volume levels and very very pleasurable. I think these two match perfectly, the Krell KAV300i amp may help a little to:). A good amp to drive the speakers would be very very important.

Over all these speakers achiece there objective, to make listening to music pleasurable. Who can say for example whether or not a pink Floyd Cd sounds how it should sound, how should it sound? That depends on the amps and electronics they are using. There is no particualr way it should sound apart from pleasurable. Each time Pink Floyd perform it would sound different depending on their location and equipment. Get my point??? The Vienna make it sound like a live performance in my room and a pleasurable one with a really open sound stage. This is no exageration.

I am not a hifi expert but have blown a lot of money on my hifi and 1 month later its definatly worth it - especially happy with the speakers.

Excellent sound quality, easy to listen to, not fatiguing. Excellent detail, sweet sound and organic sounding.

The bass isn't as low as the jm's but in my room this appears to be a good thing. May not be enough bass, for some people. Needs very good electronics, skip the mega store receivers it will sound like crap. I will be adding a plinius integrated, and I can't wait to hear the difference.

This all started by my wife saying one day, "the magnapan 1.6qrs are nice but they are so big to bad they weren't smaller. Well every audio guy knows what that will do, so I began my quest for better but smaller speakers. Originally, I bought some jm lab 915 electras, now these are great speakers and they do have a lot going for them, but in my room I found that they were too much. I really like the sound of the jm labs but I can't give them the room they need, ie.. far enough from the walls. Earlier, I heard the Vienna Acoustic speakers and to be quite frank, I wasn't impressed. They sounded dead and bass heavy. So I wrote them off. Later, while looking at cd players in a local high end shop I heard the mozarts again this time with very good electronics and properly placed. The difference was night and day. Beautiful sound, very natural open and organic, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When I got back home I listened to the jm labs again and couldn't tame the bass, they just resonate with my room to accentuate the mid to lower bass and make everything sound like a bass solo. For some reason I didn't notice this when I auditioned them, perhaps it was the initial excitement of new speakers. I decided since Tweeter was closing the Vienna line out, I had but little time to take a chance on the Mozarts before they were gone. I bought them, brought them home and set them up. The key is the electronics and the setup. The reason I think people say they sound dead is because if you don't till them back slightly you lose the treble energy. I set the speakers roughly 1/4" to 1/2" inch higher in the front than the back, this seemed to give some sparkle to the sound and added to the speakers depth and soundstage. From what I can tell you need excellent electronics and to work with the speakers positioning to obtain good results. I can't say these speakers are better than the jm labs but they work better in my room. I learned a good lesson with this purchase, and that is, don't always assume the largest speakers will be the best. It really seems to be all about matching components and rooms together.

Similar Products Used:

Magnapan 1.6 qr's, jm lab 915, I have also heard proac's(very nice) I just wanted to stay within a certain price point and the proacs were too much.

Smooth, detailed, "musical", natural, well controlled bass, a broad soundstage. They sound "right."

Limited listening window to keep image. Have to be mostly in the sweet spot.

I've listened to just about every popular audiophile speaker available (Audio Physic, B&W, Linn, JM Lab, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber, etc)in my area over the past three weeks and I kept coming back to the Mozarts because they sound "right". Don't let the previous reviewer that rated this speaker a "2" color your impression of this speaker, it is far from soft or overly polite sounding. What I hear from the Mozart is clean, smooth, unexaggerated detail. The key word here is unexaggerated. The thing is, every speaker has its own character, some more distinct than others. Some are "forward", some "laid back". Some are hyper-detailed and analytical, letting you "hear all of the flaws" of you favorite recording--no thanks. Some are smooth, musical, detailed and natural. The Mozarts fall in the later four categories. Who in their right mind wouldn't like that? I'm guessing that the previous gentleman that reviewed these speakers owns or likes the sound of the Audio Physic and Joseph Audio speakers (he listed them in his comparisons). I read good things about the Audio Physic "Sparks" (they are in the same price range as the Mozarts) so I went and listened to them. They sounded very natural, they image well and they have good detail, with a decent stage size. However, the bass is wooly and indistinct down towards the bottom of the speaker's range, and that is something I can't live with. The Mozarts, on the other hand, posses all the positive qualities of the Sparks with the addition of tight, tuneful bass and a larger soundstage. What surprises me the most about the argument from the last reviewer is that he closes by saying, "If you want a speaker that simply avoids sounding harsh and edgy and will sound polite with all material the Mozarts could be your thing." So he likes harsh and edgy? He either listens to only audiophile grade recordings, which is awfully limiting, or he's a masochist. Listen to the Mozarts for yourself. There is a good reason why they are "by far the most frequently sold speaker in the store." And it's not because they sound soft.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Physic, B&W, Linn, JM Lab, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber, Wharfdale,

The Mozart will never sound ugly.

