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Any Vienna acoustics love out there? Anyone even still using them?

Don't hear much about them anymore.  I ask because I moved my Bach Grands from the living room (where they don't get much use) down into my basement main listening room today.  Wanted to hear them with my Hegel h360, which I have never done.  I was quickly reminded why I bought them in the first place.  Great imaging/center image and instrument separation, excellent soundstage, sweet midrange.  Warm, full sound you can listen to all day long.  Can a speaker be on the warm side and still detailed?  If so, I would say these fit the bill.  Not the best for dynamics or that 'live' feeling, but that's not what I bought them for.   

Anyway, interested in anyone's VA experience in general.
pkatsuleas
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
There are new versions out there of the Beethoven Baby Grand and Grand.  I don't remember hearing anything about them from reviewers or forum posters.  I agree with @goose that the Liszt is a truly excellent speaker.  I don't know if the revisions to the two Beethoven models were carried down or up the whole VA line.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,469 posts
 
I have had several customers who have heard them at another dealer share their POV on the Beethoven Baby Grand and Grand.  To say they were rave reviews understates the customers POV on them.  They have new drivers that are flat and offer more detail while retaining the essential character of VA.  It improves time alignment and gives a more unified presentation from what was already and very good speaker on that basis.  I am hearing such good things I am seriously considering buying samples and taking on the line.  
big_greg
6,561 posts
 
I have owned the Haydn Grand and older Beethovens.  I really liked them when I first heard them.  They were really easy to listen to, but over time they were a little too warm and recessed for me, and frankly, rather boring compared to the Kefs, Thiels, and Harbeths I own now.  I haven't listened to their higher end models, perhaps they have a little more "personality".  They make beautiful speakers, they just weren't for me.
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,549 posts
 
Very well built, finish is amazing.
  Wish I had the Beethoven grands. 
   On list of unaffordable items to buy
ghdprentice
6,440 posts
 
I remember those speakers… they were very good.

“Can a speaker be on the warm side and still detailed?“

Yes… and importantly so can a system. In my view it should. If a system highlights the detail too much it becomes too analytical and takes the focus off the music and puts it on details. This topic has popped up elsewhere… but when you go to the symphony you are not immediately shocked my the amount of detail… it is all there, but not spotlighted. 

It has taken me over forty years to finally get that balance right so the music comes first and the detail is there with appropriate emphasis and warm natural sounding.
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