Thonet & Vander Hoch Powered Bookshelf Speaker Review

Thonet & Vander Hoch Bookshelf Speaker Introduction

We reported on Thonet & Vander a while back when they announced they were shipping their speakers to the US. To recap, the German company has decided to try to break into the US market with their line of (mostly) self-powered 2.0 and 2.1 speaker systems. They have a wide range of speaker offerings from studio monitors to satellite/bass module form factors. Our favorite from their website was the Classic 2.0 speakers that took bookshelf speakers and put amps and controls inside of them.

When they approached us about a review, I didn't specify what I wanted. I mentioned that I liked the bookshelf offerings better than the satellite ones but I didn't put out a specific model I wanted. I was very pleased to see that they had sent the Hoch.

Aside from the name, which sounds like a drink high school kids try to procure from their crazy uncles, the Hoch speakers look very much like the Axiom M22s. Those of you that know my history either from the forums here on Audioholics or from AV Rant recall that the first speakers I bought were the M22s. Seeing something that looked just like them made me want to give them a listen. They even have the same black dust cap though they've switched out the aluminum cones for woven fiber. Considering the Hoch speakers retail for $199 a pair and the Axioms (which are a bit bigger) cost $519 a pair, my excitement was doubled.

First Impressions

The Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers came double boxed. As I sort of expected with a new speaker offering, the outside box was very well designed and professional but the interior packaging was basically rectangular pieces of foam fitted around the speakers. I expect that the final product will have molded foam or something that can be easily reused. Regardless, the speakers arrived in good condition.

Wish me luck trying to get these back in this box for the return shipping

The Hoch speakers come with all the cables you'll need including a standard RCA, 3.5mm to RCA, speaker cable to connect the two speakers, and a power cord. There is a simple manual that you'll really not need as the inputs are really self-explanatory. There is a plug for the power cord, two stereo RCA inputs, and a power button. On the side of the right speaker are controls for volume, bass, and treble. If you've ever hooked up anything, ever, your only question will be, "Which speaker goes on the right?"

The one with the controls. There, I saved you having to read the manual (which is good because I couldn't find that tidbit in the manual anyhow).

Pretty self explanatory

If you've spent any time at the Thonet & Vander website, you'll probably be impressed with the quality of the images and design. After looking at the images of the Hoch speakers, I really had my hopes up as to how they would look and perform. While we'll cover performance in a bit, looks were not as good as I hoped.

You've probably heard the phase "good from far, but far from good" to describe something that looks good from a distance but not so hot up close. Used cars often fall under this category. From the front, the Hoch speakers look pretty good. Up close, however, the seams in the vinyl wrap are often not exactly matching, the edges sometimes overlap, and the back has a very weird inset with some discolored edges.

They are only $200 a pair - something to keep in mind

I was particularly disappointed in the grilles. The yellow drivers are easily seen through it (probably not an issue with the black model) as is the frame. They constructed the grille frame out of wood (which I prefer) but the fabric is wrapped messily and you can see where they cut off the excess with a knife. The posts are long and plastic and hold the grille on so securely that I was afraid I'd break the grille every time I removed it. Now, for the MSRP of under $200, you really can't expect completely flawless fit and finish out of speaker, but I hope that mine was a pre-production pair and that some of these issues will be fixed in the final model.

Leaking glue, cut lines, staples from the logo, and a grille post begging to be broken

Thonet & Vander Hoch Connections, Use, & Construction

The Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers are a strange hybrid. Many Americans think of self-powered speakers in the province of the computer. Speakers in your living room tend to be connected to other devices that have amps that drive them. Home theaters in a box or surround sound bars are a typical solution for people with limited space. But overseas, that's not the norm. There, space is often at a premium and the preference is for self-powered speakers. While it might sound strange to us, it is actually a pretty elegant solution. If your source is a single device, like a Blu-ray player, then you are good to go. If you have a couple of devices already connected to your display, you can often use the RCA outputs on the display to connect to the speakers. Either way, it isn't as impossible as it might seem.

The advantages are very clear. No receiver, no additional boxes, just a couple of speakers and your source. While HDMI may have promised single cable connection, this is just as good for those looking to upgrade their speakers without the hassle of a receiver or additional boxes.

