Long overdue review of the Unifield 2 MK2.
I was hesitantly considering an upgrade from the beautiful and wonderful sounding Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand bookshelves. My hesitation was largely due to the fact that in my side by side comparisons the Haydns had equalled the B&W PM1 bookshelves which cost twice as much. Viennas were a significant improvement from my previous Aperion audio setup. VA was pricier and the price differnce was evident in the sound too. However after A/B comparing Haydns with the B&Ws, it was becoming evident to me that any additional improvements would only be minor.
I expressed this concern to Albert at THE Show 2013 (Newport Beach). But Albert declared outright that I would have my Haydns up on eBay as soon I compared them with the Uni2s. This was hard for me to digest, but nevertheless I decided to give it a shot.
Anyway, since I do not own golden ears, I find side-by-side A/B testing to be the only reliable way to compare speakers. I didnt care too much about how they sounded at the show. I was very interested in A/Bing them at home. My Denon 3311ci receiver allows me to switch speakers using the remote!! So this was very convenient and a good way to do A/B.
Since I bought the demo pair, the Uni2s already had sufficient burn in. After setting them up on the stands, I hooked them up and just let some random music play without any calibration etc. I was planning to do some serious A/B listening later in the week to really detect the differences. Surprisingly an overall improvement in the sound was already evident. I was expecting to notice differences only when doing A/B.
After a couple weekends I was finally able to do some A/B. Initially the Uni2 produced a soundstage that was too small due to placement. The Viennas were spaced out optimally, and the Uni2 were located on "inside" and therefore much closer to each other. I rearranged the speakers in alternating fashion so that both Uni2 and VAs were equally spaced and also spread apart a bit more. This made a big difference. (I find most demo rooms at audio stores unfortunately do not use this alternating placement. the more expensive speakers are often on the outside and naturally sound wider/deeper)
For the A/B testing I used a few test CDs (Stereophile & Chesky Rcords) and bunch of other tracks from my collection. The A/B session was a great learning experience. I felt the speakers were giving me lessons in "sound quality". Uni2s revealed many deficiencies in the Viennas which I never would have known otherwise. Uni2s were a refinement in pretty much every single aspect .. imaging, transparency, openness, highs, mids & lows.
The bass was deeper and better defined. With Audyssey calibrated settings enabled, I could feel some of the thump/"kick in the chest" i have been missing. It was completely missing in the Haydns. This thump is often evident at indoor rock/pop concerts, but commonly missing in expensive home audio systems in spite of their powerful subs. (To me the kick seems to exist on the higher end of the bass frequency range). Neverthless there is room for a lot more kick. Albert gave me a detailed explanation of why PA systems are able to exhibit this kick much better than home audio systems. On the flip side, i think the kick may not be desriable for more laid back listening. Uni2 maintains the relative balance of the bass to the mids and highs fairly well even at lower volumes. With most speakers, I find the bass tends to disappear when the volume is turned down. Turning on the Audyssey Dynamic Volume in the Denon also helps greatly in this regard.
Different tracks revealed different things. It took a dozen or more tracks to be able to spot various improvements. Tracks with mostly vocals and very little instruments were not as revealing as tracks with more *stuff*. The Viennas were a little too warm for some tracks. The Uni2s demonstratd a certain effortless & unshakeable authority in music reporoduction even at higher volumes. "Man among boys!" .. that was the impression they left in my mind. There was one somewhat thinner sounding track with mostly vocals where the Viennas sounded better ... as it was mellowed down by the extra warmth in the Viennas. Many old recordings which are inherrently warm are much more pleasing on the Uni2.
The Uni2's build is truly solid. If you knock on the cabinet with you knucles, it produces the deadest sound I have experienced from any speaker. There is one downside to these speakers. They are heavy. The weight most likley coems from the three layered cabinet. Dont plan to put them on a bookshelf. The bookshelf is not likely to be carry them for long.
Albert was right that Uni2 would outperform the Viennas. I am happy that he was
Besides, imo Albert is genius with lots of humility, patience & contagious enthusiasm. He was very helpful before and after the purchase.
