Construction and appearance
Contents
We have a feeling this manufacturer knows what he’s doing because everything about this speaker radiates solidity. The construction, the used components and the finish are top notch. Everything is expertly put together in the factory in Vienna and you can feel that. Head designer Peter Gansterer has been with Vienna Acoustics for decades and has also taken care of this monitor.
The Haydn Jubilee is a two-way monitor with a simple silkdome tweeter, used in the original Haydn. The driver is a different story because after a lot of research Vienna Acoustics developed the transparent XP3 cone driver. This patented driver consists mainly of polypropylene and is therefore very light and stiff. In any case it looks cool and we can already tell you it’s very fast and clean.
Small is beautiful
This limited edition Haydn Jubilee is only available in ‘piano black’ so keep that in mind. That being said, the black piano lacquer is of the highest quality and the golden logo at the bottom gives this monitor some extra pizzazz. There are a number of lines running through the front and back of the cabinet that gives another special touch to the monitor. These are speakers that are meticulously put together.
It’s also a small speaker that is quite narrow. Although slightly higher than our Audiovector QR1, they seem smaller due to their limited width (17cm). The advantage is that they don’t take up too much space, so they will easily find a place in your listening space. On the back we see a pair of solid speaker clamps and on a metal plaque we see serial number 35. With their weight of 8.5 kg each they weigh considerably more than our Audiovector QR 1.
Different but the same
The Haydn Grand SE turns out to be a different speaker than this Haydn Jubilee and that makes us a bit insecure. Will the Jubile match the performance or will it be a Haydn Light? Soon we notice that our worries were not needed. This jubilee version has the same character as the Symphony Edition and soon turns out to be equally addictive.
Set-up and installation
The Vienna Acoustics Haydn Jubilee speakers replace our Audiovector QR1 monitors in the set below.
- Ps Audio Stellar gain cell preamp
- Benchmark AHB2 power amplifier
- Metrum Acoustics Onyx d/a converter
- Nad M50 streamer/cd transport
- IsoAcoustic Aperta stands
- Norstone Stylum 2 stands
- Cabling: Grimm, Audioquest
We put the monitors on IsoAcoustics Aperta stands in the small room and on Norstone Stylum 2 stands in the big room. We rotate them slightly and place the listening chair a little closer than usual to be completely immersed in the music. Monitors are usually good at ‘disappearing’ and these little Haydns are masters at it. These are precision instruments so the better you adjust the speaker, the better the result.
Because the bass port is at the back they need some breathing space. From 40 cm from the back wall we get a tight and punchy bass. In the small space they are 2 meters apart and in the big one about 3 meters. Both spaces are rmoderately damped because we think that affordable speakers should perform well in a normal living room. Not everyone has a separate listening room or wants his living room full of damping material.
