Meanwhile, both of these speakers have reminded me that precise set up isn’t just the province of huge, high-end speaker systems. It’s just as critical to the musical performance of speaker’s like the T&T or Vienna Acoustics – while often being harder to achieve. Which is bad news in one sense but also offers a potential opportunity. Time to revisit your speaker set-up? It seems possible, even likely, that there’ll be untapped musical potential just waiting to be realised…
Postscript
The optional feet for the Mozart Infinity duly arrived – and they didn’t disappoint. The outrigger beams are far more substantial, with a much larger contact area with the base of the speaker, better for bracing and better for energy transfer. Just for fun I weighed the two, complete with spikes and was shocked to discover that the optional arrangement weighs almost six times as much (1066g as opposed to 183g).
Talking of spikes – the original cones run on M6 threads that are 6mm long: the upgraded spikes are M15 (!) with threaded sections almost 40mm long that, even allowing for the 1cm thick outrigger, offers six-times the range of adjustment, thanks to the solid mating of the 22mm locking collars. The spikes themselves are identical to those found on the Liszt and Beethoven models, with the same heavily knurled adjusters and collars making for a really secure fit and fix. Of course, few if any floors need 36mm of adjustment for levelling – but with a -3dB point at 30Hz, there are plenty of rooms that demand 30mm of vertical height adjustment and plenty of speakers that could do with it. This is one of them.
Fitting the optional outriggers and spikes to the Mozart Infinity allowed far simpler and much more precise angular adjustment, bringing greater focus, transparency, musical density and concentrated energy to the music. But it was the ability to adjust height off the floor (while maintaining speaker attitude) with real precision that elevated performance to another level, integrating bass weight and pace with the lower mid, delivering greater rhythmic integrity and expression, a greater sense of acoustic space and image dimensionality. The optional spikes opened out the sound, bringing substance and body while letting the music breathe more easily- and this on an all-in-one speaker system that many a serious audiophile would sneer at (without actually listening to it, naturally). Along the way, the Mozart’s spike upgrade further underlined the reminder that set-up matters – even with small speakers – and that the feet or spikes are most of the tools you’ve got. On a speaker that costs €12,490 (inc tax) for the standard black and white gloss paint finishes or Cherry veneer (€14,350 for Rosewood), the additional €490 for the optional spikes and outriggers is an absolute no-brainer. The VA spikes might not be the prettiest (and I understand the aesthetic thinking behind the cones) but they really do wring significantly more performance out of an already seriously impressive speaker. To quote Sir John Mills, “Worth the wait!”
