Anyone heard of Alon Adriana monitors

I came to know the Adriannas reasonably well over several weeks. They are certainly one of the world's best monitors. Their sound was to my ears EXTREMELY clean, but not edgy or sharp. They did not add warmth or lushness to the sound, but were able to reproduce warmth if the recording had it. The aboslute "clarity" of the sound was quite amazing, without "throwing" the details at you, like some other supposedly clear sounding speakers. I hate to use the tired cliche "I heard things I had never heard before", but these were the first speakers I could honestly say that about. The subtle nuances are there, with exactly the right amount of "subtleness".

In comparison to others, they seemed to be faster and cleaner sounding than Sonus Fabers Electa Amator's. The Adrianna's were not as sharp sounding as Thiels, not as warm as Proacs, but livelier and more involving than Wilsons.

All alons have a hard to describe quality, which I can only summarize as a "linear dynamic range". By that I mean the entire sound stays the same throughout the volume range. From the quiet parts of music at low listening levels, to a real life female vocal level, to a powerful orchestra at higher levels, their character, clarity, and rythem keep the same life. I have found this to be a very involving aspect of Alons in general, especially the Adriannas.

Also, they love tube amps, even low powered ones. I was totaly immersed with single ended on them.

The bass is amazing for their size, but not quite enough in larger rooms. In my smaller room (14' x 15'), the bass was full enough for my tastes, but in my larger room (20' x 24') the bass could not quite get to the point of being able to "feel" it. Though even in a big room, the bass was rythmic, and stuck with the music, and certainly cleaner than a lot of big woofers I have heard.

Lastly, they are spell binding in near-field listening, especially if the speakers are like 10 feet out into the room. Their dipole design recreates a vast soundstage, which combined with their crystal clarity makes for a very realistic, "they are here" type of sound. Quite amazing in this aspect really, even compared to Logans and Maggies for example. (I much prefer the dynamics of good cones myself, but that's another story).

All in all, a wonderful speaker in my opinion. I let my pair go because I wanted to fill my big room. yet, I think of them fondly at least every couple of months.....

Audiofile9 thanks for the detailed response. Did you own a pair of Adrianas at one point or did you demo a pair? Can you tell me more about the Adrianas and how they would compare to the best of the best monitors out there? What speakers did you end up getting? Can you send me an email stating either how much you sold them for or how much you were considering to buy them for? thanks again

Soulja, I owned a pair for about two months. I subsequently traded them in towards a pair of the Alon Circe, which were in a similar price range but were a floor standing speaker. The Circe's filled my large room more effectively than the Adrianna's, but I was sacrificing a lot of the magic in return for a more flexible speaker that could do large orchestras and home theater. If I could have afforded both, I would have kept the Adriannas in my small room on a 300B SE amp for an intimate system. My dealer threw in a pair of Alon's Petites which are actually pretty darn good for a grand. In terms of pricing, I remember the Adriannas listing for about $10k, as did the Circe. I had a chance at a demo pair of Adriannas for about $7k, but didn't make a move. They seem to be quite rare on the used market now, so I would have no idea what they're worth these days.

In terms of comparison to other monitors, I have not gotten to know any monitors in the last 5 years or so (listening at the shows or at dealers does not count as getting to know them in my opinion). Thus I can not comment on any of the current world contenders. At the time, the Sonus Faber Electa's were the "ones to beat", and I thought the Adriannas had it in spades. Best of luck with your next decision.