Its strength is also its flaw.

After having read the many favourable reviews of Vienna Acoustics I went down to the big VA dealership here in Vienna, Austria to audition them. The dealer even sells the VA Selected Edition at no extra cost for the costumer, so the “Mozarts” retailing for 1800 Euros in Beech veneer seemed like a good deal. But after having played just five, six tracks of classical music and well recorded pop it was obvious that the Mozart’s main character was overly soft and lacking resolution. Cymbals lacked zing, the attack of piano keys was so smoothed out they lacked distinction and directness. The dealer confirmed my impression of the speaker explaining that Vienna Acoustics intentionally tunes the speaker to the soft side to fit the taste of most buyers, and that it is by far the most frequently sold speaker in the store. Hearing this taught me a good lesson. Reflecting upon the many good reviews of this speaker it is obvious that most costumers have no reference of the real source, that is, the direct sound of an acoustic instrument, but have an indirect reference through other speakers. And even well renowned audio manufacturers are less interested in creating high fidelity loudspeakers that reproduce the original sound of different instruments as faithfully as possible and more interested in fitting the general public’s reference of those sounds as a means to sell more speakers. But in this cut throat market who can really blame them. Just like in politics, you often get farther not by telling the truth but by telling things the general public wants to hear. I am a professional opera singer and hear live voices and acoustic instruments every day. Several times a week I also sing with a full scale orchestra. Trust me, if faithfully reproduced sound is what you want there are far better loudspeakers out there, even in the price range. To argue in favour of the sound of the Mozarts would be like recommending a camera that retouches every picture you take, smoothing out wrinkles, adding colour here and there to make the skin look perfect and the portrait more “beautiful” (like the cover of a fashion magazine) but inevitably also less true, less involving and more “dead”. If you want a speaker that simply avoids sounding harsh and edgy and will sound polite with all material the Mozarts could be your thing. But if you , like me, want Hi-fi, as faithfully reproduced source material as possible within the limitations at hand, look elsewhere. Long live wrinkles and imperfect skin!!

Similar Products Used:

Audio Physic, Joseph Audio.

Smooth and laid back.

Perhaps a bit too smooth at the expense of detail.

I was in the market to replace my 8 year old Thiel CS 1.5''s and I wanted something a bit more sensitive since my move to a tube amp last year. My first impression upon listening to the Mozart in the dealer show room was that these speakers were very smooth and laid back. They imaged nicely and produced a reasonable soundstage. I continued to listen but something bothered me about this speaker. Was it just me? Was I too accustomed to my 8 year old Thiels? Maybe. I felt that the Mozarts had this smoothness but it was at the expense of good detail. Sure, I could get used to it I suppose, but would I be happy? I also tried Soliloquy 6.2 and the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home. The Sonus Faber was much more to my liking - not so smooth that the detail was lost but they were a little aggressive. Although the Vienna Acoustic Mozarts are good speakers, they didn''t produce my preferred kind of sound. I ended up buying Tannoy D500 which LIST for just a bit more money. To get to the next level with any of these speakers, I highly recommend trying a REL subwoofer like the StormIII to fill in that lower octave. They are easy to set up and integrate seemlessly. Electronics at time of review: Balanced Audio Technology VK-50SE tube preamp Balanced Audio Technology VK-D5 CD player Jeff Rowland 10 amplifier Analysis Plus Silver Oval Speaker cable & interconnect

Similar Products Used:

Soliloquy 6.2 Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home Tannoy D500 Thiel CS 1.5

pure musicality, deep soundstage, superb imaging, natural sounding on vocals.

Requires top quality neutral sounding powerful and load tolerant amp, need careful placement & set up, weak deep bass, slight upper midrange abnormaly.

These are beautiful loudspeakers and are matched by the quality of their music making. Their imaging ability is first rate once you have them set up correctly. At this price point, room treatment is absolutely essential. You need a room of at least 30 square metres to hear them at their best. They shine when driven by a more powerful and load tolerant amp. I changed from a YBA to a Krell, and these loudspeakers revealed their true potential. I sit below the tweeter level to get a smoother sound, higher up and the highs can get slightly "detached" and in-your-face (out of phase ?). Piano notes in the upper mid slightly veiled. There was some mid bass boom when placed less than 1 metre from the rear. You need to mass load (I used sand) for a more controlled bass response. The bass is accurate but not enough to move my soul. I find the Haydn mated to a REL Storm III outperform them (and together they cost more too !)

