As a long time Alon and Nola owner and having a pair of Nola Viper 1A's in the main rig and a pair of Alon Lotus SE mk ll's in another both driven by tube amps, I can say with extensive experience that the Viper 1 and ll's are a trickle down speaker from the Viper Reference, which use AlNiCo magnet tweeters and midrange drivers. When the tweeter and midrange drivers are upgraded in the Viper 1A and the Tweeter upgraded in the Viper llA's to the Viper Reference AlNiCo drivers, this alone makes a very substantial difference in musicality and purity.
Keep in mind it is not the same tweeter with an AlNiCo magnet thrown on but a totally different animal and a MUCH higher resolution driver and the same holds true for the midrange driver. I have upgraded both the midrange and the tweeter drivers in my pair of Viper 1A's and the results are NOT subtle. Music takes on a sense of ease and purity that one recognizes as "musicality" and a purity that is very addictive and revealed that my digital source in the main rig was not as flawed as I thought it was as heard thru the stock drivers.
One can also upgrade the Aluminum bass drivers to the magnesium bass drivers used in the Viper Reference in both the Viper 1A and llA's with the Viper 1A now being designated the 1X of which I plan to do but Nola is currently back ordered on the magnesium bass drivers.
Long story short, if one's budget cannot accomodate the Viper Reference, one can buy either the 1A or the llA and upgrade the drivers when ones budget allows and come VERY close the Viper Reference performance in a smaller package and it is well worth the money as once one hears what the AlNiCo drvers bring to the party, it is very hard to live without them :-)
Keep in mind it is not the same tweeter with an AlNiCo magnet thrown on but a totally different animal and a MUCH higher resolution driver and the same holds true for the midrange driver. I have upgraded both the midrange and the tweeter drivers in my pair of Viper 1A's and the results are NOT subtle. Music takes on a sense of ease and purity that one recognizes as "musicality" and a purity that is very addictive and revealed that my digital source in the main rig was not as flawed as I thought it was as heard thru the stock drivers.
One can also upgrade the Aluminum bass drivers to the magnesium bass drivers used in the Viper Reference in both the Viper 1A and llA's with the Viper 1A now being designated the 1X of which I plan to do but Nola is currently back ordered on the magnesium bass drivers.
Long story short, if one's budget cannot accomodate the Viper Reference, one can buy either the 1A or the llA and upgrade the drivers when ones budget allows and come VERY close the Viper Reference performance in a smaller package and it is well worth the money as once one hears what the AlNiCo drvers bring to the party, it is very hard to live without them :-)