Vienna Acoustics Liszt - Fad or Future?


I just read a review on the Vienna Acoustics Imperial Liszt. The reviewer like them (don't they always), but I don't know about the movable head unit. It could be the future of speakers, or just a fad. Speaker purists are likely to say it's just a marketing gimmick.

At $15k list, they are not cheap. I have a pair of VA Beethoven Grands and like them - a lot. But I don't know about the Liszts, it could be the next Edsel.

Thoughts?
ben77059

Showing 2 responses by twoleftears

I think the swiveling head is really just a matter of convenience. You can place those heavy bass boxes firing directly forward, spike them in good, and then concentrate on dialing in the midrange and tweeter.

I've heard the Baby Grand and Concert Grand in one set-up, and the Baby Grand and Liszt in another. The Liszts, driven by Ayre AX5, blew me away. To me, there was a strong family resemblance with the Baby Grands. In the other set-up, the Concert Grands had more bass than the Babys, but not as much as I was expecting for the increase in number, size and enclosure of the bass drivers, and the speaker overall was voiced a little bit more to the revealing. My personal preference was for the Babys, which put the music together, whereas the Concerts were teasing it apart. The Liszts to me were like a really grown-up version of the Babys, which is to say really exceptionally good all round.
There are three drivers in the bass unit. I think VA is referring to the topmost one of them. The larger driver in the head unit is a true midrange.