The *OFFICIAL* Vienna Acoustics Owners Thread - Page 67

Thanks for the info. So if my setup would require me to place it on top of a Pioneer Elite projection TV about 2-2.5 feet from the wall would it therefore be a bad idea to try to use the Waltz? Thanks.

It will work fine, just don't expect to have any bass or slam. Cross it over at about 80Hz.

Thanks very much. You have been very helpful. Just one more question to throw into the decision mix. Understanding that the Maestro is the best option as a center for the Mozarts if I were trying to decide between the Waltz (with the set-up I mentioned previously) and the Theatro which would be the best choice for the best match and sound quality with the Mozarts?

I don't like to spend any kind of serious money on cabling to be honest, I just don't see the benefits (but thats a debate for a totally different thread...lol). That being said I like:
- Audioquest if you are looking for a premium cable without spending to much.
-Another option I like is the internet direct company Calabrine. They make some nice cabling http://www.calabrine.com/products/qu...e-single-cable
-MAC (My Audio Cables) http://www.myaudiocables.com/
-Emotiva http://emotiva.com/xcables.shtm
-Monoprice for a very cheap option
-BJC for another cheap option
-OR make your own if you want them to look fancy

I am in a similar situation
I usually just pay more attention the gauge than anything else
I try to be consistent with 12 gauge in my main HT area
I typically use 14 gauge everywhere else

But I am also the guy who has bought the cheap HDMI cables in the past and never had any issues....even with a 3D capable display most recently


perhaps I don't know what I am missing?


Warren

I'm about to pull the trigger on purchasing an old used theatro, with the rear facing ports (the newer more common version has front facing ports). The only info I could find on the old version is this:

http://www.viennaacoustics.at/suppor...Center_old.pdf

which seems generally favorable. Does anyone happen to know of any problems to be aware of with the old version, or know what changes were made besides the port location?

Just picked up a sensational pair of Bach Grands (and Theatro Grand center) brand new for a great price.

Any Bach Grand owners here? Read about filling the Grands with sand, but realized that it's only the older Bach speakers that have that option. After looking at the bottom however, I am now wondering what those screws on the bottom middle of each speaker are.....

anyone?

Congrats . Those screws are for the spikes

The ones in the middle?

You're missing out on that extra flat wallet! I've found you can find well constructed cables, even with gold plated connectors, for very reasonable prices if you look a little. Monoprice is my favorite if I can get a few at a time to make the shipping worth it. Just make sure it's inexpensive, not cheap! The only HDMI cable I've had a problem with was one that came with a component and sat in the box for over a year before I got around to trying to use it. I went for the extra cheap option for my current VA speaker cables and soldered the banana plugs on myself.

Hi,

I recently bought a pair of Mozart Grands to test for music and HT. I would not call myself an audiofile. I'm simply a guy trying to get the most bang for the buck in getting the best speakers I can get with a limited budget to get the best combination between quality HT and music. The Mozarts seemed to get really good reviews so I thought I'd give them a shot since they were deeply discounted at Best Buy and fell within my budget parameters when they would have been out of my range otherwise (I was previously leaning towards the PSB Image T6s).I also bought a pair of Waltz Grands. I am using a Waltz as my center for now and plan to eventually add a Maestro at which point I would move the Waltz speakers to be my surrounds. I have two questions that I would appreciate advice or thoughts on.

1. My receiver is a Denon 4310ci. It's pretty new so I'm not planning on upgrading or adding a second amp anytime soon. I have read some comments about Denons running hot driving these speakers as they are rated at 4 ohms. My Denon seems to drive the Mozarts and the Waltz center OK but my question is when I go to my real goal of the Mozarts, Maestro and Waltz surrounds will I encounter problems running the five 4 ohm speakers with the 4310ci? I doubt I would be playing at volumes above -4db. Any thoughts would be helpful.

