Will's Horn Finalists

[djsina2]

I have now selected the amps to go with my Viking Grande Voix. Out are the Mola Mola Kaluga and Makua Amps and in are Canary Audio M600 Mono 300B tube amp and the C1800 Reference Dual Mono two chassis tube Pre-amp. My streamer is the Lumin X-1. Now all I need is a now house to play them in. Framing starts tomorrow. Theater Room equipment is my next project.

When are your Viking due to be completed?

 

[Willgolf]

My guess is March but I am not in a hurry as I am building a house. I don't want to move them twice.

 

[Willgolf]

Well, prior to the M600's 300B mono's being produced, I decided to upgrade to the Canary Audio Grand Reference 2 300B mono Amps. 16 300B Gold Lion PX tubes to prrrr in my system. Looking forward to musical bliss.

 

[christoph]

Well, prior to the M600's 300B mono's being produced, I decided to upgrade to the Canary Audio Grand Reference 2 300B mono Amps. 16 300B Gold Lion PX tubes to prrrr in my system. Looking forward to musical bliss.

Congrats to those beautiful looking beasts

16 times 300B?
Ouch, that will be extremely expensive to retube, should you decide to go all Takatsuki 300B matched quads

 

[morricab]

Like Keith, I have been on a similar speaker mission. I sold my home and my two channel system which included SF Amati Tradition Homage speakers, Raven Integrated Reflection MK2 tube amp and a Lumin X-1 DAC / Streamer. I am building a new home and I will have a separate Theater Room that is strictly for Movies and Sports. My two channel area is not a dedicated listening room but it is a combination Great Room and Kitchen. It measures 18ft wide by 35ft long. The ceilings are Cathedral starting at 12ft going to 16ft. The floors will be porcelain tile, but will have a large rug to help dampen some of the sound reflection. The speakers will be placed pretty close to the wall but not right up against them. Oh, I am building a modern home so the speakers need to also look somewhat modern in addition to sounding awesome.

I have been touring the USA listening to various speakers and I love the horn sound. Unfortunately, it is hard to hear horn speakers as there are not that many available here. I am jealous of the Europeans from that perspective. These speakers are my finalists: Avantgarde Duo XD, hORNS Universum, BD Design Sigmas, Viking Grande Voix. I am also looking at AudioKinesis. Duke Is building a speaker that is not out yet that could meet my needs. I will match the amp later after I select the speakers. All of the speakers are similar in price except the Avantgarde Duo XD. They are almost $20k more than the other speakers I mentioned in the USA. Given that, it might be my last choice unless I could get a fantastic deal somewhere. I am probably going to add two in wall subwoofers. My spouse will not allow me to have two subs on the floor in addition to the speakers. I am lucky that she is allowing me the horn speakers. Please don't tell me I should consider any other speaker. I am exhausted.

I listen to all kind of music but favor Indie Rock, Indie Acoustic, Jazz, Classical, Folk, Country. I want to be able to hear instruments ( guitar twang, cymbals, trumpet etc) even at low volume levels. I am not a vinyl guy. I love the Lumin Dac/ Streamer.

I would appreciate your views on what you think is best and why. Also, I would appreciate what Amp / Pre Amp / or Integrated would work with your recommendation. I am intrigued by the Viking Grande Voix if anyone has heard them.

Aries Cerat electronics will fit the bill nicely...we even sell horn speakers (Symphonia and Contendo Ref). For 100db+ horns something like the Genus integrated or Concero 25 monos + Incito S preamp would make a killer addition.

 

[wil]

Avante

By the way I really like the Avantgarde duo's just not below 100hz.. it's there where I feel they are weak. Otherwise, beautiful and cracking good high-resolution sound.

The active bass on the Duo Mezzo XD's is great!

 

[Willgolf]

Congrats to those beautiful looking beasts

16 times 300B?
Ouch, that will be extremely expensive to retube, should you decide to go all Takatsuki 300B matched quads

Wow $2,500 for each tube. That would be a rather expensive endeavor. Maybe after I win the Lottery.

 

[Exlibris]

Like Keith, I have been on a similar speaker mission. I sold my home and my two channel system which included SF Amati Tradition Homage speakers, Raven Integrated Reflection MK2 tube amp and a Lumin X-1 DAC / Streamer. I am building a new home and I will have a separate Theater Room that is strictly for Movies and Sports. My two channel area is not a dedicated listening room but it is a combination Great Room and Kitchen. It measures 18ft wide by 35ft long. The ceilings are Cathedral starting at 12ft going to 16ft. The floors will be porcelain tile, but will have a large rug to help dampen some of the sound reflection. The speakers will be placed pretty close to the wall but not right up against them. Oh, I am building a modern home so the speakers need to also look somewhat modern in addition to sounding awesome.

I have been touring the USA listening to various speakers and I love the horn sound. Unfortunately, it is hard to hear horn speakers as there are not that many available here. I am jealous of the Europeans from that perspective. These speakers are my finalists: Avantgarde Duo XD, hORNS Universum, BD Design Sigmas, Viking Grande Voix. I am also looking at AudioKinesis. Duke Is building a speaker that is not out yet that could meet my needs. I will match the amp later after I select the speakers. All of the speakers are similar in price except the Avantgarde Duo XD. They are almost $20k more than the other speakers I mentioned in the USA. Given that, it might be my last choice unless I could get a fantastic deal somewhere. I am probably going to add two in wall subwoofers. My spouse will not allow me to have two subs on the floor in addition to the speakers. I am lucky that she is allowing me the horn speakers. Please don't tell me I should consider any other speaker. I am exhausted.

