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Need help from ALON V 's owners.

How can I tell the difference between Alon V and Alon MK III ,I googled and found out the Alon V was made in 1993 and Alon V MK III was in 1999. Is there any manufacture's stampped date anywhere on the speakers and would you think 1200 mile round trip will be worth for the Alon sonically .Any help will be greatly appreciated . Happy the fourth and be safe on the road !
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mingles
796 posts
 
The telltale difference between MkII and MkIII is the grill. The MkIII has a Vandersteen-
type sock over the top. The MkII has a removable grill: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rspkr&1038375059

If you like the Alon sound, you'll love the V's. They have a special sound. Whether it's
worth a 1200 mile trip can only be answered by you, especially with gas prices as they
are. I hope the price is right.
lake513
123 posts
 
I talked to Carl at a CES show way back in the 90's I owned the Alon 5 MK 1 and wanted to update to the then new MK 2 . Carl advised that was not possible because of some cabinet changes [ internal ] and some small changes in crossover and I do not remember maybe a minor driver change. I think I have read that the MK 2 could be updated to a Mk3 That change was the addition of a alnico midrange. Carl also advised Me that you could update the drivers in a MK1 ,MK2 or MK3 to the all alnico drivers from the early Circes I did. There were crossover changes better parts and a minor change in layout but they would work fine in a MK1/ MK2 . Mingles is right about the sock, I like My Alon 5's MK1 with the Circes alnico drivers I also updated the crossovers with better parts but did not change any values in the crossover and moved it outside the cabinet. The Alons now sit in a corner as I have moved on to new speakers but may pull them out just for fun sometime. Marc
lake513
123 posts
 
I now looked over My notes and see the addition of the alnico midrange took place when they went from MK 1 to the MK 2 . The minor crossover change when they went from MK 2 to the MK 3 . Marc
photoalan
4 posts
 
There was also a woofer upgrade at some at point on the MK3. I believe there was a $200 charge. This was mentioned at the end of the last Circe review in the Absolute Sound.

I have the last version of the 5 MK3 which I have upgraded a couple of times. First all alnico magnet drivers. Then about a year ago Carl at Nola built me reference grade outboard crossovers for my Alon 5 MK3. I also went with the latest version of the midrange driver which is used in his newest speakers and the Cardas copper speakers posts he uses. Finally I recently added Carl's IP-1 isolation platforms for the crossovers. He also upgraded my reference crossovers at no charge.

Anyway the sound is light years ahead of my original 5 MK3. Alan
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