Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

RE: Nola Viper 1A

Being a current owner of Viper 1A's, I can shed some light here for you.

Since the Viper's are very resolving, setup and equipment choice are extremely important for a musical presentation and accurate soundstage.

My initial amp was a Pass Labs Aleph 3 that while a very good match, was a little threadbare and anemic. Next up was a McIntosh MC275 that brought the Viper's alive. The more power you can feed them the better and the Viper's will let you know just how good your amp choice is. As with all Alon/Nola speakers, a tube amp is highly recommended.

Bi-wire is essential as it has always been with Carl's designs which are true bi-wire capable having 2 seperate x-overs with point to point wiring. I currently use AQ Volcano Bi-wire cables with 72VDC DBS which are a very good match as is MIT although I haven't tried the latest MIT cables and there is also Synergistic Research cables of which employ active shielding which I will report on here in the near future.

The spikes and tilt back(rake angle) are extremely important especially getting the rake angle correct for your listening position which will ensure proper soundstage reproduction which is a Nola/Alon hallmark. Placement in the room should be given a lot of consideration but this will ulimately be determined by WAF and your decor. You should also consider some room treatment such as the ASC tube trap products but this would be true of any high quality transducer. With proper room treatment products, you can place the Viper's closer to the walls without detriment but at the very least, try to use the rule of thirds if possible and a diagonal setup is prefered.

If one is forced to place the Viper's close to the walls, one can use strips of foam placed edge on behind the midrange and tweeter to damp the rear waves. For more detailed info on this, contact me directly thru the AA.

Cheers,

~kenster


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  VH Audio  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • RE: Nola Viper 1A - kenster 13:36:50 01/13/09 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.