These speakers are something pretty special. I bought these guys for a couple of months ago, and after over 50 hours of (ab)using, they have began to open up. Now they sound lovely, with a voicereproduction to die for. The bass is not the deepest or heaviest I've heard, but it's very tight and controlled and fast. IMHO, these speakers need to be run with high-end transistor-amps, such as Pass Labs, YBA, Gryphon and Plinius. I've tried them with a Jadis Orchestra, and it didn't sound good. The bass was boomy, yet with a lack in the upper-bass area (thin sound). The soundstage also became small, lacking air and details, though voices and midrange- instruments were wonderful. I've also tested the Vienna's with Golden Tube SE40, and was still not impressed.

Looks

heavy undefined bass, dark and dead sounding

The Mozart's rating of 5/5 on this web page is ridiculous; I
ownwd a pair of Mozarts for a year or more before I traded them in. I therefore cannot agree entirely or perhaps at all with the reviews here. I tried some 30 to 50 amps with these speakers, both tube and transistor, unfortunetly I could not get around the mozarts bass problems. I can only suggest than anyone considering puchasing these speaker should see the full review in stereophile, I thought this review was quite accurate and did give mention to the bass being problematic. However I am going to be even further critcal of them and say I also found them dark sounding, and coloured/monotone.

Similar Products Used:

Praoc 2s, Sonus Faber, Tannoy

imaging, voice reproduction, midrange clarity

low bass extension (but hey, they are small floorstanders)

I auditioned these while on vacation for the holidays in Charlotte, NC, and was very impressed. Highs and mids were very clear and precise, albeit slightly warm. Listener fatigue and brightness were non-existent. Voice reproduction was phenomenal. Bass, although not ultra deep, was very tight and accurate. Imaging was first rate. A must audition for all but larger listening venues (unless paired with a decent sub, like REL). Probably the best value Vienna has to offer.

Powered by Acurus amp/preamp, the sound was very impressive to say the least. The Charlotte dealer (Tom... I can't recall the store name, but I'm certain it would be easy to determine) was very helpful, non-judgemental and worthy of mention/thanks.

Similar Products Used:

Various 2-way speakers (Joseph RM22si, JMlab Cobalt 810, others not worthy of mention)

I purchased these speakers to go with my B&K PT-3 pre-amp and ST-1400 serII amplifier. I used audioquest speaker wire.
The sound is open and true. The bass is a little thin but in my small room it is acceptable and can be manipulated by the pre-amp/amp to give excellent sound reproduction. I have filled the bases with sand as recommended by the manufacturer. The highs are crisp, clear and natural. midrange is excellent. These are excellent speakers and I am very happy with my purchase. I auditioned the new small Martin Logans and the Sonus Faber Grand Piano speakers when I was trying to choose. These had the sound I was looking for.

Deep and wide soundstage

After taking some time to look though the reviews below, I found quite a number of people who have recently purchased a pair of Mozart’s, and I would like to pass along a few words of wisdom I have gathered through my 4 years mine.

I have a Version 1, refer to 3/19/00 review below, and can therefore bi-wire. I have done so with MIT Terminator 2 Bi-Wire to an Audio Research D130. The Mozart’s are a bit on the sweet side and matching them with a good solid-state amp brings them to life. For those of you who have issues with the base, try pulling the Mozart’s off the walls (both back and side). I have found 28” (center of the tweeter) in my room to be just right. More, it gets thin, less and it gets mushy, then boomy. As mentioned in Stereophile’s review you should lean the speakers back to improve imaging and coherence, but not too much. Simply replace the front spikes with ¾” to 1” longer ones. Doing this deepens the sound stage. Fill the speakers with 30-grit sand to make them a more stable in their leaned back position and reduce cabinet resonance. Toe in your speakers so the inside side of the speakers look like they are only 2” wide with the opposite eye (this is because I find the Mozart’s require less toe-in as they get closer together).

Once you have done this, get out Jennifer and start-up track two. Sit back and …

From the first moment, I heard a pair of the Mozart’s I knew I was going to own a pair. Not that I did not continue auditioning other speakers to make sure, but because nothing could replace the magical feeling you get when experience music on the Mozart’s.

Similar Products Used:

Have not needed to audition in years.

beautiful cabinets, outstanding imaging, acutally amazing is a better word and they require only a small area of your living space.

hmmmmmmmm....I'm not a true purist, perhaps the bass is a bit weak, but my Velodyne takes care of that.

These speakers replaced a set of missions, 765i's that for all practical purposes outperformed demo's with snell's etc.
I guess gigantic american made speakers are great if you have a gigantic room, I prefer the European floor standers that let me walk unobstructed to my listening area.
When I decided to upgrade I wandered into the listening room and heard the Bach's, I purchased them but was disappointed with the Mid reproduction, I ran the Bach's for 2 days and returned them for the Mozart's. WOW....
Yea....$2400 bucks versus $1400, but its the best $1000 dollar upgrade I've ever made in Audio.
I'm using them as part of Home Audio/Video set-up with the Hayden's as surround, and the Theatro center, and VA Sub from Velodyne, this along with Semi New Sunfire Cinema Grand
5 Channel Amp, Cinema Theater Processor, and my several year old 2 Channel Sunfire Amp driving the main's, well, lets just say I have my cake and icecream to. And the little women even approves.
If music and movies or movies and music or just one or the other is your interest, the Mozart's won't disappoint. There rock solid, built to last forever, have a small footprint, and create an absolutely beautiful soundstage.
BUY EM, skip the Bach's and shell out the extra 1K, you won't be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

sonar faber concerto's...

