L'Instrument - Viking Acoustics

tima

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Mar 3, 2014
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I saw @John57 's post and his mention of Viking-Acoustics L'Instrument speaker *. Did a search and found a few mentions of different speakers from Viking-Acoustics. Several said they want to hear them. Showrooms at two corners of the US.

Does anyone else have experience with these speakers? Can you tell me about them? What size room?

TIA

* note: oddly the link above and other V-A pages have sound on as a default - there is a small pause button on the screen. I thought that sort of thing went out along with flaming java logs in the 20th C - oh well, it's not bad music, just unexpected
 

jeff1225

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Jan 29, 2012
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I heard this discontinued model at a show a few years ago and was very impressed. It has a seamless natural sound, very engaging, musical, but the soundstage was on the small side. Sounded like a pair of Tannoy Red's to my ears. It was paired with a low wattage push/pull tube amp and vinyl. My kind of music making for sure.

1638294439015.png
 

loki1957

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I had a pair of L'instrument in my room for a month and I really hated to give them back. I am using his Tube Master's now which I love as well. The L'instrument does everything the TM's do but more of it. Midrange and bass to die for. David tells me he is not going to make L' instrument anymore. So sad. He's promoting Speaker X now. I'm really looking forward to hearing them.
My room is 17x17. My amps are Allnic A 5000 dht's. More than enough power for the speakers.
 
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Solypsa

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Interesting cone profiles on the Tube Masters- anyone know who makes those?
 

Willgolf

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I am hosting a few Audiogon fellows I have never met at my house in Arizona on Friday. I have the Viking Acoustic Grande Voix Dual horn speakers. You can read about my speaker journey on WBF or Audiogon. I think it is under Will's Horn finalist in WBF..

To make a long story short I went on a USA tour to listen to speakers from New York to California over a period of a year. I had Wilson Audio and Sonus Faber prior to buying the Grande Voix. I heard every major speaker imaginable. I never thought I would end up with a horn speaker. And then I talked to and met David Counsell at Viking.

The Grande Voix is a show speaker. Everyone who comes to my home loves the look. Now you don't buy speakers based on looks but when you have a wife involved that is a consideration.

My decision came down to Avantegarde Duo's, hORN Universum or the Grande Voix. The GV's speakers blew away any of the speakers I heard up to the $70k price point. How would I describe the sound? Well, it is like being in the third row of an acoustically perfect symphony orchestra. Just to be clear, the acoustic in my large room suck. But these speakers make up for that. A very wide soundstage, very musical, loves live music, great for hearing each individual instrument on Jazz albums, and they voice very clearly.

Viking is a boutique speaker maker out of Sante Fe, NM. I visited David's studio and heard Tubemaster, Fantom and Berlin. After hearing Fantom, I custom ordered the Grande Voix. David is an artist and an engineer.

If you are ever near Arizona you are welcome to listen. I suggest you try and get a hold of David in Sante Fe and just discuss his line of speakers.
 

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Addicted to hifi

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I am hosting a few Audiogon fellows I have never met at my house in Arizona on Friday. I have the Viking Acoustic Grande Voix Dual horn speakers. You can read about my speaker journey on WBF or Audiogon. I think it is under Will's Horn finalist in WBF..

To make a long story short I went on a USA tour to listen to speakers from New York to California over a period of a year. I had Wilson Audio and Sonus Faber prior to buying the Grande Voix. I heard every major speaker imaginable. I never thought I would end up with a horn speaker. And then I talked to and met David Counsell at Viking.

The Grande Voix is a show speaker. Everyone who comes to my home loves the look. Now you don't buy speakers based on looks but when you have a wife involved that is a consideration.

My decision came down to Avantegarde Duo's, hORN Universum or the Grande Voix. The GV's speakers blew away any of the speakers I heard up to the $70k price point. How would I describe the sound? Well, it is like being in the third row of an acoustically perfect symphony orchestra. Just to be clear, the acoustic in my large room suck. But these speakers make up for that. A very wide soundstage, very musical, loves live music, great for hearing each individual instrument on Jazz albums, and they voice very clearly.

Viking is a boutique speaker maker out of Sante Fe, NM. I visited David's studio and heard Tubemaster, Fantom and Berlin. After hearing Fantom, I custom ordered the Grande Voix. David is an artist and an engineer.

If you are ever near Arizona you are welcome to listen. I suggest you try and get a hold of David in Sante Fe and just discuss his line of speakers.
Beautiful horns I like them.nice Mac amps as well.
 

Willgolf

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Beautiful horns I like them.nice Mac amps as well.
Thank you but they are actually Canary Audio Grand Reference Mono Amps with 16 Western Electric 300B tubes in them. I also have the Canary Audio C1800 Pre-Amp, Lampiazator Pacific and Lucas Audio Music Server.
 