I listen to all kind of music but favor Indie Rock, Indie Acoustic, Jazz, Classical, Folk, Country. I want to be able to hear instruments ( guitar twang, cymbals, trumpet etc) even at low volume levels. I am not a vinyl guy. I love the Lumin Dac/ Streamer.

I would appreciate your views on what you think is best and why. Also, I would appreciate what Amp / Pre Amp / or Integrated would work with your recommendation. I am intrigued by the Viking Grande Voix if anyone has heard them.

Did you get a chance to audition the hORNS Universum prior to deciding on the Vikings?

 

[Willgolf]

Did you get a chance to audition the hORNS Universum prior to deciding on the Vikings?

Unfortunately, no. There is not one single pair in the USA. If I ordered sight unheard, I would have been the first. I was going off of the comments on this site and You Tube which you can't really tell.

 

[Exlibris]

Unfortunately, no. There is not one single pair in the USA. If I ordered sight unheard, I would have been the first. I was going off of the comments on this site and You Tube which you can't really tell.

I'm in the same boat. My three horn finalists are/were: Odeon No. 33; horns Universum; Tune Audio Anima. Only the first one doesn't require travel to hear.

 

[bonzo75]

I haven't heard the sigma but having heard the BD swings and understanding now what low watt amps like 45, 46, 2a3 can do and that his speakers are usually fit for such amps, I would go with BD. But you will need to know your amps, set up choice, or have access to rotating amps as the wrong match could totally destroy the sound.

My next choice or equal would be the universum but only for classical and jazz. The midrange and highs of the universum are among the very best, like electro stats and very similar in nature to the TAD drivers in the Cessaro gamma. It's bass will be compromised compared to BD

 

[Willgolf]

I'm in the same boat. My three horn finalists are/were: Odeon No. 33; horns Universum; Tune Audio Anima. Only the first one doesn't require travel to hear.

You should talk to Worldwidewholesales - Bob in Canada. He is the hORNS distributor for Canada. I am driving to Sante Fe next week to listen to various Viking Acoustic horns even though I already ordered the Grande Voix.

 

[Exlibris]

You should talk to Worldwidewholesales - Bob in Canada. He is the hORNS distributor for Canada. I am driving to Sante Fe next week to listen to various Viking Acoustic horns even though I already ordered the Grande Voix.

I demoed speakers at Bob's a few years ago and spoke to him about the Universum's at that time. I've also spoken to the Canadian distributor of Tune Audio about the Anima. It would be great if they each brought in those models but their focus right now seems to be on the other models in the respective lineups. In any case, the Universum really is way too big for my loft. I'm going to get past my 'fear of missing out' and pull the trigger on the Odeon No. 33. I've demoed the No. 26 twice now and really love it. That, plus the fact that they will fit in my place, makes the No. 33 a good choice for me personally.

 

[Willgolf]

I demoed speakers at Bob's a few years ago and spoke to him about the Universum's at that time. I've also spoken to the Canadian distributor of Tune Audio about the Anima. It would be great if they each brought in those models but their focus right now seems to be on the other models in the respective lineups. In any case, the Universum really is way too big for my loft. I'm going to get past my 'fear of missing out' and pull the trigger on the Odeon No. 33. I've demoed the No. 26 twice now and really love it. That, plus the fact that they will fit in my place, makes the No. 33 a good choice for me personally.

Congrats on your selection. What color combination did you get? I looked at Odeon through the Canadian Distributor but they were too much money for my blood. Just curious, did you look at the Viking Grande Voix?

 

[Exlibris]

Congrats on your selection. What color combination did you get? I looked at Odeon through the Canadian Distributor but they were too much money for my blood. Just curious, did you look at the Viking Grande Voix?

I'm deciding on colour now and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with this colour scheme:
I believe this is the larger model, the No. 38, but the No. 33 is very similar.
I never did consider the Viking -- the first I heard of it was when reading your thread just this week. Congrats on your selection as well.

 

[Willgolf]

I'm deciding on colour now and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with this colour scheme: View attachment 61528
I believe this is the larger model, the No. 38, but the No. 33 is very similar.
I never did consider the Viking -- the first I heard of it was when reading your thread just this week. Congrats on your selection as well.

I like that a lot. It will be cool. What is your amplification?

 

[rubinken]

I like that a lot. It will be cool. What is your amplification?

Site looks gorgeous on that color

I'm deciding on colour now and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with this colour scheme: View attachment 61528
I believe this is the larger model, the No. 38, but the No. 33 is very similar.
I never did consider the Viking -- the first I heard of it was when reading your thread just this week. Congrats on your selection as well.

Sure looks gorgeous in that color.

 

[Exlibris]

I like that a lot. It will be cool. What is your amplification?

My current amplification is a Thomas Mayer 45/2A3 SET stereo amplifier. I tried it on the Odeon No. 26 but Odeons need more power -- 20 or 30 watts rather than 1.5 or 3.5 watts.
I used a Unison Research S6 (32 watts from EL34s in parallel, ultra-linear mode) and the sound with the Odeons was pretty fantastic.
One option would be to use that and modify it from an integrated to a stereo amp since I already own a preamp.
Another option would be to look for a different parallel single-ended EL34 amp -- preferably one that can be run in triode as opposed to ultra-linear or pentode. Mastersound makes a nice one but it only puts out 10 watts or so.
The Aries Cerat Genus amp, using 813s or 845s (I'm not sure which version sounds better) would be another option.
The Thoress 845 monoblocks is an option as is the Line Magnetic 503-PA.
Beyond that there is a whole world of other 845, 211, and other big-bottle SETs. Many of these, however, are beyond my budget.

 

[bonzo75]

You should look at kronzilla

 

[Exlibris]

You should look at kronzilla

Those are, unfortunately, beyond my budget. I've heard great things about them though.