2. I have read a number of things that say the placement and setup of the Mozarts can be tricky. I have followed the manual's advice of moving the speakers in small increments around the general placement area that I have to work with. While perhaps the sound might seem slightly fuller at certain positions I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for to assess when they are "right". I see people comment things like "the speakers disappear in the soundfield" or "the soundfield opened up" and I would get the impression there was a significant difference they experienced with the proper placement. I'm not sure I'm hearing that kind of difference. My old speakers were Sapphire ST2 MKII towers. When I initially set up the Mozarts side by side with the Sapphires to hear the difference by switching back and forth I didn't hear that much of a difference in the sound quality of the speakers. Before I conclude (possibly wrongly) that the VAs don't give me that much of a change I want to make sure I am getting the most out of them and have them set up properly. Any thoughts on how ti assess this better would be appreciated.

Sorry for the long post but I hope the detail will allow people to respond more helpfully. Thanks.

like the posted directly above me, I have a pair of VA's that I would like some tips on configuring. I can move them inch by inch and say I can hear a difference, but honestly suspect I can't. I'd like a primer or starting position or guideline for room placement. I have searched this thread, but admit to not reading all 67 pages.

(have the discontinued strauss's as fronts with a Maestro center)
I currently have a Denon 5600 which has served me very well although I know some have said Denon AVR's and Viennas are not a good combination.
Considering upgrading to a used 5803 to get dts from my blueray.

Thanks. Never heard of calabrine.

Here were some tips posted by Dave Carr from awhile in this thread. They are some basic tips, but try them out cause they can help your placement out a lot.


"Four Rules:

1. Spread the speakers at least 9-10 feet apart, but up to 12-13 feet. Distance apart should form an equilateral triangle with the listening position.

2. Pull them out from the wall equally about 20-24", or more if space allows. This generally means just ahead of your AV rack. Alternately, you can place them about 2-4" out. The area in between these two points is unusable. The outer position will sound better so is recommended if you can. Using a music track with a centralized vocal and bassist, and move the left or right speakers to achieve a center image. If the vocal/bass are on the left, pull out the right speaker to adjust. If the image is on the right, push back the right speaker to adjust. These movements are typically small.

3. Toe the speakers in toward the listener, so that a line drawn out from each of the two speakers intersects about 1 to 1 1/2 ft behind the listening seat.

4. Level the speakers so that they are not wobbling, using the spikes to adjust. A bubble level can be used to make the speakers plumb.

Additionally, most Viennas will sound better if they are raked back slightly using the front spikes. This is usually not more than a full turn or two.

THIS NOT A MASTERS SETUP"

Thanks. That's very helpful regarding placement info.

Hey guys, just wanted to introduce myself. I just got my first set of Vienna Bach Grand towers, in Cherry and I am in love! I work at Best Buy with a Magnolia and when i heard them for the first time 2 years ago, i had to have them, so I saved, hardcore. I am currently running just the 2 off an old school Sony 2 channel receiver, but will be upgrading to a Pioneer Elite VSX-32 very shortly. I am slowly learning the ins and outs of high end A/V equipment, and am eager to learn more.

Welcome aboard!

So I picked up a Mcintosh MA6300 integrated to power my Mozart Grands, figuring it would be a huge improvement over the low-middle range Onkyo receiver I was using.

I plugged it all in yesterday and I am not overly impressed. One thing I have noticed is that the sound is noticebly clearer at all volume levels, however seems to be missing something.

Is it possible that the better amplifier has brought out issues with the room setup or my source components? I haven't taken the full time yet to follow recommended setup procedures fully, so pehaps the new amp is bringing out these flaws?

Any thoughts are very much appreciated.

Anyone know where I could get a set of the upgraded spike base assembly for the Bach Grands?

What are you using as a source? From there I can help you narrow down the problem

Hi,

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a reference song or track to use in setting up the VA Mozart Grands? I was told VA actually recommended a particular song but I don't know what it is. Anyone know what song that was or have other suggestions? Thanks.

I think you mean Sumiko, the previous North American distributor of VA. If so, the song is:

Jennifer Warnes & Rob Wasserman-
"Ballad of The Runaway Horse"

Thanks very much.

