The Perfect Vision
❘
November/December 2004
Perhaps the most crucial design
aspect that affects loudspeaker perform-
ance is the crossover network. Thiel’s
expertise in crossover design is leg-
endary. You’ll simply never get audio
engineering like this from a plasma-TV
manufacturer. And once again, top-of-
the-line parts from the CS 7.2 were used
in the ViewPoint crossover.
According to Thiel, his patent-
pending combination of mounting the
woofer very close and angled to the
wall eliminates the wall-reflection can-
cellation that mars the sonic perform-
ance of virtually every other surface-
mounted speaker. This is also said to
eliminate the need for a separate cen-
ter-channel speaker. It’s important to
note that these speakers are designed
specifically for wall-mounting and
failure to use them mounted flush
against a wall will hinder their per-
formance.
Listening Tests
Thiel supplied the ViewPoints cus-
tom-made for the excellent Hitachi
42HDT55 plasma set I reviewed in
Issue 52. The Hitachi, which continues
to impress me, remains on hand for
plasma comparisons. Before mounting
the ViewPoints next to the Hitachi
plasma, I decided to give them a try in
my high-end listening room, right in
front of my Magnepan MG 3.6s and
driven by my reference 240 watts-per-
channel (4 ohms) Class A fully-bal-
anced Sumo Gold power amp, upgrad-
ed with the latest and best parts. Of
course, with no rear wall for bass rein-
forcement, I expected the sound to be
somewhat thin, particularly in the
upper bass region, but I just wanted to
see if they had what it takes to sound
like a real audiophile speaker. What I
heard was impressive clarity, detail,
and lack of coloration (from the upper
bass on up), with beautiful, delicate
highs that were distinctly high end.
The soundstage was wide and deep
and the speakers disappeared (sonical-
ly) nicely. Engaging a Hsu HO1220
subwoofer with Bryston amplification
further enhanced the listening experi-
ence, and by an order of magnitude.
While I’m not ready to sell the
Maggies just yet, this was still impres-
sive sound considering that the
ViewPoints are a tiny fraction of the
Maggies’ size and were being used far
from the rear wall and totally against
their designer’s intentions.
With the ViewPoints mounted on
the wall next to the Hitachi plasma,
the listening experience with all sorts
of video sources was outstanding.
While low bass was lacking, there was
still plenty of “body” to the sound.
The upper midrange/lower treble
region sounded just a tad elevated,
probably to enhance intelligibility, but
it was far from forward and fatiguing.
Excellent movie soundtracks (like
Master and Commander—The Far
Side of the World
) were done beauti-
fully and with spectacular detail, as
you’d expect, but the real surprises
came from conventional broadcast
and satellite TV programs that always
sounded better than I thought they
could. One could be easily spoiled by
this kind of everyday TV sound.
Keep in mind, though, that while
two speakers in a stereo configuration
can give you gorgeous, involving
sound, they cannot give you the
incredible effect of six speakers and
Dolby 5.1 surround. You gave that up
for aesthetics—remember?
The recommended power ampli-
fier for driving the ViewPoints will
vary according to your listening
needs. If you never really crank it
up, a really good integrated amplifi-
er with 50 watts per channel might
be ideal. My 240Wpc (4 ohms) amp
actually gave some surprising sound-
pressure levels. But since there
would be no center speaker or sur-
rounds, I’d avoid A/V receivers and
stick to stereo separates. Watching
DVDs with no subwoofer will
require
considerably
more reserve
power, but for even better movie
sound, you should look into one of
Thiel’s new powered SS series sub-
A U D I O R E V I E W
The ViewPoints
may be small
and thin, but
don’t let that
fool you.
Dynamite
comes in small
packages.
