Vienna Acoustics Liszt - Fad or Future?


I just read a review on the Vienna Acoustics Imperial Liszt. The reviewer like them (don't they always), but I don't know about the movable head unit. It could be the future of speakers, or just a fad. Speaker purists are likely to say it's just a marketing gimmick.

At $15k list, they are not cheap. I have a pair of VA Beethoven Grands and like them - a lot. But I don't know about the Liszts, it could be the next Edsel.

Thoughts?
ben77059

blindjim,

The Liszt has a coincident driver (midrange / tweeter) in the upper cube that moves in lateral fashion.  Forward and aft changes in the whole speaker are made via the spikes.  As a side note, a "friend of a friend" had the KEF blade II's for a while but sold them and went down the Harbeth route.  Apparently he wasn't fond of the treble signature.  Just one persons data point.


I've had a few of the lower end models.  I had the haydn, that was the first thing I ever bought from a real audio shop.  When Best Buy dropped the line in about 2011 I bought a full surround set of demo models for a fraction of new.  I've currently got the Mozart Grands hooked up as computer speakers.  (Cambridge DAC Magic and Creek 5350SE.)  I think they're fantastic in this application.  In my experience they're more room and placement dependent than most speakers.  I compared them to my Thiel 2 2s in an old living room and I thought the Thiels embarrassed them.  The Thiels were much clearer and had a good amount of punch where the small drivers in the Viennas just couldn't do it.  They also sounded pretty strange in there, I have to think they've got a strange off axis response that becomes really obvious in a more reflective room. 

I was told that they're optimized for Europe where most houses have smaller rooms that are more solidly built.  That was a number of years ago so may not be true of newer models.  The ones I have definitely sound better when you're sitting fairly close and are in a room that's on the smaller side.

Jon,

The Liszt's are a whole different ball game than the other models.  I didn't like the other speakers in their line.