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thomask

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Thank you but they are actually Canary Audio Grand Reference Mono Amps with 16 Western Electric 300B tubes in them. I also have the Canary Audio C1800 Pre-Amp, Lampiazator Pacific and Lucas Audio Music Server.
Could you upload the video of the sound from your speakerr?

Cellphone will work with Youtube.

thanks
 

DaveC

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Viking is a boutique speaker maker out of Sante Fe, NM. I visited David's studio and heard Tubemaster, Fantom and Berlin. After hearing Fantom, I custom ordered the Grande Voix. David is an artist and an engineer.

Agreed! This is a very good description as he does consider his speakers as music-making instruments and as an engineer myself I was extremely skeptical as some of the approaches he uses are not conventional and even diametrically opposed to some other designer's ethos.

However, upon listening I was really impressed! This was maybe 15 yeas ago when dc10 audio first got to RMAF. Since then they changed names to Viking Acoustics. I showed with them at RMAF when they were dc10 and carried Audio Tekne tube electronics, maybe 7 years ago or so... it was a really nice sounding system!

As for sound I'd explain it as a combination of vintage and modern, they are generally high efficiency and use low-slope crossover or no crossovers. The horns and cabs are designed to add some pleasant tone, and this seems to work without homogenizing everything and/or sounding off. The speakers seem to embellish reverb and decay in a way that our ears perceive as correct, which can actually add to the perceived clarity and resolution of the music.

Maybe not the last word in symphonic reproduction, for this they won't beat Sonja XV or the like, but I'm not sure any speaker can give you both a simpler, high-eff speaker with very few crossover components in the way as well as reproduce very complex music with the last word in accuracy and precision. However I think Viking strikes a great balance of compromises for many audio enthusiasts.
 

Willgolf

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Could you upload the video of the sound from your speakerr?

Cellphone will work with Youtube.

thanks
Thomas
I would love to and tried using my cell phone and it sounded like crap. I am investigating buying a microphone so I can record better. I would love to get a Youtube video of the Grande Voix's because there currently is not one available. You may want to call David Counsell at Viking. He is currently building a pair of Grande Voix's for an audio friend from Colorado.
 

Willgolf

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Thanks for your report - I'll look for your WBF thread on your 'journey'. I'm thinking you have the pro studio version. Nice looking in your photo. Quick question: Does the Grande Voix convincingly do large scale orchestral music?
I am listiening to Mahler now. Thx for music. It sounds reallly really good. Are you thinking about selling your Wilsoon Alexx?
 
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tima

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I am listiening to Mahler now. Thx for music. It sounds reallly really good. Are you thinking about selling your Wilsoon Alexx?

Thanks for the follow-up. The VA speakers are new to me. And yes, I am considering a speaker change but have not committed to anything at this point. I have an inclination to the Lamm ML2.2 amps (20W into 8 Ohms) so I'd first look at a good match-up.

Both the Grand Voix and L'instrument are interesting in construction and visually appealing - and made in the US. @loki1957 commented that V-A would not make the L'instrument any more which makes me wonder what part of their lineup is on-going and which are limited term. Could be worth a trip to the southwest!
 
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loki1957

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Thanks for the follow-up. The VA speakers are new to me. And yes, I am considering a speaker change but have not committed to anything at this point. I have an inclination to the Lamm ML2.2 amps (20W into 8 Ohms) so I'd first look at a good match-up.

Both the Grand Voix and L'instrument are interesting in construction and visually appealing - and made in the US. @loki1957 commented that V-A would not make the L'instrument any more which makes me wonder what part of their lineup is on-going and which are limited term. Could be worth a trip to the southwest!
David is hot on his Speaker X and Phantom. I've heard the Phantoms at his studio and all I can say is wow! Huge everything. I could easily live with them except for the size. Speaker X I have yet to hear.
He's moving away from his hand turned horns. The guy is quite difficult to work with so I'm told. So sad as I really wanted a pair of L'instrument. His Speaker X's are very innovative. They don't resemble any speaker I've ever seen.
 
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Willgolf

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Jul 21, 2019
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Thanks for the follow-up. The VA speakers are new to me. And yes, I am considering a speaker change but have not committed to anything at this point. I have an inclination to the Lamm ML2.2 amps (20W into 8 Ohms) so I'd first look at a good match-up.

Both the Grand Voix and L'instrument are interesting in construction and visually appealing - and made in the US. @loki1957 commented that V-A would not make the L'instrument any more which makes me wonder what part of their lineup is on-going and which are limited term. Could be worth a trip to the southwest!
I agree with Loki. He is focusing on Fantom and Speaker X. I have heard the Fantom but not Speaker X. I do think he has had a problem with the guy who was hand turning his wood horns. My hope, if my assumption is correct, is that he finds someone else to turn the horns. I know he wants me to buy the Gottenburgs but my wife said no dice.
 
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