WALLPAPER MAGAZINE AWARDS ISSUE Dec/Jan 2004

 
     
 
 
BEST LOUDSPEAKER    
Bosendorfer VC 7

Best Public Space – Millennium Park Chicago

Best Museum – 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

Best Service – Daslu, Sao Paolo, Brazil

Best Trainers – Addidas 1

Best Car – Maserati Quattroporte

Best New Restaurent – The Wolseley, London

Best Spa – Bulgari, Milan

Best Fashion Accessory – Manolo shoehorn

etc etc and

 

 

From the internetmagazine „Enjoy the Music.com“, Canada, Edition May 2004, from „Rick Becker“ the following extract:

Le Festival Son et Image de Montréal 2004

..... It was also perfectly obvious that the Bösendorfer loudspeakers had the finest reproduction of piano music that I have ever heard. Seeing the quality of the piano in the same room as the loudspeakers, I was impressed, but not surprised. They obviously knew what they were doing when they built these beauties......
..... Not only were there side-firing drivers in addition to the front facing ones, but also there was a sounding board offset on the outer side of each speaker that created a resonance that interacts with the resonance of the main cabinet. Presumably this works in much the same manner that the lid of the piano interacts with the body of the piano and the sound coming directly from the strings. Many loudspeaker designers have carefully utilized the resonance of the cabinet to tune the loudspeaker to their desired signature, just as many designers have sought the most inert cabinet possible. Aside from the possibility that a few of the rare and prototypical designs that I have seen over the past decade might have used a similar technique, this is the first time that I have seen an offset sounding board.....

From the magazine „Audio Review“, Italy, Edition April 2004, No. 245, from „Marco Cicogna“ the following extract:

Impressions of Marco Cicogna

My first hearing sensations are dating back to my visit in Vienna. The guys from Boesendorfer hesitated not one single moment to show the capabilities of their speakers – after a rehearsal of their real grand Concert Grands.
To play hi-fi, after one’s ears have been caressed by the full power of a Imperial Concert Grand, showed courage …. Mr. Deutsch, the developer of the speakers, began with piano music – without any hesitation the sound of a Boesendorfer. The first impressions were favourable, the touching of the piano keys vibrating, with and a very effective reproduction of the midrange.
One sensed the wide harmonic dispersion, the resonances of the recording venue, the image of the piano always perfectly detached from the speakers….
We enjoyed the authentic instruments in one of Vivaldi’s Concertos „per molti strumenti“, the exact brass-entries in Tchaikovsky’s „Capriccio Italien“, the murmur of the bassoon and contra-bassoon in Dukas’ “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, the fat and powerful tuba in “Bydlo” (“Pictures of an Exhibition”) and the roaring of the trombones and advance of the small and big percussion instruments during “A Night on the Bare Mountain”.
I was impressed. I had not expected to hear such dynamics from a system combining relatively fast (and not big) drivers. ..
I continued with the “Pines at the Via Appia” from Repighi’s “Pini di Roma”, the bars with this big crescendo-climax, which seems to fuel the orchestral fire with fresh loads of dry wood. The Boesendorfer’s effortless was remarkable, also their purity and transparency, which culminated into a very convincing reproduction of the orchestral bass-line.

The ambience information was first-class also; with excellent discs the reproduction remembered me in many details of qualities, normally found in electrostatic systems.
Artifical reverberation or inhomogeneous frequency extensions in recordings were immediately revealed und punished. The Mids and Highs became then strident with increasing volume.
Deep Registers came with authority … Pedal tones from organs rumbled well modulated: in all great recordings from Telarc, Dorian or Hyperion, organs seemed homogeneous, without any escapades of the bass. Similarly the deep bass drum whacked realistically loud, without breaking down the walls of my music room.
This noble behaviour of the bass is to be praised foremost in Classical or Jazz music. After all I had the impression, that the developer of the speakers must have preferred the nuances of voices or acoustic instruments over Rock and Pop music.
Boesendorfer loudspeakers are not forgiving, if you feed them with mediocre disc material. For some people their presentation may be too “intentional” with harmonics, floating like whipped cream und with rich ambience clues. This must be not the sound of everybody; invest a few hours, and you will adjust to this sound.
One of the nicest surprises was the precise reproduction of timbre, solo instruments and chamber ensembles included. In one of the most inspired and enchanting “Nutcracker”s (with Gergiev; Philips), the cellos grasped me with their noble expression. You have to hear this piece at least once in your life!
Similar impressions accompanied Mahler’s 3rd (Boulez, SACD, Deutsche Gramophone), where even Pianissimos floated rich on tonal colour shades, with the dimensions of the hall exactly reproduced.
With Blues from Telarc the fat sound of Monty Alexander (piano), plus bass and drums, seemed to unify teutonic efficiency with anglo-saxon fairplay. But we are in Austria, in a new reality in the landscape of high-end-audio, with a really high profile. Not to be missed!


Impressions of Gian Piero Matarazzo

Even when positioning the Boesendorfer’s wider apart than usual, the music never showed a “hole” in the middle of the soundstage. The only thing one has to care, is the proper distance from the back and side walls … I found out, that 70 cm from the side walls and 100 cm from the back wall, made the best impression, shading tonal colours optimally.
also The depth of the soundstage could be perfectly adjusted by vertical rotation of the loudspeakers, shaping the upper end of the tonal spectrum. With the speakers positioned parallel to the side walls and not facing directly my hearing position, I got the best results – especially with the power amps from Halcro; T+A’s new Tube-Amp favoured the treble a little bit, especially when I toed the Boesendorfer’s inwards.
The Smetana Quartet seemed to be positioned in the most convincing way, nearly glued to their chairs but with individuality floating around – even around the boundaries of the speakers. ….

A big surprise was the sound of the cello, which showed depth, resonance and nuances… Also impressive was a female vocalist, who seemed to sing in the middle of a hall, materialized, well-defined, completely relaxed and absolutely adequate for the ambience illusion, suggesting a recording venue, which I found completely convincing. …..

What do you think, how a piano sounds in Boesendorfer’s loudspeakers? I tell you: Exactly as if the instrument was standing in the hall, especially if the recording was made by an engineer, who knew how to position his mikes. ….
In good recordings the natural dimensions (of the piano) could be nearly felt, and I found the illusion sometimes so natural, that I would guess, where the concert grand had been standing on the podium and where the microphones were positioned.
“ But that’s too easy,” I thought, „imagine, that Boesendorfer had optimized the sound of their speakers after their pianos.

I decided to continue with big orchestra. The dimensions were all right, and the broad soundstage floated with airiness and precision… Musicians remained perfectly “visible” and remained exactly positioned during the whole recording session.
Only when increasing the volume towards forbidden levels, the loudspeakers sounded a little bit stressed. But Halcros are merciless amps anyway, and I drove them really hard. Sorry.