I''ve had these works of art for almost a year now, and can affirm the praise bestowed upon them (warmth, transparency, beautiful mids & highs) so I cannot really add anything else. However, I would like to address those "audio enthusiasts" who have griped about the lack of booming bass.. have they forgotten that these are bookshelves? Its like complaining about the lack of off road abilities exhibited by a porche 911. Anyways, as far as bookshelves go, I believe these to be among the best, unless you get into the stratospheric price ranges...

I''ve had these works of art for almost a year now, and can affirm the praise bestowed upon them (warmth, transparency, beautiful mids & highs) so I cannot really add anything else. However, I would like to address those "audio enthusiasts" who have griped about the lack of booming bass.. have they forgotten that these are bookshelves? Its like complaining about the lack of off road abilities exhibited by a porche 911. Anyways, as far as bookshelves go, I believe these to be among the best, unless you get into the stratospheric price ranges...

Excellent quality of sound. Compact size and build quality.

None for the bookshelf speakers.

The sound is very open and warm with very smooth high and midrange. Excellent imaging and wide soundstage. Unbelievable vocals. Bass is tight and has acceptable depth (but not deep enough as compared to floorstanders, but hey, This is a compact bookshelf speaker!) I have gone through many bookshelf speakers for the last ten years including Boston Acoustics, B&W, Bose, Sonus Faber, etc... Nothing satisfied me. One day I went to tweeter and listened to Vienna Acoustics Haydn and it didn''t take long to decided what I wanted. I have luckily found an used Haydn on the web (and it was a signiture model) and I am just one very pleased and happy guy since. Closest sound would be Sonus Faber speakers but still I prefer Haydn much more. Speaker stands are a must to boost the sound much better. IMHO, though it is a bookshelf speaker, it can easily compete with most of $1000-3000 floorstanders. Not to mention this is one of the top bookshelf speakers. My equipments are: Jolida SJ-302B tube int. amp Cambridge Audio D500SE CD player Bettercables.com interconnects Analysis Plus Oval tweleve speaker cables Vienna Acoustics Haydn speakers

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM601S2,DM602S2, Sonus Faber Concertino, Concerto, Thiel PCS, etc.

Warm midrange, good clarity, compact size, good value, beautiful woodwork.

dominated by the center speaker, the Vienna Acoustics Theatro in home theater setup.

I have been out of audio for years. Boy do things change. These are the best bookshelf-sized speakers I've ever heard. While technology has bypassed mass marketers like Bose, some people have been working hard. I heard a pair of Haydns auditioned on B&K Reference amp and I thought that someone had hooked up a pair of larger floorstanding models with a low-range woofer. On virtually all types of music, instrumental clarity was excellent, even with the heavy layers of orchestral pieces. Voice came through warm and full, no harsh tones. Though the Sonus Fabers were equally clear, there was the nagging brassiness to voice, as if someone was too close to a unidirectional microphone. Bass was sufficient for quiet sounds, although I had to buy it with the Theatro center channel speaker from Vienna. Unfortunately, the Theatro was so dominating (hey most of the signal goes through it) that I could not discern the voice of the Haydns. On stereo, in a short, carpeted room, the Haydns stage acceptably, but probably would sound better in a larger room. Overall, I am very pleased and will not need another set of main speakers until I become unacceptably wealthy yeah right.

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Concertinos

very musical, bass response is excellent for a small speaker, solidly built, very transparent

None so far...

I practically change speakers every month as none really satisfies me.

Up until early this year, a friend, introduced me to his speakers called Haydn. A few cuts of CD's told me that this has been the speaker I've been longing for.

Next day, I called Sumiko & asked for the nearby dealer. It was history then...

This is a speaker that I can live with. Its very transparent, bass is sufficient, and the imaging is excellent. I never get tired of hearing it, much more, looking @ it. The rosewood finish is super!

Currently using, old Electrocompaniet EC2 integrated, Meridien 508.20 CD player, Silver Audio Hyacinths Interconnect, Goertz Mi2 veracity (Analysis Plus Ovals 9 are worth looking into). Good solid stands by Target R4.

Couldn't be happier!

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Concerto, Concertino, KEF, B&W 601, 602

Meets/exceeds size requirements, music requirements (not easy given diversity) as well as Home Theater requirements.

sub 80 response (not a complaint though).

First thing to address, room size IS important. The effective space I'm currently using them in is 12'x14' (roughly). These speakers will bring out the fullness of a well engineered recording and will do little for a poorly engineered recording. I'm not sure how big a room these would effectively work in, but I wouldn't recommend much larger.

Recordings I really enjoy: Aaron Neville "Warm your heart", Eric Clapton "Unplugged", Santana, various titles. There are many others, but these stand out as particular favorites.

With the Aaron Neville recording the harmony and "presence" in the music is incredible. There is depth, it's spacious, and the pairing up with his siblings is just amazing. Very enjoyable, but even more so on these Haydens.

