Axiom M80 VS Vienna Acoustic Beethoven on CJ 11A

Thanks Boyhowdy and Mezzrow.

I'm not looking for lush sound in particular. That is why I kind of hesitate to make my purchase decision. My room size is about 20(W) x 15(D) x 12(H) and I place the speakers along the longer wall.

I used to have a pair of VA Bach and I love the smooth vocal. However I found the dynamic is not even close to my Axiom (understandable due to their sizes) and soundstage is somewhat smaller. Is Beethoven much better than Bach or are they completely different animals?

PS. It is a good sign to see that many Beethoven owners are very happy.

Thanks,
Andy

Hi Jdodmead,

It's good to hear that beethoven driven by a tube amp can also produce a good result!

Did you compare the newer Beethoven grand and the old one? Would you mind telling me roughly how much you paid for it? You may drop me a private message if you do not want to publicize it. =)

Andy

Hi Matt,

I think the Bach's lack of dynamic was because of the small cabinets and there is only one 7 inches woofer. Technically Bach is 6ohm 91db and it should not demand more power than my Axiom 4ohm 91db...

I'm not stucked with CJ but I sort of dislike high power amplifiers. My CJ outputs 75w per channel which should be more than sufficient for any reasonably high efficiency speakers (>90db maybe.)

Another concern is that VA does not seem to be a very popular brand (correct me if i'm wrong =). Reselling it (if it does not match well with my other stuffs) can be a headache.

I saw a pair of demo from local dealer but I'm tempted by the rosewood one in the classified listing. I don't think it's likely that I can get in home audition.

Cheers,
Andy

I went to a local dealer and audition both new Beethoven Grand and the older model yesterday.

I actually prefer to older Beethoven because it is more laid back and they play classical music better to my ears. I found that they sound equally smooth and refined, but Beethoven grand sounds more forward and there is more immediacy.

On top of that, my local dealer is clearing out an pair of older Beethoven demo at almost half the price of Beethoven Grand. And it's the awesome rosewood finish.

After listening for about an hour with different CDs, I was completely convinced and decided to buy. I had auditioned JMLab (Mini Utopia), ProAc, B&W (80x amd 70x), Dynaudio (Contour and C4), and Sonus Faber (Cremona & Grand Piano) before. They do not belong to the same price range but almost all of them are more expensive than Beethoven (old model). Yet I found Beethoven outperforms (sonically) most of them to my personal taste.

I will post update later how they mate with my CJ power amp.

PS: Maxxc, I did not jump on a $5000 pair of speaker. =) It's actually less than half of it.

It seems like many people here got a lot of affection to VA Beethoven. =)

My Beeothvens finally arrived my doorway yesterday! The Rosewood finish really looks fantastic! There is a small scratch in the bottom of one speaker but considering the money I paid, I cannot complain. =}

VA Beethovens in fact sound very good on my CJ 11a. Compared to Axiom, they got so much more details, more transparent treble and midrange, not as bright and less annoying sibilant sound. Soundstage is substantially wider and deeper.

I do not find any dynamic problem with VA Beethoven at all. I think their dynamic is way better than VA Bach and I'm very satisfied with them.

Bass is good in general but the lower bass is not as punchy and low as Axiom. I think it's less controlled as well. This is probably due to limitation of my 75w amp, but I'm going to do more experiment on different placement and cables.

Hi Maxx,

I replaced Axiom M80... Similar size and spec in fact, quite different sound however.

I'm currently running a pair of zu wax to my beethovens. I also have a pair of transparent cable music wave super lying around that I would like to try some time soon.

Hmm.. I have heard some good things about anticable. For $10/ft pair it's quite tempting. I will probably order a pair. If they beat both zu and transparent, I may in fact make some money by selling them off. =D

Thanks Boyhowdy.