To Doug Schneider,

I'm in the hunt for a pair of loudpseakers to match my new Leben CS600 (32Wpc) and came across your review of the beautiful Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand SE published in Soundstage! Hi-Fi in October 2011 with the links to their measurements. I'm not technically minded enough to interpret the impedance and electrical-phase-angle measurements. May I trouble you on what they show about the Mozart Grand SE's sensitivity and ease of drive?

Regards,
Ing-Kui

No trouble at all. Our measurements show the Mozart Grand SE’s sensitivity to be 85.5dB (2.83V/1m), which is below average. Its impedance remains around 8 ohms or higher above about 1.8kHz, but it remains mostly under 8 ohms, dipping to as low as 3 ohms, below that frequency, which will make a pair difficult for some amplifiers to drive.

The CS600 isn’t powerful, and from what I know about their designs, they don’t perform well into difficult loads. I suspect the 3-ohm dip that the Mozart Grand SE exhibits could really cause the CS600 grief. You can still try the CS600 with a pair of Mozart Grand SEs and listen to the result, but on paper they don’t seem well matched, so I suspect you’ll have to continue with your hunt. . . . Doug Schneider