Vienna Acoustics or Proac

I almost bought a pair of the ProAc Studio 140's - they are great, and would get my vote between those two choices.

I own the Baby Grands but have admired Proac for years, so it's easy to understand your indecision. I don't think that you could go far wrong with either, but I, obviously, chose the VAs. They work very well in my roughly 16x36 room. Do have your dealer do the Sumiko Master Set to ideally position them.

Your electronics will be fine, but either speaker will benefit when you upgrade. Placement is important for both brands, but with VA you get the benefit of the dealer knowing the Master Set methodology.

Dave

I have heard great things about the Proac speakers, but I loved my Mahlers! I had the Beethovens, but ended upgrading to the Mahlers about a year ago. I am driving them with the Mcintosh MC-501 mono amps and it is amazing! I started out small with my Beethovens and then slowly upgraded along the Mcintosh product line. I purchased the Mahlers from a dealer and they were shipped perfectly to me in a very large braced and padded crate that was affixed to a pallet. I got a smoking deal on the speakers and strongly suggest that you give them a listen,

As noted above they are very sensitive to proper placement, and they need a good amp to drive them right!

Michael

Hi Ducchau, not knowing your environment, nor your personal preference in sound, it's a little difficult to tell if any forwardness/tippiness are caused by the speakers, by electronics, by wiring, or by placement. The good news is that there exist a Do It Yourself speaker placement process, which is being discussed at:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1197744079&openfrom&24&4#24

Guidocorona, I just stumbled on your post and your point really made sense. For one, I also own Proac R3 and it does not have the shortcoming that you said about bass hump. But it does have the quality of mid and mid-treble being too forward. Is it something that I do wrong in the speaker setup ( 2 feet - back wall, 1 feet - sidewalls) or is this just a feature of all Proac speakers.

Let your ears decide by getting the dealer of each to let you audition in your home with 100% refund via your payment method. Doing it any other way is risky for the money you have to spend. I am a fan of ProAc's, but have been impressed by VA products also. It is all in the 'home' hearing.

Have you considered Revel Concerta F12? (Better value IMHO given what you are looking for)

I just heard a pair of Proac D38's, $9K (big brother of the D28) with a small Primare integrated amp and CD player( under $5K for both). I have not heard Proac speakers in years but I was shocked at how good they sounded together. I could happily live with them. As a former owner of a MF TriVista 300 amplifier I believe that the Proac's would work well with the MF amp. With that being said, I suggest you try hearing them together. Perhaps your dealer will let you set your amp up in his shop, or better yet, let you try the Proac's in your room.

Good Luck

Jozatko71, your room is likely big enough to use Vienna Strauss or Mahlers, but definitely at least the Beethoven
Grands. You may want to try placement along one of the long walls to maximize staging. Vienna are fantastic musical instruments that need very methodical placement. If not placed correctly they can generate a significant hump in the mid bass and/or sound forward in the mid and mid treble. The US importer Sumiko has developed over the last 2 decades a setup methodology called MasterSet. The process is taught to all Sumiko dealers that are interested in learning it. One of the most ardent proponents of the methodology is Soundings HiFi of Denver (Co), who sells the process as a service to its customers. I am familiar with Mahlers, Beethoven Grands, and Baby Grands, and own a pair of Mahlers. . . I am mostly a listener of Classical and some female vocalists. . . Vienna speakers are heavenly.
Looking at the MF A5 specs, it looks like this amp has a moderate damping factor of 170, this will probably yield a slightly warm sound on Vienna speakers.