As I mentioned, the connections are fairly basic with only dual stereo RCA inputs. There is no provision for a subwoofer which shouldn't be surprising considering the Hoch come from the "Classic 2.0" line. While adding a subwoofer isn't impossible, there are no line-level inputs so it'll have to be done at the RCA level. A receiver would do it easily but part of the advantage of self-powered speakers is getting rid of your receiver. If you already have a sub, you should consult your manual to see if the internal crossover can be used via the RCA inputs and outputs. The left speaker is connected to the right by standard speaker wire (provided) with a spring-type connection. The wire provided is very thin though I doubt you could get better than 12 gauge into those spring clips. The provided RCA cables are also very thin and unshielded so you'll likely want to use your own.

Use

There are volume, treble, and bass controls on the Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers. They are located on the right speaker. You'd expect a speaker that is 460 x 181 x 230 mm or 18 by 7 by 9 inches to be able to play pretty loud. You'd be right. I tried them out in my office, which is basically open to the rest of the house, and also in my home theater. In the smaller home theater, they could easily get to volumes that would make you want to turn them down (some might call these 'ear-bleed' levels). Out in my office, which is adjacent to the kitchen, they were loud enough to rattle dishes and other unsecured items.

The treble and bass controls were surprisingly nuanced. I liked how the changes they made were very subtle but still noticeable. I started with both controls in the 12 o'clock position (which is about half way) and played with all the extremes. Turning the bass control all the way down just about killed the bass (as you might expect) but it was very gradual. You could fine-tune it all the way up to quite a bit of bass boost. Fortunately, the Hoch controls didn't allow you to boost the bass so much (at a reasonable volume) that the bass distorted. The treble control was similar though the top end distorted as you turned it up too high or too loud. I'm sure some people, especially those that are used to using their display's speakers, are used to that sort of distortion, though I found it very distracting. I tended to prefer the controls at the midpoint which seemed to give a good balance. The treble I sometimes dialed back if there was a lot of high-end in the recordings as the tweeter wasn't the smoothest.

Thonet & Vander Hoch back

In a smaller room it was pretty much impossible to turn the volume up past the midpoint. This was both because it would be too loud to be comfortable and the tweeter would distort. In a larger room, the Hoch speakers had more than enough headroom to fill up the space. The one problem with self-powered speakers is the internal volume control. Some speakers work around this with a remote but the low price point of the Hoch speakers pretty much precludes this possibility. This means either your source will need volume control or you'll need to have a couple of kids so you can use them as an automatic remote (my personal solution). There is also no provision for level matching the two speakers which is common with self-powered speakers. If you need to do this you'll have to do it at the source (very possible if your source is a receiver or a computer).

Inside the Hoch

Breaking open the Hoch speakers, I found a two channel, 35 watts each, amplifier. The enclosure is crafted out of HDAA which seems to be specific to Thonet & Vander. Rather than explain it to you (since it looks like MDF or HDF to me), I'll let them:

After years of arduous work of our engineering and development department, we have managed to create this noble material, capable of optimizing 32 % the acoustic capacity of the equipments. It is a natural polymer of high density that when combined, generates a more rigid and dense material than the MDF manufactured today. These properties prevent vibration and leakage of sound, enabling a more accurate, efficient and sustainable performance.

Now, just so you know, many things are called "noble" on their website so I'm betting that's a translation thing. The enclosure itself is only braced at the edges. The Hoch speakers fail the knock test but you could tell that by the lack of bracing. There is a rear port that is flared on the outside for additional bass. The Hoch sport a 1" silk dome (also called 'noble') tweeter and two 5.25" woven fiber midrange drivers. The midranges have stamped baskets (expected at this price point). All in all, the quality of the drivers are at least as good as I'd expect out of a $200 pair of speakers, not to mention speakers that are self powered.

