Alon/Nola sound

To this day one of the most impressive systems I've ever heard included one of Carl's four-tower reference speakers at a NYC audio show several years ago. The man knows what he's doing. In my experience his speakers are never bright sounding, just exceedingly natural. One of my top five speaker designers, although I will say some of his designs look a little more like woodshop projects compared to some of the more polished cabinetry out there. Not that those pretty speakers sound as good, which is what matters most at least to me.

The early versions of the Alon speakers were a little hard on the top and with the open top end design and Alon using a larger woofer in some models IVs & Vs they could sound like the overall coherence and balance was not there and as mentioned not what I expected for $15,000. I am cheap so I purchase most of my components used for a better ROI. The early versions use pretty standard caps which can be a DIY upgraded. The next generation depending on model had a better overall balance. Most people I know who came from a more box type of speaker heard something different and may find the Alons unbalanced. Being more open with more speed the bass did not always keep up and that effected the sound in the mids. The newer versions I thought sounded excellent but not on all material. Value for the buck, well not for me. I'll wait to find a used pair cheap. Also I found that placing come dampening material behind the speaker If you cannot get them out in to the room helps with the any hardness in the top end. Since they are so open, you get more room interaction.

Happy Listening.

I recently purchased a pair of the Nola KO's and am VERY happy with their performance. Currently have them with Pass Labs XA-100.5's but Carl says I haven't heard them until I try tubes with them, going to have to do that as if they're better with tubes it's going to be heavenly....

You mention that you've added outriggers and tipped the speakers back slightly. I have Viper II's and per their instructions I use the longer spikes in front, and the shorter in the rear, in order to give a slight tipping up of the speakers. Are you tipping yours a greater amount than this stock spike setup? I'm curious, because I'm happy with mine as they are, but if I could gain ground by tipping them up more, it would be worth a try.

I have Alon IIs and there's nothing bright or hard about them. Also, the overall coherence and balance is outstanding. The "problem" with them is that they are extremely revealing of everything else in your playback chain, which means if brightness or imbalance is being introduced elsewhere, you'll definitely hear it through the Alons. They're also sensitive to room placement. Bottom line: They have near 'stat transparency but with dynamics to die for.