Viking Acoustic - Fantom speakers


My wife came with me to Washington State from West Texas on a road trip, to millercarbon's Chuxpona 21. My wife and I have been fortunate to travel the least few years for our wedding anniversary each year, with a road trip. I’m seeing more of America (I’m Australian, she’s Belarusian).

Our first night stop was in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Audiogon member wilgolf (willgolf?), wanted me to have the opportunity to meet with the designer/owner of Viking Acoustics in Santa Fe, who made his speakers. Fortunately, it was Saturday (my wife sleeps in on Saturdays whenever she can) and I left early to meet David Counsell at his workshop, like pretty early. I was warmly welcomed and we’d already discussed allowing me to use my digital front end with his amp and speakers.

I’ve been to Scandanavia; Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and like the ships they built, David didn’t deliver small, not a bit. After I managed to get my digital gear assembled, we got straight into listening to his speakers, he was so accommodating I was allowed to also use my FoilFlex cables.

I’d guess nearly all who might read this already know that generally, we should consider that loudspeakers are designed for a reasonably varied size of listening room. Designers will know that different sized rooms will load differently and speakers of appropriate sizes and designs work better in different environments.

It’s not unreasonable to see speaker choice as a solution to enjoy music in your specific environment. The Viking Acoustic Fantom horn speakers (I have not heard any of the rest of his arsenal) are a larger room solution for music pleasure. I am not a polished, seasoned reviewer, though I love this sport and have heard some pretty fantastic sounding gear in my days.

I was given the privilege to hear the Fantoms with my digital front end, giving me the chance to have at least something of a reference. The room interaction, and the horn speaker sound were all entirely foreign to me. I told David at the end of our listening session, as I rushed to gather my wife as I’d stayed longer than expected (which actually does say something about the sound), I don’t know if I’ve come across the Bugatti or Ferrari of horn speakers or not, because this is my first listen to horn loaded speakers.
128x128rixthetrick
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Fix,
In Santa Fe I hope you made it to Gestault Audio?
@chorus - The F is directly under the R on my keyboard, you were asking me? 

[I'm just going to presume so]



I was in enough trouble from my wife as it is. Really.
We were on our way to Washington State, we were in Colorado briefly and Utah, I must have passed by dozens of hifi shops on our way up, without a visit to any of them. Super glad willgolf managed to get me an intro, and I met Dave early in the morning, before stores open. I feel very fortunate, not many people are that accommodating to someone they’ve never met.

I kinda didn’t want to share the hour of the day, so nobody else might expect such an early tour. I didn’t have time to wait for normal trading hours, Dave is a very generous guy, my circumstances were pushed for time on my nearly 2000mi trip up.

I was also directed to another hifi store in Seattle, but I did not dare make the day anything other than about my wife, on that particular day I could have gone, was the 13th, our anniversary. So unfortunately, I couldn’t go hifi shop touring, we did loads of sightseeing. Moab arches, Twin Falls, Mt Rainier, Multnumah Falls, Lake Tahoe (sadly smoked out, like a Scottish fog, it was thick and impenetrable) and Yosemite before a mad dash back to where gas prices were sane through Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas.

It was literally $2 a gallon cheaper not long after leaving California.
Rix we get bike lanes and 16 lane freeways…ha.

What a cool thread, less ego and more sharing. I have family and audio friends in Phoenix…. will advise when contemplating a run down there…

@mr_m Tim sounds like there is audio group near you.

best to all

Jim
@tvad,
If you decide to do this adventurous road trip,  I and I’m sure others will be interested in your listening impressions of this intriguing Tubemaster speaker. Would you take your Audio Note amplifiers along or would it be too much of a hassle?
Charles
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