2. speakers
  3. 1119322016

Axiom M80 VS Vienna Acoustic Beethoven on CJ 11A

Hi,

I currently have a pair of Axiom M80 driven by a Conrad Johnson 11A power amp. I listen mostly to classical, percussion, and vocal. Very few jazz and no rock at all. Stereo only and no surround.

I'm looking for speakers upgrade and I listened to some Vienna Acoustic speakers (used to have a pair of Bach and auditioned Beethoven) and I got very good impression on them. In particular, I love their smoothness. The model I'm looking for is Beethoven, not the newest Beethoven grand however.

Unfortunately in home audition is not available so I'm looking for some opinions here.

Did anyone ever compare Axiom to VA? How do they compare?

Also, did anyone try CJ and VA combination and how do they match? I think both of them are warm but I'm not looking for some "too warm" sound.

Thanks for any thoughts and input. Any idea is appreciated.

Andy
hklai
hklai OP
14 posts
 
Hi Jdodmead,

It's good to hear that beethoven driven by a tube amp can also produce a good result!

Did you compare the newer Beethoven grand and the old one? Would you mind telling me roughly how much you paid for it? You may drop me a private message if you do not want to publicize it. =)

Andy
boyhowdy
12 posts
 
Andy, if the Bachs sound relatively undynamic with your CJ amp, then there's a good possibility that the Beethovens will be a similar situation. If you're stuck on the CJ, then I'd do everything I could to audition the Beethovens with this amplifier. Your room size is very similar to mine, and I also have my speakers firing along the long wall, so there should be no problem there. FWIW, I haven't found anything near their price range thats been as musically satisfying to me, but like any high-end component, they will not match well with everything. Hopefully a CJ/Vienna owner out there will chime in.

Matt
hklai OP
14 posts
 
Hi Matt,

I think the Bach's lack of dynamic was because of the small cabinets and there is only one 7 inches woofer. Technically Bach is 6ohm 91db and it should not demand more power than my Axiom 4ohm 91db...

I'm not stucked with CJ but I sort of dislike high power amplifiers. My CJ outputs 75w per channel which should be more than sufficient for any reasonably high efficiency speakers (>90db maybe.)

Another concern is that VA does not seem to be a very popular brand (correct me if i'm wrong =). Reselling it (if it does not match well with my other stuffs) can be a headache.

I saw a pair of demo from local dealer but I'm tempted by the rosewood one in the classified listing. I don't think it's likely that I can get in home audition.

Cheers,
Andy
boyhowdy
12 posts
 
Andy, I get the impression the rosewood Viennas sell reasonably fast. They are among the most beautifully made loudspeakers IMO. If the Beethovens don't work out you might want to investigate Spendors or Proacs. I've heard some some models of these with tube amps and they gave very good sound.

Good luck,

Matt
maxxc
177 posts
 
Man thats a big jump in price! The Rosewood Beethovens list for $5000 and Axioms top of the line M80 goes for $1240.

I have limited experience with the Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Heard them all during one audition session. For what its worth I thought the Beethoven sounded much better then the Mozart or Bach. Didn't care for the bass integration with the latter 2 models. Dynamics on all 3 models was fine but nothing to write home about.

Seems like there should be alot of other manufacturers to investigate that fall between the price of the Axioms and Beethovens.

I would agree with Matt if the Bachs to your ear were not dynamic enough its doubtful the Beethovens would be.

BW Maxx
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