Any experience w/ Vienna Mahler ?

I am Thinking about upgrading speakers. I have auditioned the Mahler in a not so decent setup at the dealer with Rel Sub. I would like some advice from a Mahler owner - whether a Sub is really needed. I will be listening mostly to music (85% of the time) and watch movie 20%.

Just a follow-up to my questioning the bass on the Mahlers. I went back to the dealer for a second audition and as I suspected, they inadvertantly had a sub-woofer hooked up in the room and it was + 6db for home theatre. Once we got the sub out of the equation the bass was integrated with the music. I wound up buying the pair.

Before I was in the business, I helped a friend get a pair of Beethovens. They are excellent! The other speaker that I can highly recommend is one we carry Reference 3A mm De Capos. You can read my review at www.audiotweakers.com

I have had a pair of Mahlers for about a year. I do not experience any issues with the bass response. I have the fronts about 3 1/2ft out from the back wall and 5 ft from the closest side wall. These speakers do require more room than others but if you set them up properly they do sound incredible.

The Mahler's are a great, a friend of mine has them and fortunately his room is quite large and the Mahler's do their disappearing act. I own the Beethovens and I absolutely love the way they make music as opposed to just sounds. You may be interested in their new speaker the Strauss which is supposed to be a baby Mahler priced around $6500. I just learned about it in the April edition of Stereophile (their CES report)

Thanks to all who responded. If you can tell, I really liked the way this speaker sounded. One of the only ones where I quit listening to the equipment and listened to the music for the sheer enjoyment of it. I think its worth another trip to the dealer to see if we can tighten up the bass. Anyway, thanks for the responses.

JohnAK

I liked them enough that I just purchased a pair, they should arrive in a week or so. When I auditioned them I was very satisfied with the base performance. They had the best set of trade off's and real world compromises IMHO of all the speakers I had listened to. Actual experience always differs when you get your own components hooked up and the room acoustics kick in as well, but at this price point there are few speakers that are dogs.

Have you listened to the Beethovens? I own a pair of the Beethovens, and I prefer them over the Mahlers. The Mahlers have more bass and go deeper, but the Beethovens seemed tighter and quicker to me. The Mahlers seemed just a tad slow in the lower frequencies. That being said, they are still d@mn fine speakers, and setup and room placement has a lot to do with it.

John

When set up correctly, I have found the imaging, soundstage depth & width, to be up there with the best.It is important to use a high quality, powerful Amp so as to better control the Woofers. I listen to the Mahlers in the nearfield and am very satisfied. They are the most musical speakers, in their pice range, that I have had the pleasure of hearing.

The side firing woofers on the Mahler can be setup on the inside, facing each other, or on the outside facing the walls. This depends much on the room and equipment being used (from experience, not Vienna's literature), and will greatly vary the output and quality of the bass. While it is a somewhat difficult speaker to setup, it does have the sweetness and musicality characteristic of the Vienna lineup.