MB Quart Vera bookshelf speakers
- Thread starter lulimet
- Start date
lulimet
Well-Known Member
A couple of guys on the audioholics forum said that they remember when these speakers were first released and the msrp was $2,500. The $3,6000 price on the website is "slightly" inaccurate. Still, these are the real deal and do sound like $2000 speakers. I'll post my opinion on them tonight.
lulimet
Well-Known Member
Ok, here we go.
First, I am not one of those audiophiles who describe every little thing by using big words or phrases because frankly 90% of that kind of talk makes no sense to me. Plus I am not good at writing, so I am going to keep it short and simple.
The room I had them in is not ideal for acoustics. In fact it's probably bad. It's a 12x13 bedroom with lots of furniture in it. A twin bed, two dressers, two night stands, laminate flooring though there is a rug over it. The picture gives you an idea. Not the best environment but it's all I can do right now.
I used a Marantz SR6008 receiver (no outboard amps) streaming WAV and Apple Lossless files from my NAS. For movies I used XBMC. The movies are also stored on the NAS.
I listened to maybe 20 different artists. Most of it was heavy metal since more than 90% of my music is heavy metal. Bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Manowar, and Slayer since I know their music so well. The softer music was from Rolling Stones (Bridges to Babylon album), Cram (Best Of), Dire Straits ( Making Movies, Communique), Beck (You Ha It Coming, Beck-Ola). For music listening I listened in pure direct mode like I always do. No processing. For movies I had the Audyssey on. It works really well for movies.
I am mostly going to compare them to the Dynaudio S1.4 I had. The Dyns use a soft dome tweeter and I was so used to that sound. The Veras use a titanium tweeter so right away I found the speakers to be a little bright until I got used to the sound. Now I think they are neutral more than anything. The Dyns have more bass but I always felt that it was a little exagerated. The fact that the Veras don't have as much bass is actually a good thing for me. One thing that impresses me about the tweeter is that it's quite revealing (crystal-like). It reveals little mistakes in the recordings. I heard a spit in a Cream song, and a couple of bad notes in a ZZ Top song. I thought that was cool.
Midrange is great, almost as great as the Dyns (IMO). They are also more efficient. I don't have to crank up the volume as high as before.
Another thing that made happy was a part in a song by Manowar titled "Achille's, Egony And Exstasy in Eith Parts." From the 14:19 - 14:23 there is an organ sound that has so much bass. The Dynaudio woofer would bottom out every time I played that but the Vera woofer had no problems with it. Though, I do feel that these do need a subwoofer to go with them.
I didn't spend too much time with movies because I always felt that if a speakers does well with music then there is no reason it shouldn't do well with movies. Music is what is most important to me.
I don't know what else to tell you except these speakers are really, really good and are the real deal. They really sound like $2000 speakers in my opinion. If I had another $1000 laying around, or if the 30 day return period of the Focals hadn't expired, I would have bought another pair together with the center or maybe two pairs to have matching speakers all around.
These speakers are a real bargain. For the price that a pair cost when they were first introduced, you can now get three pairs and a center, or if you want matching speakers all around, go with 4 pairs of for an awesome 4 speaker system for $2100.
If you have $500 sitting around and are curious, please go ahead and buy them before they are gone. I know sound is subjective but I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed for the money you paid.
lulimet
Well-Known Member
After some more searching, I found that the engineers that designed the Alexxa and Vera speakers left the company when they were bought by Maxxsonics and production moved to Chine in 2005 or 2006. They started a new company named German Maestro. The mid line of their home audio speakers looks a lot like the Alexxa and Vera.
http://www.german-maestro.de/EN/casa.htm
A member from the Audioholics website posted a nice review
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/lo ... sions.html
http://www.german-maestro.de/EN/casa.htm
A member from the Audioholics website posted a nice review
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/lo ... sions.html
My subs were delivered on pallets. But knickknacks set on them don't walk around during heavy LFE moments. Just saying'... :eusa-whistle:Botch said:Yes, this. :handgestures-thumbup:Orbison said:Is an intervention called for when guys buy so much that they have to have their speakers/subwoofers delivered on pallets or skids? You know who you are!bscene-buttred:
Here we go.............................
Packaging: The put all six on a skid and wrapped well, well, that's what Barb said. She painfully made the delivery guy wait while she opened every box to make sure there was no damage, That's my Gal! She did notice that one speaker was positioned differently in the box then the others. I noticed this also, leads me to believe that this one was opened and maybe used or inspected and not put back in the box properly. No loss here.
The original plan was to hook them up in pairs in the den, I scraped that idea quickly and move 3 of them into the HT. I disconnected the 60's and the CC quickly. I determined that the vertical packaging box height was perfect for the LF and RF and the box on it's side was almost okay for the Center.
I decided that I would start to listen to music that I am familiar with first in 2.0 (forget calibration and the sub at this point).
I listened to some typical pop ballads first and a smile came to my face.............. Accurate, great depth and soundstage.
I can say that they are much different than the 60's, however I think in a better way. They are much more accurate and well defined.
Then Staind; It's Been Awhile.................killed it! Some Dave Mathews Band................great! Steely Dan Aja........same!
They are different sounding and will take a while to get used to on some material. Sailing To Philadelphia.............Mark Knofler, I heard things that I did not know was there before. Gravity - John Mayer...............Holy Sh*t!
So at this point I believe they are keepers and I am glad that I took the risk.
I then calibrated with the sub and the Studio 20's as surrounds and watched the Opening Scene to the Dark Knight......Great!!
I need to make sure that the ceiling mount stand that I made will support the Vera's, I think they are heavier than the 20's. I will weigh tomorrow.
These are light Birch so we are brainstorming on how to drape them with black material. Stands for the Fronts will also be a project.
I have not really purchased speakers since the 60's in 1998, except for the 20's for the surrounds which were used.
I am happy so far, but those of you that know me and my destructive personality...... well, enough said.
Packaging: The put all six on a skid and wrapped well, well, that's what Barb said. She painfully made the delivery guy wait while she opened every box to make sure there was no damage, That's my Gal! She did notice that one speaker was positioned differently in the box then the others. I noticed this also, leads me to believe that this one was opened and maybe used or inspected and not put back in the box properly. No loss here.
The original plan was to hook them up in pairs in the den, I scraped that idea quickly and move 3 of them into the HT. I disconnected the 60's and the CC quickly. I determined that the vertical packaging box height was perfect for the LF and RF and the box on it's side was almost okay for the Center.
I decided that I would start to listen to music that I am familiar with first in 2.0 (forget calibration and the sub at this point).
I listened to some typical pop ballads first and a smile came to my face.............. Accurate, great depth and soundstage.
I can say that they are much different than the 60's, however I think in a better way. They are much more accurate and well defined.
Then Staind; It's Been Awhile.................killed it! Some Dave Mathews Band................great! Steely Dan Aja........same!
They are different sounding and will take a while to get used to on some material. Sailing To Philadelphia.............Mark Knofler, I heard things that I did not know was there before. Gravity - John Mayer...............Holy Sh*t!
So at this point I believe they are keepers and I am glad that I took the risk.
I then calibrated with the sub and the Studio 20's as surrounds and watched the Opening Scene to the Dark Knight......Great!!
I need to make sure that the ceiling mount stand that I made will support the Vera's, I think they are heavier than the 20's. I will weigh tomorrow.
These are light Birch so we are brainstorming on how to drape them with black material. Stands for the Fronts will also be a project.
I have not really purchased speakers since the 60's in 1998, except for the 20's for the surrounds which were used.
I am happy so far, but those of you that know me and my destructive personality...... well, enough said.
