Large selection of speakers in the series allows you to collect a variety of options for home theater or stereo system for rooms of different size.
Success Strategy
The famous German brand HECO turns 62 in 2011. Not every company can brag of such a long history in the industry, where it is necessary to keep up with technological progress and constantly win the marketing battles with numerous competitors. The success of HECO, at least recently, is connected with the policy: to make not superexpensive High-End but simply good acoustic systems for reasonable money, gradually but systematically improving own technologies and production quality.
Today HECO headquarters are located in Pulheim Pulheim near Cologne where the company’s engineers develop new models using modern mathematical apparatus and laser measuring complex Klippel for data collection and analysis.
In the 2011 catalog the company showed along with the flagship speaker The Statement, which embodies all the current achievements of HECO, six more series of speakers, including Life-Style speakers from the line of Music Colors 100 and in-wall speakers Install.
The Victa II lineup we are interested in is the youngest in the series of “full-fledged” HECO series, that is series in which all types of speakers are presented: floor-standing and shelf models, “centers” and active subwoofers. The Roman twin in the name means the modification of an older version of the line.
While series composition and cabinet sizes remain unchanged, models now come with improved drivers. The color scheme of the Victa II is different. But first things first.
New old acquaintances?
The Victa II series includes seven versatile speakers: three floor-standing models – 701, 601, 501, two shelf speakers – 301 and 201,
Center 101 center speaker and Sub 251A active subwoofer. The cabinets of the speakers are made of MDF panels with curved sides, which not only look nice, but also prevent the emergence of internal standing waves. The cabinets of the floorstanding models are further strengthened by horizontal couplers and bulkheads separating the HF compartments.
The extravagant 601’s slimmer cabinets are mounted on a small wooden plinth for better stability. Floor-standing models Victa II can be placed on metallic spikes or rubber washers. All the series speakers have a strictly rear mounted, bass-inverter type enclosures. The speakers have gold plated connection terminals, and all “older” models, starting from 301, allow Bi-Wiring. The speakers are presented in three colors: Black, Espresso, Cognac. These colors correspond to the colors of black ash, dark rosewood and beech.
All series speakers except the smallest hi-fi Victa 201 and the “center” have new tweeters with a fabric dome of artificial silk. The designers increased the diameter of the squeaker – 25 mm instead of 20 mm, which allowed to increase the power of the radiators. In addition, the Victa II tweeters feature ferrofluid cooling, a neodymium magnet, and a metal platter forming a shallow horn to control sound dispersion.
MF/HF drive unit diaphragms are made of long fiber cellulose as before. Speakers include 25mm voice coils of Kapton and ferrite magnets. However, in the Victa II series HECO specialists optimized the performance of the mid-woofers with the already mentioned Klippel complex. As a result of all the listed improvements the separation filters’ circuits got their portion of refinement.
Victa Sub 251A lineup subwoofer seems to have undergone the fewest changes. Just like its series sisters, the woofer cabinets are made of MDF sheet metal with curved sides. The front is allotted for a large woofer with a diaphragm from compressed paper with a diameter of 250 mm, inside the subwoofer is enclosed a 100-watt amplifier.
On the back panel you will find a double inverter port, a control box with level and cut-off frequency controls 50-200 Hz , high and low level inputs – all the settings needed for a device of its class. Mounts subwoofer on four rubber feet. In general, despite the budget status of the Victa II lineup, the updated speakers are solidly made and have not lost their visual appeal.
Can anyone share their experience with the HECO Victa line of loudspeakers? How would you rate the sound quality and overall performance? Any recommendations or drawbacks to consider before purchasing? Thank you for your input!