Home Review Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand Reference

Review Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand Reference

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Pros

  • Very complete reproduction
  • Dynamic
  • Beautifully made

Cons

  • Doesn't always match
  • Midrange a bit reticent

Price: € 7500

Build quality
Controllability
Sound
Price

The Sound

Contents

Although the Vienna’s are quite easy to drive, the match on the NAIM set is frankly not ideal. We hear just too much dynamics, punch and energy. Is that possible? Yes it is… it comes across as a bit intrusive. The Pass with Bryston is a bit calmer. And that is necessary, because the treble can also be a bit fresh. Not sharp – certainly not – but fresh. Just like our Focals can be a bit fresh sounding on some systems. So be careful not to match an overenthusiastic system with these speakers. That could become a little too much of a good thing. Although that’s also a matter of taste. Well… that’s been said.

Space

What is enormously striking on both systems is the space that this set of floorstanders puts down. It plays very large. Without any problem this duo manages to fill the room with music, which is just wonderful. We are really carried away by the artist. Our recent discovery – Gazpacho – Fireworker – is a great album. Both musically and in terms of recording. Space Cowboy is a masterpiece. Sapien too. Long songs… but to us it feels like a few minutes. And only a system that doesn’t get boring can achieve that.

Dynamics

What also adds to the experience is the unprecedented dynamics these speakers can handle. Boy! It just keeps going. Both on micro and macro level. So now we have to pay a little attention in doing so, as previously reported. On the Pass with Bryston it goes almost perfectly and we hear a solid foundation with nice bass kicks. Not overdone. Just rich and round. Our friend Jacques puts those punches in nicely. And the Vienna doesn’t let go of control. Neat.

On the NAIM, it goes a little too far… there’s too much bass kick. A bit of the effect of a sleeper car; a Volkswagen Golf with a Lamborghini engine. Cool… but not always. Although we can’t really compare the Vienna Acoustics to a VW Golf of course.

Complete

It is sometimes difficult to find the right words for a certain sound. Especially if English is not your native language. But let’s try.

The Vienna’s come across as very complete. From bass to treble is all present. And that is what the specifications – and later our measurements – show. In Massive Attack’s Angel we notice the very low bass. With a lot of detail too. That Spidercone is no nonsense. In the top-end we also hear enough air and sparkle. Slightly less ‘air’ than our Focals, but that is not surprising, given the tweeter design and technology. It really is totally different.

What is a bit weird, however, is the piece towards the treble. That area from 1000 to say 5000 Hz. Voices come through very calm. But they seem to lack some brilliance compared to our orange two-way monitor. This has of course also to do with the ‘getting used to’ a system, but we have some training behind us by now. And we also seem to notice some tuning. We will show this in some measurements later on.

It is not disturbing by the way. Our ears are much more sensitive to peaks than to dips. And overall it is about +/- 1 to 1.5 db when we measure at the listening position and then mean it. In short: it will probably bring some enthusiasts that piece of quiet they crave.