Musik Mann

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.44 of 5, 18.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3400.00 from Magnolia Audio/Video

Summary:
This review is for the new Beethoven Concert Grands, which are a bit different than the previous Beethoven model from 2 years ago. Also, I bought floor models that had a tiny blemish on the corner of each speaker, thus the lower price. These babies are normally $5k new in Rosewood Finish.

These speakers are simply amazing. I truly feel that for the price you cannot buy a better speaker. Of course that is rather opinion based, but I've spent a lot of time with speakers from many manufacturers in a high end audio store at which I used to work, and I snatched the Beethovens with no desire to ever look back.

The first thing that strikes one is the absolute physical beauty of these speakers. I recommend the Rosewood finish to anyone considering these speakers. They are just so damn sexy. It's definitely worth the extra $$ for Rosewood every time you look at them.

Sonicaly their best attribute is an overall warmth of tone, especially with acoustic instruments. Vocals are clear and present, especially when the recording puts the voice in the middle of the soundstage. Guitars have a real tangiblility unmatched from lesser speakers, and imaging is wonderfully expansive and spacious.

Another wonderful feature of the Concert Grand is the bass response. I found myself simply turning off the sub in most cases, for the bass response is deep, accurate and very puncy. Despite the fact that I have a wonderful sub, the Martin Logan Depth, I only use for when I'm listening to large scale orchestral music.

A few musical expamples:

Jeff Buckley-Lilac Wine: This song is a true favorite, and Buckley has one of the best voices ever to grace the recording industry. This song from his album "Grace" has a real ethereal quality, which the speakers brought out really well. His voice was clear, down to every purse and smack of his lips. The bass really comes through well, a gentle yet impactful bass line that comes in about 1/3 of the way through the song. This is one of my favorite recordings.

Heart-Keep Your Love Alive: This is another song well suited to the Beethovens. Mostly acoustic guitar, with a bit of flute and lots of little chimes and other tactile additions. Ann Wilson simply is in the room, and when the song picks up the bass drum has a tremendous impact, yet all the details are still clear and audible above the heavy drums. A great demo song.

Herbert von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic-New Year's Concert 1989:
What would a review of these speakers be without discussing recordings in the hall whose acoustics inspired the designers of these speakers in the first place. There really is a special quality to listening to recordings made in the Musikverein on these Viennese speakers. The Blue Danube Waltz in particular is probably the best put to record, and the whole thing just comes alive on these speakers. The Vienna speakers really have a way with showing the quality of the recording venue and its acoustical properties. With this recording, the speakers literally disappeared, and the whole orchestra was in my living room, centrally located, with instruments sounding like they would on stage.

That''s the best mark of these speakers is that they simply draw you in, allowing you to engage in the music without ever thinking, "this could sound better." For the price range, I think these speakers are very hard to beat, especially for a two channel setup. And for all but the most hardcare of bass heads, you can get away with no sub and be perfectly happy.

Strengths:
Warmth in highs and mids.
Extended and punchy bass response (realistically sub 30 Hz response)
Absolutely beautifully crafted boxes. Rosewood in paricular is amazing.
Pride of ownership

Weaknesses:
Large, if spousal approval is a factor
Price-stil expensive for most people who do not put a high priority on audio equipment.
Very revealing of weaker components. These simply should never be run on your average $1000 surround receiver. Denon's in particular are not very good with these 4 Ohm speakers.

Similar Products Used:
Polk Audio (first pair of speakers), Martin Logan, Sonus Faber.

Nezzar

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
I bought these speakers after listening to them quite a few times in Tweeter. I was initially very impressed at how these speakers made orchetral instruments like flute, violin, horns, or percussion sound very real, almost like the actual concert hall was just on the other side of the speaker grill. I wasn't very impressed with the bass, however. By talking to a nice salesman and reading many of the other reviews, I learned that high quality electronics was the key to getting these speakers. I currently have a Harmon Kardon 3470 100W x 2 Stereo Receiver and wasn't sure that the Beethovens would sound nice with them. So I kept visiting Tweeter and listened to them every couple of days. I must say that these speakers earwash (brainwash) you into wanting them. All my resistance broke down when Tweeter lowered the price from $2600 to 2000, and I decided to take a chance. I brought them home and hooked them up to my Harmon Kardon with a $75 monster cable and $12.50 banana plugs. I popped in a CD of Dvorak's New World Symphony. I was shocked when I heard the first aggressive string passage in the first movement. The bass was very powerful and very accurate. My initial placement of the Beethovens in my room was quite good. I must say that the strength of these speakers is that they can reproduce the sound color of an instrument very accuratly. For example, it is different to listen to a professional violinist on CD than in person. The Beethoven's take you a little closer to actual 'feel' of an instrument. It is the audio equivalent of a digital camera with a very high resolution. I really like the detailed and warm midrange of these speakers. The lower midrange 55-110 Hz is really wonderful, especially with detailed string passages like Vaughan Williams Concerto Grosso for large string orchestra. In this piece there are many different lines that are filled in by the violins, violas, cellos, and the bass violins. The detail and imaging of these speakers is absolutely the best. I can hear every note across the frequency range with a good balance. This speakers really let you hear soft passages of music really well. I like being able to clearly hear when a particular instrument will start or stop playing an accompaning melody in the background to a solo instrument. The bass seams to decrease in strength about 55Hz and lower. I believe that higher quality audio cables and eventually a high end amp (such as Bryston) will improve this somewhat. I also believe that the quality of the CD is responsible for bass. I have a CD of Beethovens 7th Symphony recorded by George Solti and the Chicago Symphony and the bass is extremely deep (some passages go down to 30 Hz) and powerful. It is very natural, too. I love getting a realistic feel of the vibration of a bass violin string when it is bowed. I am delightfully satified with how my HK powers these speakers -- a great value for only $300 -- it seems to match the Beethovens very well. I highly recommend these speakers for people who really like natural instruments. For rock music these speakers my not be so good because many rock recordings are made in a small room, and these speakers will reveal the acoustics of the room as well as the music itself.

