Axiom M80 VS Vienna Acoustic Beethoven on CJ 11A

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

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

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

I went to a local dealer and audition both new Beethoven Grand and the older model yesterday.

I actually prefer to older Beethoven because it is more laid back and they play classical music better to my ears. I found that they sound equally smooth and refined, but Beethoven grand sounds more forward and there is more immediacy.

On top of that, my local dealer is clearing out an pair of older Beethoven demo at almost half the price of Beethoven Grand. And it's the awesome rosewood finish.

After listening for about an hour with different CDs, I was completely convinced and decided to buy. I had auditioned JMLab (Mini Utopia), ProAc, B&W (80x amd 70x), Dynaudio (Contour and C4), and Sonus Faber (Cremona & Grand Piano) before. They do not belong to the same price range but almost all of them are more expensive than Beethoven (old model). Yet I found Beethoven outperforms (sonically) most of them to my personal taste.

I will post update later how they mate with my CJ power amp.

PS: Maxxc, I did not jump on a $5000 pair of speaker. =) It's actually less than half of it.

I just replaced VA Bachs with Beethoven (not the Grands). I've found the more power they get, the better they sound (no big surprise I guess). I tried a few amps with the Bachs and it did make a difference in terms of dynamics. I've only tried my Sunfire Cinema Grand with the Beethovens so far, but I had a chance to hear them in another system with Krell monoblocks (don't know which ones) and the sound was like nothing I've ever heard on any system. I think they are a fantastic speaker and if you find the CJ doesn't drive them properly, I'd keep the speakers and get a new amp.