attractive

bass, imaging, very boxy sounding, uninvolving, just didn't get me excited in the slightest

These were one of the first speakers I listened to and one of the worst. It just seemed like the sound was coming out of little tiny boxes. These probably were the most boring speakers I listened to, and I listened to a lot in this price range. I'm very surprised that everyone here loves them so much. Haven't you listened to what else is out there? How can these excite you? These questions are rhetorical... knowing some audioreview people I can see them reposting answering these questions, hiding the fact that they're just trying to reraise the rating of these speakers. Anyway, back to the sound... naturally there wasn't much bass, but I don't think you can expect much bass at this price point. If speakers at this price point don't require a sub they probably sound like shit, ala the PSB Stratus Golds. For two grand, you should expect way more than these deliver. While these don't sound as bad as some $300 speakers, from my investigations I do think they're one of the worst sounding speakers for this price, hence my rating. Do your self a favor and check out some Sonus Fabers or Audio Physics.

Associated Equipment:
Krell 300i integrated amp
Denon DCD-1650AR cd player
mid grade Audioquest cable

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Concertos, Concerto Grand Pianos, Avalon Avatar, PSB Stratus Goldi, B&W CDM7SE, Silver Signature, B&W Nautilus 801, 803, 804, 805, Thiel MCS1, Thiel 2.3, complete Martin Logan line, Magnepan 1.6, Magnepan MG3.6R, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven, Joseph Audio RM22si, RM25si, Totem Acoustic Forest, Vandersteen 2Ce Signature, 3A Signature, NHT 2.5i, some $3,500 Linns, Audio Physic Tempo III

Excellent furniture grade cabinetry. Very stylish. Lucious mids and sweet highs. Musical is the word.

Images do not focus well in the speaker plane. They are designed not be phase coherent.

These are one of the speakers I was impressed with in store auditioning, so brought it home of 3 day home auditioning. Listened this system B&K, proceed integrated amp, VTL integrated amp.
These speaker's midrange presentation is something special, rich and lucious. Frank Sinatra's voice was something to listen to from these speakers. Highs are sweet and pleasent. They sound big for their size. Soundstage is deep and wide. Presentation is a little forward and airy. Images along the speaker plane do not seem to focus well, but images deep inside the soundstage do not have the same problem. Have tried several placements. Base has good punch and fun to listen to at the expense of accuracy. Had a feeling of congestion/compression and boxy sound on certain passages. Could not nail it down completely.

I almost bought these speakers, until I spoke to Sumiko, the US distributors to confirm a sales pitch. Sumiko admited speaker's tweeters are wired in inverse phase to the woofer. The explanation I was given was to make them sound big. They complained Stereophile measured the speakers too close, but did not give any details. Few days later and spoke to another Sumiko representative who responded to my post in AA. This person told me the reason of inverse phase wiring is to bring them sonic back into phase after the crossover, and crossover point is beyond the range of vocals at 4kHz.

Recently, I got hold of Stereophile magazine. They measured 83dB sensitivity and 18dB dip at the crossover point of 2.8kHz measure at 50". Sumiko instructs it dealers to tilt the speakers as far as back as possible. According to stereophile, this is the only way to get reasonable mid-treble balance.

After reading the Stereophile, I am glad to have delayed the purchase. Makes to question intentions of Sumiko for all the misinformation they gave me.

Anyone looking for musical speakers and not worried about audiophile jargon, would be satisfied by Mozarts.

Speakers in this price range should not have unacceptable dips like this. I would give them 4 on a 5 scale, and deduct 1 star for the misinformation promoted by Sumiko.

Well made furniture quality, Beatiful soundstage, reproduces music without any added distractions, great highs.

Bass bottoms out in relative short notice, and an immediate responce from the speakers.

This is my second review of these speakers.
In my search for the perfect sound and trying to stay with-in a certain budget I thought the Mozarts had hit home.
I had these speakers for about 9 months, 4-5 of those months my system sat idle for most of the late spring into early fall. Us New Eanglander's have to suck-up what small amounts of nice weather we get.
I decided it was movie and music time and cranked the system back up. My personal music interest vary, from Ac/Dc to Kenny G, and whatever in-between. I place some serious demands on my gear, Playing a Tina Turner tune, Better be good to me, at a moderately high volume, I heard a very dishearting and very loud Thump. To my dismay these speakers had bottomed out, disappointing to me at the least. At 2500 bucks, I thought these speakers should have been able to handle pretty much any demands I might place on them. Of course being the anal perfectionist I am, they are gone, traded in with-in the one year limit my retailer allows, I now own, Sonus Faber Grand Piano's
I believe anyone purchasing the Mozarts should give these speakers a VERY careful listen, and of course purchase them only if your music demands stay with-in the confines of the speakers ability to reproduce music ie, keep the bass at a minimum.
These are a great sounding speaker, regardless of any of the negative reviews found below, but they do have what I feel are serious limitations, and if your music taste and volume levels vary like mine, I would suggest you consider other speakers.
I am doungrading from my previous review, I still believe for the bucks these are decent speakers, but, on the other hand for the buck, they should not have what I feel to be a negative limitation. So 3 stars for value, and 3 overall because speakers at this price need not have any serious negative quality's.

Similar Products Used:

Missions 765i's, Sonus Faber Grand Piano's(WOW)