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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
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.
hbarrel's avatar
hbarrel
342 posts
 
Alon backwards... www.nolaspeakers.com
My hometheater set-up has Alon speakers.
lennychen OP
28 posts
 
Well, I just wanted to try to finish off this thread (thanks for reminding me).

I ended up with Reference 3A, specifically the Dulcet model they have described here: http://www.reference3a.com/dulcet.htm

Hong Kong is a small place with small apartments, so I figured large speakers wouldn't go well here. These mini monitors are truly outstanding given their size. Very open and clear, and well defined bass. However, speaker placement from the rear wall (as they are rear ported) and in the room and stands seem quite crucial to get best mix of soundstage, clarity, and bass definition. I have yet to finalize the best position, as I have just moved into a new apartment.

They are very transparent (almost as transparent as the open baffle design in the Alons) and go well with tube amplifiers. But I have a feeling they go even better with solid state, because I used them with a solid state for a short while before going back to tubes. (Also, from what I've heard, it seems that the mm de Capo i goes even better with tubes...but this was somewhat out of my budget.) Well, I shall I have to wait until my tube amplifier calls it quits to take it up another notch.

Overall I'm happy with the Dulcets and I would definitely recommend them if you're looking for an Alon-ish sound in a small space.
sherod
1,690 posts
 
Lennychen,
I'm glad to see that you are settled in your Hong Kong apartment with a system to enjoy. I also still have my Dulcets powered by VAC Musicbloc tube amps. I can't imagine solid state sounding any better. You are correct in that the Dulcet need to be pulled away from the back wall a bit in order to balance the bass and fill out the soundstage. I'm sure that with a little tweaking of your room and system, you'll be able to come up with an enjoyable sound system. Also, remember to use the best interconnects, power cords and speaker cables in order to extract that ultimate final sound quality. Enjoy your Dulcet.
cdc
1,714 posts
 
Bummer, I was going to recommend these:
Snell K7 $1,250
or their bigger brother:
Snell J7 $1,800

I think they would go well with tubes. Hand made in Massachusetts.
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