Equipment & Listening Panel
As in our past tests, the playback system was of better high-end quality than would usually be the case with loudspeakers in this price range. It was chosen to give the loudspeakers their best shots. A C.E.C. TL 1 transport and Mark Levinson No.35 D/A converter (linked by a Kimber KCAG digital interconnect) was the program source, feeding a Krell KSA-250 power amplifier. As already noted, the preamp was the Rowland Consummate. The processor-preamp link was TARA Labs Master…
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The Angelus was reviewed in a blind panel test in September 1993 (Vol.16 No.9):
Sidebar 1: Music Used in 1993 Listening Test
The music, chosen by the panel members, was transferred to a recordable CD (CD-R) using the Meridian CDR deck. The only non-musical pieces used—pink noise and JGH's speaking voice—were auditioned in mono only. (JGH scored his own voice as simply a generic voice.) All the musical material was stereo, and five of the musical selections, plus the speaking voice and pink noise, were used each day. Three other musical selections, changed each day, were included to provide a reasonable combination of consistency and variety.
The program…
Sidebar 2: 1993 Measurements
As my original review of the Angelus in February 1988 was published well before I had established my standardized loudspeaker test procedure, I thought that including this well-established and generally recommended speaker in this survey would give me the chance to perform a thorough set of measurements.
First, the Angelus's impedance (fig.1) only drops below 7 ohms above 4kHz, reaching a minimum value of 5.2 ohms at 8kHz. It therefore presents an easy load to the amplifier driving it, coupled with a moderate B-weighted sensitivity of 86.5dB/W/m. The…
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Two-way, floor-standing loudspeaker. Bass loading: sealed-box, system resonance at 34Hz with a Q of 0.5. Drive-units: 1" soft-dome tweeter, 8" TPX-coned bass/midrange driver. Crossover frequency: 3.4kHz. Frequency response: 45Hz-17.5kHz !q3dB (90Hz-15kHz ±1.5dB). Sensitivity: 87dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 5.8 ohms at 8.5kHz). Amplifier requirements: 20-200W.
Dimensions: 46" H by 21" W by 10.25" D. Internal volume: 2.5 cu.ft. Weight: 65 lbs each.
Price: no longer available (2002); $949/pair-$995/pair (1988); $1275/pair (1993).…
How can you tell an audiophile from a normal person? Well, given a list of names like "Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Mahler," the normal person might respond, "Composers." The audiophile's response is likely to be "Loudspeakers from Vienna Acoustics." Anyway, that's my association when I see these names, which may tell you something about my state of normalcy.
I have a good excuse, though. Three years ago, I reviewed the Vienna Acoustics Mozart (Stereophile, January 1997), and have some familiarity with their small two-way, the Haydn; the larger, floorstanding Bach; and the…
The crossover uses parts of the highest quality, including a $70 German MKP Select capacitor, chosen because it sounded best in listening tests. The Mahler uses only a single set of five-way binding posts, Peter Gansterer not being a fan of bi- or triwiring. A toggle switch allows the tweeter's response to be attenuated by 0.6dB above 6kHz; another switch selects a bass emphasis of 2dB below 50Hz.
The Mahler rests on a plinth that doesn't extend all the way to the front, giving the speaker a "floating" appearance while maintaining structural stability. Three screw-in metal cones are…
I had several amplifiers on hand to drive the Mahlers, including a Rotel RB-1090, Bryston 9B-ST, Thule PA250B, and a pair of Krell FPB 350Mcs (senior sibling of the FPB 250Mc, reviewed by Larry Greenhill in June 1998). The speakers were quite revealing of sonic differences between amplifiers, with the Krells sounding substantially better than any of the others.
Sound
The Mahler was at its very best when reproducing large-scale symphonic music, big-band jazz, opera, and musicals. The challenges in reproducing this type of material are formidable: the speaker has to be able to…
Natural-sounding reproduction of voices has high priority for me, and this happened to be one of the Mahler's strong suits. A recording I've been playing a lot lately is A Christmas Survival Guide (Car-Jam 2die4 99032, available from Car-Jam), a collection of Christmas songs—some traditional, some sharply satirical—tied together with a mock self-help narrative. The performers include some of Broadway's best, including Christiane Noll, Marin Mazzie, Alice Ripley, and Emily Skinner. Listening to the CD through the Mahlers, I had a strong sense that I was hearing a good facsimile of what these…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, floorstanding, reflex-loaded dynamic loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.2" silk-dome tweeter, two 7" pulp-cone midranges, two 10" side-mounted honey-comb-cone woofers. Frequency range: 22Hz-25kHz (limits not specified). Sensitivity: 90dB/W/m. Impedance: 6 ohms average.
Dimensions: 51.2" H by 8.6" W by 18.3" D. Weight: 150 lbs.
Finishes: rosewood, beech flame.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 92801 A/B.
Price: $9800/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 60. Warranty: 5 years, parts & labor.
Manufacturer: Vienna Acoustics, A-…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Linn LP12 turntable (fully updated), Ittok tonearm, AudioQuest AQ-7000nsx cartridge.
Digital source: PS Audio Lambda II transport, Muse Two Ninety-Six digital processor, Illuminati Orchid digital link.
Preamplifier: Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Ultimate.
Power amplifiers: Krell FPB 350 Mc (2), Bryston 9B-ST, Rotel RB-1090, Thule PA250B.
Cables: Interconnects: Nordost Quattro Fil, TARA Labs The Two. Speaker cables: Nordost S.P.M. Reference, TARA Labs The Two. AC cords: TARA Labs Decade.
Accessories: Argent RoomLenses (5),…