If the Haydn is so darned good, why even bother with a bigger or more expensive speaker? Well, good as it is, the Haydn isn’t beyond criticism. Enjoyable and satisfying are not the same as perfect. Compare the smallest VA speaker to some of the other sub-€10K contenders and you can see where it falls short. The Jordan Greenwich is more rhythmically and micro-dynamically lucid, the Living Voice R25A ‘expands’ more enthusiastically and with greater immediacy and impact. But then the Haydn matches the far larger R25A for bandwidth and the Greenwich for size and price, which rather underlines just what astonishing musical value it represents, value that’s built on doing everything that’s musically important equally well.
The Vienna Acoustics Haydn SE Signature has managed to hit the sweet spot of compact speaker design. It’s small enough to live with and drivable by a whole host of real-world amplifiers. It sounds bigger than it has any right to and delivers convincing low-frequency extension and weight, yet it does so without any of the constipated dynamics or disjointed bass that so often afflicts small speakers trying to ‘go large’. It’s inherent linearity and neutrality – a direct result of the materials chosen for its drivers – deliver rich, natural harmonics and an inviting tonal balance, without ever sounding sluggish or clogged. Best of all, the Haydns are entirely devoid of aural warts, intrusive shortcomings or sins of commission. What you don’t hear you soon don’t miss, so that you quickly stop listening to or noticing the speakers altogether.
How good is the Haydn? Take a live recording, preferably with a familiar voice and ideally a spoken intro… Now play it on the Vienna Acoustics speakers and see how it goes. It’s something I did for a visitor, using the Nanci Griffith album One Fair summer Evening (MCA MCF 3435). What started as a demonstration quickly descended into an extended listening session, traversing the studio equivalent, Last Of The True Believers, followed by Little Love Affairs and of course, Storms. For somebody who wasn’t even aware of Nanci Griffith, that’s quite a journey – one that’s courtesy of the Haydn Signature and its even-handed musical disappearing act.
I’m spoilt. I have big spaces, big systems and big speakers on tap. I have sub-woofers if/when required and I have state-of-the-art front-end components to get the best out of the whole kit and caboodle. Would I choose to live with the Haydn? No, I wouldn’t. But could I live with this little speaker that can? Absolutely. If I had to, needed to or wanted to go small (without the music going small too) this is where I’d go.
For established high-end listeners looking at down-sizing, a second system, a second home or a shared space, the Haydn will deliver – and deliver more than you probably ever thought possible.
For those starting out, the Haydn is a speaker to aspire to and grow with. It won’t just deliver – it will deliver for longer and through more upgrades than you probably ever thought possible.