Strengths:
-Faithfully reproduces the color of natural instruments - You can hear comlpex orchestral passages in vivid detail (Stravinsky's Petroushka is another great example) - Very good and natural sounding bass, enough to satisfy all but bassaholics, like the ones who like to blow out the windows out of their car.

Weaknesses:
- Price

Similar Products Used:
Have listened to B&W DM603, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber Grand Piano (also very good), Infinity IL10

Les K

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
I just got a pair of demo units at Tweeter as they were closing out the line. I took a chance on these since there is a 30 day return policy, the price was right, but they really didn't sound very good using a Yamaha Z9 receiver. I must say that when I hooked them up to my electronics (Krell preamp, Musical Fidelity amp, Sony 555ES SACD player), They sounded MUCH better and I think I'll keep them. To me, their magic is in the midrange. There is much more detail to be heard than with my previous Paradigm References. The Scanspeak D29 tweeter is smooth and won't disappoint. Overall, the speaker is very balanced and enjoyable. Good electronics seem mandatory. Vocals are especially sweet. The slim and well constructed cabinet contributes to a wide and detailed soundstage. My placement is less than ideal and closer to the back wall than they should be so the bass is maybe a little stronger than it should be, but it still has enough slam and extension to satisfy. Let's put it this way: One of my main objectives in upgrading was to eliminate the need for my subwoofers in the music chain. With these speakers, that has been accomplished and now my subs are tucked away in the two back corners and are turned on for movies only. In my view, these are truly high end sounding speakers. One other thing: removing the front grills during listening is much, much better and the grills should be considered just a dust cover.

Strengths:
Santos Palisander Rosewood is wonderful looking. Excellent midrange.

Weaknesses:
Electronic and placement sensitive.

kenneth

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $3400.00 from tweeter

Summary:
I have owned these Beethovens for over a year now. I purchaced the smaller vienna bachs and have slowly upgraded through the mozarts to the beethovens and have yet to be disappointed in there sound. Smooth and slightly to the warm side of neutral,dynamic,and good bass down into the mid 30s. The bass isn't that much lower than the bach or mozart speakers,but its far more accurate and has very low port noise. I did consider other brands also and auditioned b&w804's,martin login's, sonus faber's,linn's. They all had there strengths and own unique sound,but I really enjoyed the laid back caracter of the beethoven. Also, all of vienna acoustics speakers are wonderfully made but particular attention seems to have been paid to the more expensive ones{makes sence}with nearly perfect woodworking. The wood venier on the right speaker is even a mirror image of the left one. This speaker is expensive,but no more so than any other and you get what you pay for.

Strengths:
excellent imaging, deep soundstage, detailed but smooth sound

Weaknesses:
sound might be to smooth for some

Similar Products Used:
B&k amp, marantz8260sacd, monster 2.2cable

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Let me start by saying these are some beautiful speakers.But I think they are way over priced.For half the price those new v3 Paradigms 100s will walk all over them.Midrange is great with these speakers and the highs are non fatiguing.They may be a little too rolled off for some.I do love soft dome as long as it doesn't wash the highs.Very refined speaker when used with high quality gear.Used with anything less and things can get ugly! The Martin Logans Aleons for 1k less will make you put these to bed.Absolutely no contest!At the price these retail for there are some other choices!

Strengths:
Will tame some harsh CDs,Bass is pretty good,great midrange Beautiful to look at!

Weaknesses:
Overly priced

Similar Products Used:
Soliloquy,Sonus Faber,Paradigm,MLS,Maggies,Equations,Meadowlarks,Deftecs,(PSB really sucks)