nightflier
02-14-2007, 09:55 AM
I was standing inside of the Magnolia store yesterday and I was talking with this guy who was building a 5.1 system with a TV. I was trying to convince him that his best bang-for-the-buck was the Vienna Schonberg series, as I have recommended them to many people now. In the end, he wound up spending far more on the TV than he had planned and had no money left to buy the speakers. "I'll just use the TV's speakers for now," he said.
Before he left he asked me what I had, and I told him that I had a fine Axiom system that I was very happy with. He then asked if the Schonbergs would be an upgrade from that and I couldn't help but say yes, although I really had not compared them in my home. Basically it was a best guess. He left but that got me thinking....
Now I've been thinking of on-walls for some time now. My kids are becoming much more rowdy (one of my speakers already was knocked over) and besides, the TV room has pretty much become "their" room anyhow. Hanging the Axioms on the walls would make them stick out too much, especially since they would have to hang pretty low to be at ear level. I've been playing around with a pair of Magnepan MMG-W's for a while now but I really don't like the lack of bass and they sound shrill to my ears, probably because of the missing bottom end. I also auditioned others: Def Tech Mythos (sound small and metallic), a couple of Polk RM types (sound small and lifeless) and even the Yamaha sound bar thing (yeah, forget about rear sound on that one). The only ones I never heard where the Von Schweikert on-walls, and that may be regrettable, but they sure are hard to find, too.
I then did a careful audition of the Martin Logan Frescos & Vignettes, and the Vienna Waltz and Webern, using my own CDs at the store (they actually allowed me to plug & unplug at will, believe it or not). The Martin Logans sounded small and high pitched. While they would be OK in a surround system with a good sub, they really did not deliver in stereo 2-channel sound. To be perfectly honest, the best sounding speaker of the lot was the Waltz, but the Magnolia Sales rep wasn't willing to deal at all on the price and that's a pricey little number. The Weberns were a very close second, although they lacked a little bit in the higher frequencies and sounded just a tad less clear. But they make up for it in full midrange and bass. While not as deep as the bigger Schonbergs, for 1/3 the price, they were incredibly rich, full-bodied, and even across the frequency range.
So I bought five of them!
I also had the option of adding a pair of Schonbergs or Bergs to the mix, but since I listen to a lot of SACD, I really wanted to have the same speakers all around. I may pick up a pair of Bergs for 7.1 sound later (since SACD doesn't utilize those), but for now I am incredibly satisfied. I was running out of time yesterday, but I compared two of them against everything I had on hand: Vandersteen VLR-1s (not as clear), Axiom M22TIs (not as full), the MMG-Ws (uh, yeah), Klipsch RB5s (too boomy), even my Meadowlark Swifts (which did have better bass, but the mids were more enjoyable on the Weberns).
Anyhow, I'll stop here. It was not cheap for all five speakers, but at the discount price ($350 each), there simply is no better value out there. I asked Magnolia to check their stock in SoCal, and they are pretty much sold out of them everywhere. But if you can find them, they are a great bang-for-buck.
P.S. I almost picked up the SubSon, but that would have been another ~$1K. has anyone heard that sub?
Before he left he asked me what I had, and I told him that I had a fine Axiom system that I was very happy with. He then asked if the Schonbergs would be an upgrade from that and I couldn't help but say yes, although I really had not compared them in my home. Basically it was a best guess. He left but that got me thinking....
Now I've been thinking of on-walls for some time now. My kids are becoming much more rowdy (one of my speakers already was knocked over) and besides, the TV room has pretty much become "their" room anyhow. Hanging the Axioms on the walls would make them stick out too much, especially since they would have to hang pretty low to be at ear level. I've been playing around with a pair of Magnepan MMG-W's for a while now but I really don't like the lack of bass and they sound shrill to my ears, probably because of the missing bottom end. I also auditioned others: Def Tech Mythos (sound small and metallic), a couple of Polk RM types (sound small and lifeless) and even the Yamaha sound bar thing (yeah, forget about rear sound on that one). The only ones I never heard where the Von Schweikert on-walls, and that may be regrettable, but they sure are hard to find, too.
I then did a careful audition of the Martin Logan Frescos & Vignettes, and the Vienna Waltz and Webern, using my own CDs at the store (they actually allowed me to plug & unplug at will, believe it or not). The Martin Logans sounded small and high pitched. While they would be OK in a surround system with a good sub, they really did not deliver in stereo 2-channel sound. To be perfectly honest, the best sounding speaker of the lot was the Waltz, but the Magnolia Sales rep wasn't willing to deal at all on the price and that's a pricey little number. The Weberns were a very close second, although they lacked a little bit in the higher frequencies and sounded just a tad less clear. But they make up for it in full midrange and bass. While not as deep as the bigger Schonbergs, for 1/3 the price, they were incredibly rich, full-bodied, and even across the frequency range.
So I bought five of them!
I also had the option of adding a pair of Schonbergs or Bergs to the mix, but since I listen to a lot of SACD, I really wanted to have the same speakers all around. I may pick up a pair of Bergs for 7.1 sound later (since SACD doesn't utilize those), but for now I am incredibly satisfied. I was running out of time yesterday, but I compared two of them against everything I had on hand: Vandersteen VLR-1s (not as clear), Axiom M22TIs (not as full), the MMG-Ws (uh, yeah), Klipsch RB5s (too boomy), even my Meadowlark Swifts (which did have better bass, but the mids were more enjoyable on the Weberns).
Anyhow, I'll stop here. It was not cheap for all five speakers, but at the discount price ($350 each), there simply is no better value out there. I asked Magnolia to check their stock in SoCal, and they are pretty much sold out of them everywhere. But if you can find them, they are a great bang-for-buck.
P.S. I almost picked up the SubSon, but that would have been another ~$1K. has anyone heard that sub?