Similar Products Used:

Haydn signature + REL Storm III, SF Grand Piano, Thiel CS1.5, Proac Response 2.5, MA Studio 20SE & Dyna Audio 1.8MKII.

beutifully open, smooth and transparent mid. Very refined and elegant high's.

Very variable bass-extension. Tight and articulate with most CD's, sometimes a litle bit thumpy.

First of all: IMHO, these speakers sound absolutely best with valve-amps. I hooked them up to an Audionet SAM, but found the sound to be somehow dull and bland. I changed to a pair of valve-mono's from Golden Tube Audio last week, AND WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! Suddenly, voices and instruments seemed so real that it almost brought tears of joy to my eyes. I think the Mozarts are the best speakers for jazz, acoustics- and classical music on this side of , say, $ 5000 USD. The problem with the bass is only when I play modern studio pop-mixes, which is probably recorded with an exaggerated electric bass-sound, which is best suit to discoteque-stereo's.
I have the Mozart Signature version, and I've never heard the standard version.
My 5 stars rating is of course based on comparisons with other speakers in this price-bracket. I'm sure you can get better sound for A LOT MORE money!

Similar Products Used:

Audiohysics Tempo III, Sonus Faber Cocerto, Sonus Faber Electa Amator mkI

Liquid smooth midrange and exquisite highs.
Furniture grade cabinetry.

Base is surprising for a speaker this size, but possibly not what everyone will settle for... a good musical sub like the REL will solve this problem though.

Just to clear up a popular misconception: According to Sumiko, the American importer of Vienna Acoustics, there have been three versions of the Mozart released in various markets.

Version 1 was bi-wirable and utilized a SEAS tweeter (back to that later). Few of these ever ended up in the U.S., although apparently the pair which went to Stereophile for their review was either this or the v2, below.
The designer of the Mozart, Peter Gansterer does not believe in bi-wiring (or bi-amping, presumably), but it was at the insistence of distributors in areas of the world serviced by the British audio press which has traditionally favored this arrangement for speakers, that the Mozart was offered in these areas as a bi-wirable speaker. (Terry noted that Franco Servlin at Sonus Faber, also distributed by Sumiko, similarly does not believe in bi-wiring.)

Version 2 was also bi-wirable, but rather than using wire jumpers or the typical jumper bar arrangement externally between the two sets of binding posts, version 2 had a high-quality, internal jumper. Meaning, if you wanted to bi-wire, you had to remove the crossover plate and hack through what was described to me as a very substantial piece of metal.

Version 3, now available for about 1-1/2 to 2 years in the U.S. has a single set of speaker terminals--no biwiring. This version also uses a Scan-Speak tweeter in place of the earlier SEAS tweeter. Sumiko convinced Vienna that in the U.S., a non-bi-wirable speaker would be acceptable and also felt the product improved by the Scan-Speak tweeter (they didn't like the SEAS tweeter with the product).
Apparently, one can still get the Mozart outside the U.S. with the SEAS tweeter. With the Scan-Speak tweeter this is sometimes referred to as the "Signature" version. It is now the only version available.

Now, to give my two cents worth. I think these speakers are absolutely the best that can be purchased for under $3,000. They are the most musical and enjoyable speakers I've found. They have an absolutely liquid midrange, and exquisite highs (though those who value absolute detail and "purity" over "musicality" and ease of listening and ultimate enjoyability won't agree with me here).

Like most any speaker, the electronics they're matched with and the room their placed in play an important role. After hearing the Mozarts on several different brands of high quality electronics (Krell, Classe, Mark Levinson, Proceed) I also herd them on some good mid-level stuff (B&K, Citation, Sunfire). While they still sounded very good, and were thoroughly enjoyable, they weren't quite up to the best that the higher class, more expensive electronics could offer. There was a significant loss of detail, drive, snap, and ultimate involvement when paired with most A/V recieviers, such as those from Yamaha and Pioneer (Although the Dennon AVR-5600 and Marantz SR-18/19 did an admirable job... similar in many respects to the mid-grade separates).

Anyone who's dissed these speakers either is tone deaf, or simply heard them with poor electronics or in a bad room. They are truly increadible. Their soundstaging is fantastic; their vocal rendition is spot on; their highs are crystal clear without being "edgy" or harsh; the base is adequate for many people and styles of music... tight and quick.

