Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand

[hockeyboy]

I demoed these yesterday, and then went back again today. The sound stage on these speakers is incredible, and the demo was on an under power Denon. I can honestly say that these are some of the most musical speakers I have ever listened to.

The audition was to replace 4 old JBL speakers I have in my game room. I am planning on picking up 4 of these Haydns. The problem is I will need a pretty nice amp to power them with too so thats another upgrade required (my Sunfire channels are all in use in the movie room). I am considering an Emotiva XPA-5 to drive 4 of these and a passive sub, and base this solely on information that those amps are musical on this forum.

Any comments from those with experience? This will be 80% music, 20% background sports noise while shooting pool. This is a secondary area, but is most used for parties and such.

[Midnite Mick]

Are those the monitors? I heard I think it was the Beethoven baby grands before and the musicality, cleanliness, and tone I really enjoyed. However, they have a low soundstage that really ruins the experience for me.

I heard them at the same time I auditioned the Adagios and I enjoyed the Adagios much more.

Mike

[hockeyboy]

These are bookshelf size speakers. Here is a link to the website.

http://www.vienna-acoustics.com/products/haydn/haydn.php

Are the Adagios a Vienna Acoustic speaker? I would love to demo those as well before I drop $2500 on four of these. I am going to need to shelf mount the new speakers for sure. I did notice some rather major base problems when I cranked the Haydn's to +3, but assumed it was related to only having a 130 watts behind it. My assumption was they would sound better with more power, but can you elaborate on the low soundstage? Thanks for the input since this is a little bit of change.

[Midnite Mick]

The Acoustic Zen Adagios are not a monitor, they are a transmission line floorstander with a MTM configuration.

One thing I like to do when I audition a speaker is move around the room and see how they sound from different positions. This also relates to how well a speaker "disappears". With the Beethoven baby Grands I felt like the sound was coming from a source that was too low. I had the sensation that I wanted to get lower to the ground for them to be enjoyable to me.

Just my take on the ones that I heard. The monitor that you heard would probably not be like this. Also, everybody has different preferences..etc.

What are some of the other monitors that you have auditioned?

Regards,
Mike

[shack]

I am a big fan of Vienna Acoustics and the the Haydns. I have only heard the Grands briefly but I've often listen to the original Haydns. If I was looking for a bookshelf speaker they woudl be on my short list.

[Early B.]

For 80% music in a secondary system used mostly for parties and such, the Emotiva XPA-5 would be a great choice for an amp.

[Midnite Mick]

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrmoni&1216941185

[mantis]

Vienna make great speakers. I almost owned them myself years ago. Yes your going to need some juice if you want to hear them go.

great choice man,

Dan

[hockeyboy]

Mick that's a great price for a used pair. I think I am going to go ahead and grab them since I need two pair. Thanks!

[Midnite Mick]

Maybe stupid of me to say but just so you realize those aren't the grands..those have a smaller driver. They do look very similiar to the Usher S520 though and that is a little inexpensive speaker that I love.

[hockeyboy]

I'm glad I read your post because I didn't notice those weren't the grands. It is still a sweet deal although I am feeling pretty set on the grands.

[hockeyboy]

Hi all. I have since secured a new Sunfire to drive my plan for new speakers. The problem with the Vienna Haydn's are that the price has gone up $200 per pair. I can probably negotiate down, but I went to pick them up and since I am planning on two pair was surprised at the increase and killed the deal.

I demo'd several metal CD's as well as a couple of rock CD's and one jazz CD. It didn't seem like the Vienna's could project the really big chords. I am seriously having second thoughts expecting more for the $200 a pair additional price tag.

Do any of you have possible alternative candidates for 85% music? My plans will be to add a sub later but this is a room that is 40' x 15' so I need some shelf/wall mount speaks that pack a punch. I need 4 speakers less than 2500 bucks and have 400WPC at 4.

[Midnite Mick]

If you can demo some Usher s520's give them a listen. I don't know how well they will do rock or metal as I have never tried that on them but man oh man do they do jazz with a whole lot of weight, authority, presence, and realism. At 479 list price if you liked them you would be saving a whole boat full of money as well. Do some research on the net they truly are surprising for that kind of money.

If not you could look at the x series or v series as they would still be in your price category however they are significantly bigger if that is an issue for you.

I just looked at where you are located and the North American importer is in Dallas as well (MusikMatters). I am sure there must be dealers there as well.

http://www.usheraudiousa.com/

Good luck,
Mike

[cmy330go]

From my experience Vienna Acoustics' speakers are very pleasing to the ears. My only minor complaint is they all seem to lack just a little in dynamics. Other than that they are amazing!

[mantis]

From my experience Vienna Acoustics' speakers are very pleasing to the ears. My only minor complaint is they all seem to lack just a little in dynamics. Other than that they are amazing!

they tend to do that when under powered. When we carried them, most receivers made them sound flat. But when we ran them with B&K anything, they came to life and sounded incredible.

Other then B&W, I think Vienna has some of the very best built cabinets. Furniture grade.

[hockeyboy]

Mantis I suspect that you are right because the Vienna's were being powered by a Denon 3803 which doesn't have near the horsepower of the Sunfire 5200 I will be using.

[hockeyboy]

After all day of driving around and doing several demo's, I cast aside the Vienna Acoustic Grands based on their failure to deliver the goods when it came to heavy metal, along with the high price tag.

I settled on 4 of these.

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/display.aspx?infid=2301&sc=ht

It cost me about $1200 including everything. This is less than a single pair of the Vienna bookshelves I was considering. I will install them later this week and let you know how it goes.

[shack]

It is not surprising that the VAs are not what you would want for metal. It's not what they do well.

The thought of those B&Ws and metal make my ears hurt just thinking about it. I have yet to find a pair of B&Ws below the 800 series that are not very fatiguing after a few minutes of listening. I guess if metal is your preference then the B&Ws will certainly add an "edge". I hope you enjoy them.

[miner]

I am looking at getting a pair of B&W 685 & 610 sub for my second system. I am inteested in hearing your review once you get a chance to enjoy. FYI, I , too was looking at the Haydn Grands along with a ML Abyss sub.

The 685 was a Stereophile Best Buy in their 2008 issue.

[hockeyboy]

Shack I hope I don't get too fatigued with these guys. I really also wanted to demo some Ushers but just couldn't get anyone to call me back. These look like a great speaker!

http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/usher_audio_x718.htm