Vienna Speakers: Compared to other Hi-end spks?

I do own a pair of Beethovens. I agree with Joe that they do require some effort to set up properly, I think because of the rear port. You will need to place them well out into the room. The ones I've listened to at Tweeter rarely do them justice, they just don't have many guys that can properly set up audio equipment. The ones that I thought came closest to in performance were the Silverline Sonitina II's. The Sonitina's were slightly more accurate, while the Beethovens were slightly warmer. I've never cared for the Thiel's or Mirage's I've heard. The Thiel's tend to be too bright for my tastes. I agree with Joe that the Mirage's soundstage better, but I preferred the tonality and imaging on the Beethovens. I have a friend who has a pair of Mirage M1-si, they are nice speakers, but require a very large room. They do spread a very large soundstage (their strength), but I can't pinpoint individual instruments within the sounstage like I can with the Beethovens. It is all a matter of tastes, musical and sonic. The Beethovens don't 'rock out' as well as other speakers I've heard, but they do vocals and acoustical pieces amongst the best I've heard in their price range. FWIW, I'm using Threshold amplification. I haven't heard the Revel's. I also have a friend that owns a pair of Dynaudio Audience 82's, they are pretty nice. I'd like to give them a listen in my system someday.

Regards,
John

One reason the VA speakers do not have a higher profile in the US is because they are European. Enough very high quality high end hifi products are made in North America that it is a bit difficult for any overseas company to dominate our market no matter how good they are.

Getting back on the subject, I have the VA Mahlers, and I really like them. The Mahlers may not be the 'ultimate' speaker for two channel; however, they are well rounded enough doing nearly everything very well. This was important to me since I integrated my 2 channel setup into my HT setup.

I have not heard the Beethovens, but I would venture to guess that they can compete well with any speaker in their price range. You may find speaker you like a little better at that price point, but I would doubt that you would find one that would totally blow away the Beethoven.

I would suggest trying to find a dealer you can demo the speakers at.

KF

I agree with Tok20000
You will not find another speaker in it's price range that will totaly blow it away. Tweeter uses B+K amp. with monster cable. They sound like their is a blanket on top of them. I run my Beethovens with An EAD amp and Audioquest solid copper cable. I have never had a problem with fatigue.
Have fun
Tim

I've heard three of their models (including the Beethovens) auditioned with only solid state stuff - Classe and Linn. each time I thought the all the VAs were musical and delightful. Love to hear them with good tubes. They are, of course, beautiful to look at and seem extremely well made for the price. I got the impression they are a music lover's speaker as opposed to an audiphile product like Thiel and Revel (both of which I've heard at stores). I was unable to get through an entire song on any CD played with the Thiels, sat through 2-3 tunes per disc with the VAs. This always tells me about as much as I want to know.

I have recently been auditioning speakers for a new system. I heard the Beetovens in 3 audio stores. In two I compared versus the B&W 804. Clearly, the 804s had more detail, but perhaps too much. They sounded somewhat nasal comapred to the VA. The VA was more musical and warmer--mayber too warm (a bit dark). At least that is how they appeared when I heard them in a third store where Icompare them to the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home. The SF Grand Piamo Homes sounded inbetween the 804 and VA. Brighter than the VA, more detailed, but not as bright or detailed as the 804. Personally, I liked the GPH the best. They were also more "forward" or lively than the VA.