Clear and clean. Good sound around the corner and down the hall. Some bubbles in the finish on one unit. Not real fussy about placement, but...IMO, they are bass shy in my room.

Alas the Alon II's (MkI). The object of my affection for the last two years. Granted it took lots of experimentation to unveil their true colors. My setup includes a Wadia 830 CD, Krell KAV300i amp and a Tice Audio Solo AV power conditioner with MIT Proline cables. But oh what a sound. Crisp articulate highs, generous midrange and an awesome bass are only some of the attributes. Hear the vocalist breathe into the microphone, the clarity of wind instruments and the plucking of strings as never before. You won't move tons of air and the soundstage is a little less than superb, but what do you expect from a speaker in the $2000 range. People rant and rave about affordable electrostatics, but I'll stick with my Alons.

I recently got a pair of Alon II Mark IIs.
I got them 6 mo old for $1450.00

To say these speakers are amazing is an understatement.

I have not heard an Alon speaker I have not liked.

Even new at 2500.00, these speakers seem like a STEAL.

All I can say... is if 2500.00 is too much, then consider the Alon I Mark II. The Alon I speakers sound very much like the Alon II speakers. And for 1800.00 the Alon I are definitely a STEAL.

Sincerely,

Keith
aka the Mad Monarchist

Wonderful!!
Auditioned these against a pair of Dunlavy Series 4 (retail price approx. $6,000) that were half-price but I still preferred the openness of the Alons and the deeper bass. I also listened to other makes including Kef Reference 2s, B&W 804s, Von Schweikerts VR4s, Celestion A3s, Monitor Audio Silver Series, PSB Silver Stratus and Audio Physic Sparks. Many good speakers among that list but only the Alons made me catch my breath on first hearing them and left me eagerly heading toward the CD player with the next test CD at the end of each track.
I can't improve on the descriptions offered by the other reviewers below, but I fully endorse what they have written, except for the point about being bass-shy? This is certainly not an issue for me.
My other components are a CAL Icon Mrk II CD player,Krell KAV300i integrated amp, XLO ref.1 interconnect XLO speaker cable.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING, DEPTH, VOICES AND INSTRUMENTS ARE ACURATE AND BELIEVABLE. EASY TO LISTEN TO FOR LONG PERIODS.

NONE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.

I LISTEN TO MODERN JAZZ AND ACOUSTIC MUSIC MOSTLY. THESE SPEAKERS ARE LIKE NOTHING ELSE I'VE HEARD. TO MY EARS, THEY ARE EXTREMELY ACURATE TO THE INSTRUMENTS. PRESENT A VERY LARGE SOUNDSTAGE, AND ARE JUST A JOY TO LISTEN TO.
I STRONGLY SUGGEST AN AUDITION TO ANYONE SEARCHING FOR SPEAKERS IN THIS PRICE RANGE.(THESE ARE THE ALON II MKII'S)
BTW THESE SOUND JUST AS GOOD WITH CLASSICAL AND ROCK.

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SOLD MY MONITOR AUDIO SILVER 5I'S AFTER 1 YEAR. HAVE LISTENED TO MANY OTHER BRANDS OVER THE YEARS.

For speakers under $2500 the Alon II's blew may away. Before purchasing the Alon II's I auditioned over a dozen pairs of speakers in the $1500 - $3000 range from B&W, Boston Acoustics, Epos, NHT, KEF, Mission, Klipsh, Cambridge Soundworks and Thiel. None of these could hold a candle to the Alon II. What separated the Alons from the rest of the pack was incredible imaging and clarity, crisp articulate highs, balanced midrange, fast and powerful bass and an overall sense of neutrality. All the other speakers seemed to show some coloration or deficiencies compared to the Alons. If anything, the Alons should reveal the shortcomings in your system and not the other way around. Whatever flaws seem to exist in the Alon are minor, you can expect to pay twice as much for better sounding speakers.
When I took them home, I was amazed at how well they sounded when paired with my Rotel 980BX and Parasound C/DP-1000 and Rega 2. All my CD's and LP's suddenly took on a new life that made them a sheer joy to listen to. I give them 5 stars at their price point. To be sure, there are better speakers out there, like some of the higher model Alons.

My salesman use to say "it's the best thing that ever happened in the speaker industry... Finnaly a speaker that made a giant step in sound reproduction."
Well this was in de year 1993 when I bough them and even now I don't think you find better speakers in this price range....
I won't give a minor but they are unforgiven when you don't hook them on serious equipment. Yes, they can play bad, more then other brands. The reason why is they are very neutral and just waiting for the right input. And I'm not talking just about the power amp. When you use a wrong interconnect, these speakers will make it sound worse then other brands. It proves how neutral they are. And I believe a speaker should act that way.....
Beautiful soundstage....clean and open...with no harsnes and a firm bass...
Can't ask for more in this price range.....

Precise & articulate; seamless transition from highs - mids - bass; open & expansive soundstage; neutrality allows character of front end components to shine through.

neutrality allows character of front end compnents to shine through

First and foremost - WOW!!!

I did alot of searching for loudspeakers, about a year's worth. I wanted a system that would kick on HT but also tantilize me in two channel as well. I narrowed my search down to Monitor Audio Silver 9s, Vandersteen IIs, and the beloved Maggies. I must admit I absolutely adored the good ol' Maggies for their opennesss, couldn't see them for HT, so my choices were narrowed to two. On a whim I popped into CSA Audio in Montclair, NJ to see what they had. Who'd have guessed I would run into Carl Marchisotto from Acarian Systems! In talking with him, he insisted I listen to the Alon IIs. I must admit that they were a bit out of my price range (about $2500 retail), but as Carl said "Just listen to 'em and you'll have to have them... The rest, shall we say, is history.

My speakers aren't even adequately broken in yet and they have not stopped amazing me. I've found renewed love with my entire CD collection. They have the articulation of the Monitor Audios (without the significant brightness!), the deep soundstaging of the Vandersteen IIs (without the upper rolloff),and openess/airiness comparable to the Maggies (no speakers in this price range can beat the Maggies in this area!). Best of all, to this combination they add deep, torso vibrating bass and seamless transitions from highs to mids to lows.

With all this praise also comes a warning - be sure to have a solid front end with these speakers as they are truly neutral. They will not cover up deficiencies in your equipment. Spend the money on a quality pre-amp and amp setup. Also, try different cable / interconnect setups. I first tried Arcarian's Black Orpheus, but found the sound a bit muddied in the mid and lower bass, and rolled off in the highs. I then tried Transparent Musicwave Bi-wires and was blown away. The lows became tight and deeeeeep, while the highs and mids opened up wide.

I can't rave enough about these speakers - thanks to Carl and the guys at CSA for turning me onto my beloved loudspeakers for years to come. If you have the cash, you owe it to yourself to give these speakers a serious listen.

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extensive listening tests conducted with B&W, monitor audio, Magnapan, vandersteen