Listening to Clapton is just pure joy. One mistake I've found in many "live" recordings is the "masking" of ambient sounds. I've been to live concerts and it's those ambient sounds that *make* a live performance. You can hear the feet on the stage keeping rhythm, you hear the "slide" of fingers across guitar strings, all the music, background sounds and other ambient sounds are present, but never truly distracting. I can't say enough about this recording.

Santana, truly one of my favorite bands. One of the few artists who has assembled pasionate music. But what truly is *fun* is the use of imaging. Sounds that seamlessly pass from left to right or right to left. The engineers that worked with Santana engineered music that up until now I could only enjoy using quality headphones.

As a *Main* speaker for my Home Theater, truly a joy. Yes these speaker do benefit from a sub-woofer, and that is satisfied by a KLH 10" (which I will review in more detail in a separate posting). Again the *spaciousness* these speakers present is phenominal. Working well with classics, special effects loaded pictures, demanding pieces like Jurassic Park, etc. Watching classics on DVD was a new experience. Not being old enough to have seen many of these movies in the theater, watching and listening to them on a home theater system brought new dimension to the experience. I expected no less visually, but what grabbed me by the seat of the pants was the sound. Many of these movies had really good sound tracks, even though many were Mono! Again, ambient sounds I could now hear I never heard before, true the Haydens don't deserve all the credit here, but certainly they helped.

Any regrets? YES! I truly wish engineers had done a better job with other recordings so that I could further enjoy these wonderful speakers.

Do you need exotic equipment? I don't think so. I'm using a Yamaha 795 Surround Receiver and am very pleased with the quality I'm getting. There will always be something better, but rather than waist precious time searching, experimenting, and chasing the *next best thing*, I've been sitting back and enjoying my music and enjoying life.

Technical note: while I can't speak for *earlier* versions of these speaker, mine *do* accept banana plugs. Rather than repeat everything else, these are every bit as good a quality as has been documented. Wonderful piece of fabrication, excellent craftsmanship.

Awesome speakers, I'm enjoying recordings in a way I never truly thought I would or could. A true pleasure.

Similar Products Used:

Many, including home built.

Solid build, transparency, soundstage, beautiful mids & highs, warmth-not a bit fatiguing, value.

Still looking...

I've recently listened to several models in the Vienna Acoustics line and must say that they are a top quality company. I decided to go with the haydens due to space limitations, and they are in a whole new category of fidelity compared to my old nht 2.5i's. This speaker's strenght is definitely in its mids and highs, with transparency and imaging better than some speakers that cost twice as much (and are 5x as big).

The Hayden's also seem fairly forgiving in positioning, as my office hardly provides the optimal environment. But they still sound great!

Would definitely recomend Haydens to anyone looking for high quality bookshelves.

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Concertino..

I tried these in my home for 3 weeks in a smaller room. I ended up getting the Vienna Bach's, but I owe these speakers a review. They sound VERY smooth and sweet. They are small but powerful with surprising tight bass for the small driver/cabinet of the speaker. I wouldn't get these if you are into heavy rock or rap, but otherwise you'll love them. Build quality is excellent as well.
I ended up going with the Bach's for the extra boost in the low bass and because i had crappy speaker stands.
Without rambling on, if you want small speaker with large sound that you can listen to for hours and hours without fatigue, give these a try.

The greatest speakers for a hometheater.

Lacking some of the bass tower speakers have.

Currently, I use 2 Haydn as my main front left & right in a 5.1 sound system. They perform perfectly in this formation. 2 Waltz make up my rear channels, and 1 Maestro for my center. All are in the gorgeous rosewood finish. All sound fantastic for my material. I play alot of video games, DVD movies, watch alot of digital cable, and occasionally play a music CD or DVD concert.

My Hometheater in the Den:
Mitsubishi 46" High Definition TV
Denon 2802 Reciever
Pioneer Digital Cable Box
Microsoft X-Box
Sony Playstation 2
Nintendo Gamecube
Panamax 1500 line conditioner
2 Haydn for the front
1 Maestro for center
2 Waltz for wall mounted rear
1 Boston Accoustic CR400 Subwoofer

I have 2 more Haydn in my living room
in a 2 channel sterio system, but they
seem to lack the bass needed for such a
set up. I will replace them with Mozarts.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Accoustics, B&W, ect.

sound

none

was out with a friend of mine to get some speakers and listened very long before taking a decision, which one to buy.
and it was a very good choice for a smaller romm (4x4m), every time i visit him, im impressed by the focus and the details and the bass, coming out from such a small cabinett, enough for a room this size.
my own equipment was far more expensive, maybe its the small distance to the listener, but its simply wonderful to listen every kind of music.
oh, i almost forgot: i mean the SE version, but even in the "normal" version, the SE version of the concertinos had no chance, a shame, because i like their looks...........

Similar Products Used:

sonus faber concertino