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Tis a sad, sad day...

...for today I sold my beloved Alon I Mk IIs, because they would be very difficult, expensive, and dangerous to ship to Hong Kong, where I am moving to in a few weeks.

I had this wonderful pair of speakers for almost three years and enjoyed their amazing musicality - tuneful bass, silky vocals, and crystal clear highs. They just sounded so open with their unusual open-baffle design.

I auditioned a couple of replacements (that I could have exchanged for) - Spendor's S3/5SE and a pair of Sonus Faber Concertinos - but I still longed for the Alon sound.

For those familiar with it: Is there anything out there that sounds similar? I tried looking up Acarian Systems' current catalog, but their website seems down. My initial thought is B&W's Nautilus 805, which I remember sounds quite open, but I've heard they prefer solid state.

I will be driving them with a 40wpc EL34 tubed Jolida JD202A, modified by Parts Connexion. A Musical Fidelity A3 CD Player and A3.24 DAC will be my source.

Any help in cheering up a mourning Alon lover would be tremendously appreciated.

Best Regards,

Leonard
lennychen
woodman's avatar
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woodman
152 posts
 
While I have never owned the N 805s, the best I ever heard them sound was in a store in Ft. Worth being driven by McIntosh, but sorry I do not remember model. I do remember they had a pair of 802 in the same room being driven by.....opps, not sure. But I do remember on female vocals the 805s sounded better to my taste. Good luck in your move and happy listening.
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
Len,

You might want to post another thread inquiring into the typical pricing & sales tax rates in Hong Kong. If equivalent gear there costs more than at home, you might be better off bringing something with you.
I beg to differ with your original assumptions. It's not that expensive to ship overseas, and if you have original packing, & insurance, you are unlikely to have a problem w/damage. Sure, it happens sometimes, but a small % of the time. I've sold speakers and shipped them to Korea by Fedex and BAX Global with reasonable cost and no trouble.
That being said, there's a pr of Alon IIs on A-gon for $925. A big improvement over the Is, and would be fine w/your amp. Make it an upgrade day, not a sad day! Cheers,
Spencer
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Sell the rest of your U.S. system before you go and buy everything new in H.K. Zu has a very large presence in Asia, much bigger than here and a much better speaker than the ones you sold. I have some Chinese tube equipment that is both excellent and cheap here in the States. Have to assume it is even cheaper there.
I agree with Jaybo, shop over there where high end is flourishing.
norfish
75 posts
 
I have owned a pair of Alon Circe's for about 4 years now so I know where you are coming from. The Alon's are very underrated. I have been looking at possible replacements for a year now and nothing I have heard for under 25k has been a clear improvement over the Circe's.

Good luck on your move and hope that you find audio bliss in HK!

Randy
sherod
1,690 posts
 

I'm with Sbank. Stay in the Alon line and upgrade to remain happy. Good luck and best wishes in your move to Hong Kong.
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