The only other speakers I seriously considered purchasing were the Joseph Audio RM22si and the ProAc 125. Guess you can tell that I love soft dome tweaters (especially silk), and don't think much of metal dome tweats!

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.5i, B&W 804, B&W 602, Polk RT-2000, Monitor Audio Silver 5 and Silver 7, Paradigm Reference 60, Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR960, KEF Reference 2 and 3, Definitive Technology BP2002 and BP2004, and Martin-Logan SL3's.

Fantastic Vocal reporduction, Deep Wide soundstage, Top end is accurate and revealing without sounding too bright, beautiful cabinet.

They are Bass shy, Cannot biamp.

I have owned NHT gear for years and, when it was time to upgrade, was sure I would go into the higher end NHT speakers. But, to be fair, I decided to audition everything I could to make an informed decision.

I listened for at least two to three hours to several speakers in the 2500 to 3k price range.

The Mozarts won. All of the speakers I listened to in this range have strenghts and weaknesses, but the Mozarts had the fewest weaknesses, and that effected my buying decision.

The mids and highs are just fantastic without being fatiguing. This was very important to me. The NHTs that I had owned and autitioned were very good in the highs and bass, they just wore me out when I listened for several hours straight, even with esoteric tube gear.

IN MY OPINION, the Paradigms did not have the deteail retrieval in the higher frequencies, the B&Ws sounded very boxy, the Meadowlarks were tuned too focused to the midrange, and Theils just did not seem to pull me into the music.

The Mozarts have a terrific soundstage, have a very detailed sound, and have a very moving presence. However you should be aware that they do not have the deepest performing bass. It is good for most, but not outstanding. This was not a big concern to me as I have a terrific powered sub that I use to cover below 40.

If lower bass without adding a sub is a big deal to you, these are probably not the ticket. I would look at the Paradigms or the NHTs if you fall into this category. However, I bet that you would be willing to make a few tradeoffs, as I did, once you have listened to what all of these have to offer.

A few details, I put 20 pounds of sand in each speaker which improved the bass, and it took around 50 hours for them to start to sing. My gear is as follows:

Rotel RSP-980
Rotel CDP-991
Sony DSP-7700
ATI-1505
MIT Term 2 Cabling

Have fun listening to the music.

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.9, Paradigm 100/v2,Meadowlarks, Theils, B&W CDM9nt

excellent soundstage, imaging, clear warm precise detail without being analytical (harsh or too crisp), excellent finish, construction

requires fine placement, a big listening space

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
parasound 1500a amplifier
adcom gfp-750 preamplifier
sony xa20es cd player (will be upgrading to Meridian 508.24)
monster hts 2500 line conditioner
tara air 3 rca interconnect (preamp to amp)
tara air 2 rca interconnect (cd player to preamp)
monster speaker cable 1.2xs (will be upgrading to tara air 2)

The above mentioned speakers in similar products used were the products that I auditioned before making this wonderful purchase. My apologies for forgetting the specific model #'s, however my price range was from $1800 to $3000. I was inclined on purchasing the PSB Goldi's however I felt that some life like presence was missing. IMHO the Goldi's were the best all around however I was not convinced. Therefore I stopped by Harvey Electronics in Greenvale, NY. The service was wonderful and the product assortment great - Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics were my favorites. The floor standing fabers were out of my budget, so I gave the Mozarts a try. ---WOW!--- It did not hurt that the demo equipment was the following: Tara Master RSC speaker cables, bryston 4b st amp & bryston ? preamp, meridian 508.24 cd player (which I am buying), and an amply sized listening room (about 3x the size of my listening room). However I was floored by the sound emitting from these slim speakers. There is a warm, tight bass reproduction that makes this speaker a master in playing all genres of music - classical, rock, jazz, (if you want earth shaking rap/dance bass then only an added subwoofer will do). The highs are just simply great - silky, smooth, crisp but not too crispy (sharp). For $2500, these speakers were probably the best audio investment I have made. I would strongly urge any one who is looking for a floor standing speaker in the $2k - $3k range to give these speakers a serious audition. One drawback is that they do not have a comprehensive dealer network - my belief is that in the states they are that well known. However Stereophile rated them as Class B speakers (with limited low frequency). However IMHO the lows are just fine. I am very happy with these speakers and will keep them for a long time.

Similar Products Used:

psb goldi, paradigm studio 100, audio physic tempo?, b&w 7cdmse, audes ?, monitor audio ?, alon