Thanks for the reply! Sources arent the best. I mainly use three:

1. Macbook Pro, headphone jack connection (I know not ideal)
2. iPod, headphone jack
3. PS3 for CDs

I know I have a lot of work to do in the source department. Any recommendations are appreciated.

What is confusing to me is that there has been no change in sources between the Onkyo and the Mac.

Well thats your problem. You need a high quality transport (whether that be a good external DAC or a nice CDP). Using a headphone jack out will lead to poor sound quality and this becomes especially apparent when using nice speakers, amplifiers, pre-amps etc.

You've got everything you need to reproduce that great sound you are looking for, but you need to feed those speakers a good quality source. Remember the saying "Crap in...then Crap out". Giving your system a low quality source to work with won't magically make it sound better.

What you need to do is find yourself a nice DAC and the good news is there are plenty of options to choose from. This will convert your digital sources to analog and do a better job than the internal ones built into your current sources. If you want to continue to listen from your MBP then you need to get yourself a mini-optical to optical cable that you actually put into the headphone jack on the MBP (look it up if you don't know what i'm talking about) this will allow a digital out to a DAC you choose. If you want to use your iPod for music then you need something like a Wadia iTransport to be able to use the digital signal from the iPod itself out to a DAC.

You also want to make sure all of your music is ripped as a lossless format and not compressed (in your case that would be Apple Lossless and you can change this for future CD rips in iTunes preferences). You may not hear much of a difference with songs ripped at 128kbps on a HTIB system but with the type of gear you have it will be obviously compressed sounding...and that mixed with the headphone jack outputs = crappy sound

For DAC's here are a couple of suggestions to get you started...

-Music Hall 25.3 http://www.musichallaudio.com/detail.php?p=68
-Emotiva XDA-1 http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtm
-HRT USB DAC http://www.amazon.com/HRT-Music-Stre.../dp/B0038O4UFQ
-NuForce uDAC http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconudac/
-NuForce Icon http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhdp/index.php
-Jolida Glass FX http://www.jolida.com/index.php?p=pr...ory=5&model=32
-Cambridge DacMagic http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=320
-Benchmark DAC1 HDR http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac/dac1-hdr
-Musical Fidelity V-DAC http://www.musicalfidelity.com/produ...-DAC/V-DAC.asp

Always a darkhorse. The other darkhorse are anticables by paul speltz (?).

Thank you very much for the response. I will look into all of your recommendations, I guess the good speakers and amp can only go so far without the right sources.

I see a lot of back and forth on this forum about cabling (power, speaker, interconnect, etc.). What are your thoughts on this? worth the money to upgrade?

Thanks!

When dealing with Analog sources cabling can make a small bit of difference but it will never be anything drastic like some people want you to believe. That being said, cabling will not fix your problems. It is 100% your source. Right now it's like you're putting unleaded gas in a race car. While it may run its going to have problems and not be the performance you are looking for on the racetrack. Fix this and you will be hearing sweet tunes in no time.

You're correct. I am using just 1 JL fathom 112. I don't know if one is enough and I have considered opting for 2. But I haven't followed this path because I have been unable to determine whether 2 JLs would make an audible difference to my ear.

I have read the Toole white papers and have been through enough threads on the forums to know that 2 subs is considered better than 1 sub. But before spending the time and money on a 2nd I would need to know that, given my ears, my room and my equipment, etc. that the difference would be: 1) audible, and 2) audible enough to conclude that the 2nd sub was worth the time and money spent. I would need those 2 items answered before adding the 2nd sub and have not had them answered as yet.

So, yes, I've considered adding a 2nd but have not done it.

Hope this helps.

I added Haydn Grand speakers for my rear speakers and am wondering what speaker stands others are using for them. I am upgrading from some inexpensive Klipsch Quintets that are on screw on stands made by Sanus, and have been looking at the Sanus stands for these but they seem to be a little flimsy according to reviewers with heavier bookshelf speakers.

Any recommendations? Thanks!