Vimberg Speakers

Smodactal, did you test the speakers side by side on the same system or in two different systems?

What we said was the Vimberg Tonda D setup at Axpona was magnificent and other setups of the Tidals were not more magical considering the humongous price differential between the two product lines, 

That is not to say that the Tidals aren't a more refined product but you are paying a gigantic premium for that additional level of refinement. 

The reason Vimberg exists is to offer a tremendous amount of the same sound quality for a fraction of the price, so of course the Tidal line will be even better but in order to do so you have to go to those extremes which drive the price up dramatically.

In our opinion you can get the same results by using a Critical Mass Maximum or Olympos rack with the Vimbergs, vs a lower quality rack setup on the Tidals.

The Critical Mass racks are one of the most remarkable performance improvements you can make in elevating a system. So yes we would do a really well implemented Vimberg setup vs a non maximized Tidal setup and still come away with magnificent sound for less.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Vimberg and Critical Mass dealers

Steph here is our take on your questions. We are going to be a Vimberg dealer, and have a pair of Amea's on order. 

We have 30 years of experience with high performance loudspeakers.

Our decision to pursue Vimberg came about after hearing the Tondas at Axpona.  At Axpona we heard every major expensive loudspeakers at the show, which included many of the Magicos, the Wilson DAW,

We have the KEF Blades, and the Paradigm Personas and the Legacy Aeris on the floor, each one of these excellent loudspeakers have a strength and particular set of attributes. 

Previously we have had  Kharmas at our shop and the Polymer Research MKX-S on display which is a speaker with both the Acuton Diamond tweeter and Diamond midrange drivers, in a very inert all metal enclosure with custom bass drivers. 

So we have heard and played with a ton of great loudspeakers. 

The Vimbergs were spectacular at Axpona, the speakers were one of the most amazing demos at the show, they were tonally pure, had a huge sound stage, had excellent bass response and just sounded like music they were the best sounding set of speakers at the show for less money than  the other reference grade loudspeakers.

The Mino is designed for a good sized room but will not sound as big or offer as much deep bass as the larger Tonda.

As per the Ceramic vs the Diamond tweeter, the Ceramic is much smoother than earlier generations of this tweeter it just lacks the greater sweat-ness  and clarity of the Diamond.

Jeff went with the Ceramic as it is the better value, you can also start with the Ceramic tweeter and later switch to the Diamond. 

We would look at the Lumin X1 as one of the best streamer dacs along with the T+A electronics which are very sweet sounding with superb extension. The T+A gear is absolutely world class, superbly musical, beautifully styled, up-gradable, and priced less than the competition.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 

Spinaker we agree with you which is why we are going with the Vimbergs.

The reality is that Vimberg is offering about 90% of the sound of the Tidals for about 1/2 the price. 

The idea of Vimberg was to carefully make some cost cutting changes that would allow for easier and faster build while retaining much of the same sound quality.

At Cap and Axpona we have heard both the Vimbergs and Tidals, the Vimberg setup at Axpona in our mind sounded better than  the Tidal setups that werre shown previoulsly.

One difference was the room in the Vimberg Axpona demo the speakers were in a very large room and pulled far into the room, while the Tidal demos were in smaller room much closer to the rear wall, also in some yearrs the setups were Bricasti amps and digital vs the Tidal electronics which we think are more musical. 

Larry5729 in what way are the tweeter and and midrange drivers any less "beautiful than anything else."

Step we have never been fans of the Constellation gear, many people in the industry think Consetellation gear is okay but hardly amazing. 

The Lumin X1 is exceptional and can go directly into a power amplifier. 

The T+A PA 3100 integrated has more than enough omph to drive almost any speaker to very loud levels, it is 300 watts into an 8 ohm load and 500 watts into a 4 ohm load.

The tonality of the T+A gear is neutral with a slightly warm midrange, and a big full bass sound, we have yet to find a set of loudspeakers which it fails to sound fantastic with.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Azjake hello. Yes the Vimberg speakers are very close to the Tidals, we have heard both extensively at Axpona, at Axpona 2019 the setup of the Tonda D was absolutely superb. 

In fact we signed on to be Vimberg dealers because of this demo.

The Tonda D filled up a giant room roughly 60 by 30. The bass was deep tight and controlled. The image was large and very well defined. 

The speakers had excellent air and overall clarity. The Tonda D or any Vimberg model especially with the Diamond upgrade will come quite close to the Tidals. 

The entire idea of launching Vimberg was to bring down the cost of owning a Tidal product to a much more reachable level, this was done by carefully making alterations to the cabinet material, bracing, finishing, and a few other areas, and of course using the standard version of the Accuton drivers vs the much more costly custom black versions made exclusively for Tidal.

The Tidal line is a more refined and the speakers with the Diamond midrange will sound even clearer and sweeter.

Based on our demos with a full Tidal system that was on display at Axpona vs the Vimberg display unless you put the speakers side by side you would be hard pressed to hear a major difference.

The areas are extended air, greater sweetness and musicality and overall greater refinement, in the Tidal line and you will have to pay a lot more money to get the subtitle but worthwhile improvements.

The reality is that Vimberg makes Tidal's house sound a much more attainable entity and enables the brand to effectively compete with Wilson, Focal, and many others while retaining the core principles of the brand. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Vimberg dealers