Hi Srajan, your two most recent speaker reviews of the Voxativ and Virtual Hifi monitors read equally inspired and sound like outstanding finds in their categories. You can probably already sense what I'm going to ask next. If you could have only one of the two, which would it be? Your sonic descriptions of them are very precise and clearly dissimilar from each other to have me curious, if you were to live with one of them over the long term, which would have your vote? Thanks for the constant stream of entertaining reading about the less canvassed areas of hifi you keep putting out every month. It's really appreciated. Ken
You're right, these are both equally outstanding and for different reasons. Being smaller, less costly and complete without a subwoofer or 'special' amplification but instead deliberately groomed for budget class D, I would have to say the Viper. My upbringing wasn't posh so by nature, I still feel more drawn to less expensive solutions even if at this stage of my life, I could actually afford something costlier if I really wanted to. I also prefer the textured sculpted finishing on the Viper to the high-gloss lacquer on the Alberich². That it even works on my desktop where the Voxativ stack wouldn't makes for an extra bonus. The same goes for not wanting or needing a valve amp or something in transistors voiced to emulate tubes. Viper is a truly no fuss no muss solution whose looks I really fancy on top of it. But that takes nothing away from the Voxativ. In fact, if I'm reading those tea leaves correctly, my man in Warsaw is readying his own Alberich² review and apparently duly impressed himself. In which case there's some more Voxativ love inbound shortly. I'm particularly curious how Dawid will describe and respond to RiPol bass. He's not heard it for himself until now and whilst I've been singing its praises for years on end now, it's high time to have other voices and opinions on the matter. So stay tuned. Srajan
