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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
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.
sns
3,006 posts
 
Another vote for staying with Alon. The closest you will come to the Alon sound is with planars, and even then the sound will be quite different. Alon's have a certain soundstaging and imaging that is quite unlike anything else out there, again, planars come closest. Any box speaker will sound relatively closed in once you've become accustomed to the Alon sound. You should also try the Nola website, Alon is now called Nola, virtually the same speaker line, Carl still in charge.
Moving up in the Alon/Nola line is also quite ear opening, the Alnico drivers are really quite fine.
lennychen OP
28 posts
 
Thanks everyone, for the support and well wishes. This is why I love the community at Audiogon!

I would really love to stay with Alons, but Hong Kong is a much smaller and crowded place (think Manhattan)...hence I'm not sure where I will be living can accomodate such large speakers. I think it would be more practical to move to quality full-range bookshelf speakers or mini-floorstanders. A sub could be added to help with the bass later, if needed.

Any suggestions in the bookshelf realm that are open? Does anyone know about the Nola Mini's? I'm really not looking to spend more than $2-3k.

Thanks,

Leonard
sherod
1,690 posts
 

If you're going with monitors or mini-monitors, for a small place in Hong Kong, go with the Reference 3A Dulcet mini-monitors or the Decapo i monitors. I think you'll be happy with either of these without sacrificing what you had with the Alons. I have the Dulcet and am very pleased with their musicality. Good luck.
lennychen OP
28 posts
 
Just returned from a week in South America. Sherod, thanks for your advice. I'll do my research and try to get a listen to both of these.
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