Thanks everyone for your responses!
Tom: I just purchased a reconditioned set of Allison Fours, but I appreciate the heads up. I hope those go to a good home.
Jaybo: I'm still mourning the loss the of reborn Allison speakers myself, but they're definitely dead as a dodo. What a bummer. However, sounds like you were one of the lucky ones to get a new pair of speakers. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the market and didn't have that sort of money when these were released, but maybe one day I'll snag some used/new Allisons. It is nice to know they've still got that nice classic Allison sound.
Buconero: I'm ashamed to say that, until this thread, I was completely unaware of RA Labs and RDL Acoustics being related to Roy Allison. Now that you mention it I feel silly, but I just never put them together and never gave them a thought. I will definitely give them a look.
Larry: I understand your POV, but I think that perhaps you don't realize that your position isn't very far off from mine of many others. Take myself: I really like the classic Allison designs. So now that I've found a designer that I like (I also like Maggies and, once upon a time, Vandersteens... long story) I can either audition the speakers or buy them to see what I like. The problem is that most of the Allison speakers are old, so auditioning is not really possible. That leaves finding gems I can afford on the cheap to see how (in this case) Allison's different speakers sound.
You see, from my POV, I -am- choosing sound first, because I am choosing a designer with whom I am familiar and I like, and working to find his products for a price that I am comfortable. That way if it doesn't work out I can resell it (usually without much of any loss; just shipping generally).
But I understand your POV as well, given that each design, as well as each design element--not to mention the other components--each affect the sound.
-Aaron
Tom: I just purchased a reconditioned set of Allison Fours, but I appreciate the heads up. I hope those go to a good home.
Jaybo: I'm still mourning the loss the of reborn Allison speakers myself, but they're definitely dead as a dodo. What a bummer. However, sounds like you were one of the lucky ones to get a new pair of speakers. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the market and didn't have that sort of money when these were released, but maybe one day I'll snag some used/new Allisons. It is nice to know they've still got that nice classic Allison sound.
Buconero: I'm ashamed to say that, until this thread, I was completely unaware of RA Labs and RDL Acoustics being related to Roy Allison. Now that you mention it I feel silly, but I just never put them together and never gave them a thought. I will definitely give them a look.
Larry: I understand your POV, but I think that perhaps you don't realize that your position isn't very far off from mine of many others. Take myself: I really like the classic Allison designs. So now that I've found a designer that I like (I also like Maggies and, once upon a time, Vandersteens... long story) I can either audition the speakers or buy them to see what I like. The problem is that most of the Allison speakers are old, so auditioning is not really possible. That leaves finding gems I can afford on the cheap to see how (in this case) Allison's different speakers sound.
You see, from my POV, I -am- choosing sound first, because I am choosing a designer with whom I am familiar and I like, and working to find his products for a price that I am comfortable. That way if it doesn't work out I can resell it (usually without much of any loss; just shipping generally).
But I understand your POV as well, given that each design, as well as each design element--not to mention the other components--each affect the sound.
-Aaron