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Vienna Acoustics Bach Grand

I'm currently demo'ing a pair of these speakers in my home. It's seeming as if there's a bit of muddiness in the mid-bass. From anybody whose heard these speakers, is this something that could be a function of how much power I'm giving it? I'm using an HK AVR125, rated at 45 w/ch. Highs and midrange seem just fine, in fact it sounds great. Its just when I play something a bit denser, such as Dave Matthews Band or even some of Sting's more recent albums, that I'm finding this type of performance. I don't listen to anything much harder, but if I ever do, I would imagine it would only exacerbate the issue.

I was expecting something a bit more, but wondering if it's the fault of my equipment rather than the speaker. My old speakers were three-way, so I'm wondering if I might need a speaker with a dedicated midrange plus woofer to get me the sound I'm wanting?
murz
erniec
23 posts
 
With VA's you have to go against the grain a little bit in terms of associated equipment set up etc. Much of today's electronics cables etc. work well with leaner more analytical speakers. With Viennas you need neutral electronics and arguably silver interconnect and/or speaker cables. As mentioned earlier they do need to be spaced further aprt than many other speaker brands to minimize the a thickness or warmth. Also they are very sensitive to toe-in; more toe-in = thicker sound. I have Beethoovens and a friend of mine owns the Mahlers all I can tell you is that our other audiophile friends are blown away with the sound of our systems.
ultraviolet
105 posts
 
Agreed with the previous poster. I have 2 pairs of the old Bach's and 1 set of Beethoven's. My Beethoven's are 10' apart at the outside front corners for a listening position that's only 9 feet away. They're a full 2' away from the back wall and toed in surprisingly little (not sure on the exact angle though). Both of these speakers can sound muddy when toed in too much or spaced too close together--and they can sound very muddy when too close to the back wall. I spent an enormous amount of time fiddling with the position, but it was well worth it.
bokifeac
22 posts
 
Just to add some things: VA is using almost exclusivelly tweeters and woofers made by SEAS and Scanspeak. My VA Haydn Grand is using SEAS and some more expensive models are using Scanspeak.
johnadlertech
16 posts
 
I have/had models from the Hayden all the way up the Mahlers. I love VA gear. In the pre grand line the Hayden and Bach got diffrent tweeters drivers. I believe that still stands true with the grand line. So from Bach to Mozart is a big diffrence. And they just keep getting better the more you spend (isn't that always the case). If size is not an issue, consider a used set of Beethovens. They will cost you about the same, but the older Beethoven will still out perform the Bach Grand. I never had a big problem with placement of my VA speakers.
colmantcsn
1 posts
 
LI recently demoed the Beethoven Grands the Baby Beethovens and teh Mozart Grands. They were all in front of me with the Mozarts spread out the farthest on the outside of the other two sets. All I can say ils wow. The soundstage was huge and the bass was fairly taut compared to the other two. They sounded better than the other two expensive models.I don't want to hear the other two spread equally as wide I might be tempted. I am buying the mozarts.
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