Tweeter                                                    Woofer

Amp, power supply, and connections

Thonet & Vander Hoch Sound Quality Tests and Conclusion

I paired the Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers with the Emotiva Stealth DC-1 DAC/Preamp in my office and the Oppo DV-970HD DVD player in my home theater. With the Emotiva, I connected it to my computer via USB to access my high quality studio master files and CD quality tracks. In the home theater, I used a number of testing discs. Testing speakers with treble and bass controls isn't the easiest so I took one aspect at a time. The bass response on the Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers is a claimed 50Hz to 20kHz. When listening to test tones, I could hear output down to 50Hz but it wasn't very authoritative. The real bass response didn't kick in until closer to 60 or 70Hz. When playing material with really low bass (like yello's Junior B or Seal's Crazy), the lack of bass was really apparent. There were even some songs where the bass guitar would have a run where the lowest note would be absent. Some type of integrated subwoofer support would definitely be appreciated to remedy this problem.

The cool thing about the Hoch speakers was that the bass never distorted. When I tried playing with the bass control to get additional bass, the speakers didn't try to play lower than they could. The frequency response just rolled off cleanly. This is much preferable, to my mind, than a speaker that doesn't have a high-pass filter in place. Give me no bass before you give me bad bass.

The high end, however, was not as clean. While silk-dome tweeters are a very popular (some would say noble) tweeter choice, the Hoch tweeters distorted and clipped in my tests. Some of the electronica music I use for testing, in particular, was very harsh and distorted. I tended to dial back the treble control when I played that type of music. This helped but is really a stop-gap.

Rubber pads on the bottom to damp vibrations

If I had to describe the Hoch speakers, I'd call them forward. The music all seemed to hover far in front of the speakers. In nearfield tests because, let's be honest, many people are going to use self-powered speakers at a desk, the Hoch speakers were positively holographic. With little to no toe-in, they presented a 3D image that was stunning. At these lower volumes, the tweeter issue was much less noticeable. In larger venues and from greater distances, the Hoch speakers presented a very wide soundstage and had fantastic off-axis response. They were forgiving of placement, needed little toe-in, and were very enjoyable to listen to.

There seemed to be a definite emphasis on the midrange with the Hoch speakers but that may be partly because of how I had the treble and bass knobs set. They presented a very rich and lush sound particularly with female vocalists. I was really impressed with how engaging artists like Morcheeba were through the Hoch speakers. As much as I was not impressed with the fit and finish of the speakers, I was that much more impressed with how good they sounded. They are a large speaker for a bookshelf but they sound even bigger. I could easily see these as an alternative to a soundbar for someone that wants more sound with a wider soundstage. If you have a soundbar that isn't filling your space, the Hoch speakers may be the perfect solution. Plus, from across the room, they look just fine.

Measurements

I ran a quick 1/2 meter measurement of the Thonet & Vander Hoch speaker. I used my Berhringer ECM8000 mic professionally calibrated by Cross Spectrum Labs in conjunction with True RTA. The way this works is you buy the mic from Cross Spectrum and they provide a correction file for your specific mic that works with your measurement program. Each microphone is calibrated against an ANSI-certified reference microphone to account for any inaccuracies in the particular mic. The measurement was taken on axis at 1/2 meter with 1/24 octave smoothing. I placed 4" panel absorbers to the sides of the mic and speaker to help damp as much of the room as I could. The with/without panel measurements showed a significant difference. I set the volume as loud as I dared and the treble/bass controls to their midpoint.

1/2 Meter Measurement of the Thonet & Vander Hoch

Taking into account that the room is certainly playing a factor, the dropoff of the bass and what looks to be in line with what I heard. The speakers measured very flat overall with a bit of emphasis in the midrange. As the treble and bass knobs could take some of this emphasis away, the measurements confirmed what I heard.

Conclusion

It's hard to find serious faults with the Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers. For $200, you would expect a lot less than they provide. The aesthetics are good as long as you don't get too close. The performance is admirable and can best most speakers in the same price point. Most notably, they don't try give you too much bass and distort in the process. The Thonet & Vander Hoch speakers will give you all the bass they can until they can't - and then they'll give you none. This is exactly what I like to see in a speaker. Honestly, you'll probably never miss it anyhow. If you decide to use these nearfield, you're going to have an image that you won't believe. I don't think that holographic is too strong of a word for what I experienced. If you are on a budget, or just want to decent second pair of self-powered speakers for another room, the Thonet & Vander Hoch Bookshelves are a great choice.

Thonet & Vander Hoch Self-Powered Bookshelf Speakers

MSRP: $199/pair

www.thonet-vander.com

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value