Alon/Nola sound

One issue all Nola Viper series owners need to be aware of and that is that the Positive and Negative terminal tabs on the midrange drivers need to be adjusted so as not to come in contact with the cabinet. The midrange opening on the baffle is VERY tight around the back of the driver and the terminal tabs could come in contact with the inside of the midrange baffle opening.

This has a very adverse effect on the midrange if contact is being made as the cabinet vibrations are modulating the midrange driver terminals which results in a somewhat forward/hazy/hard midrange presentation and diminished musicality.

A quick and easy fix is one can take a small flat blade screwdriver and gently pry the terminal tabs up and away from the baffle opening or one can remove the drivers from the baffle and carefully bend the terminals with a pair of small flat tipped pliers. Only a small adjustment is necessary.

I have had this issue three times on my Viper 1X's with the first being the stock Ceramic midrange drivers, the 2nd when I swapped to the 2nd generation AlNiCo midrange drivers and again recently when I upgraded to the new rev lll AlNiCo midrange drivers. The driver tabs already come bent to a ~90 degree angle but additional adjustments have been necessary.

I urge all Viper series owners to inspect and adjust the midrange driver terminal tabs on their speakers as the results are NOT subtle, it's easy and it's free!

Cheers

The Vipers are working, thanks to a fellow audiogoner helping me with what to look for. There was a wire that came loose from one of the resistors on the crossover board. The vipers are sound pretty darn good, and I haven't even dialed them in yet.

I haven't posted in this thread for quite some time. I just need to let it be known that I have installed outriggers on the front of each speaker, and have tilted the speaker back slightly. Improvements were heard immediately. Soundstage and imaging improved substantially.

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.