My wife came with me to Washington State from West Texas on a road trip, to millercarbon's Chuxpona 21. My wife and I have been fortunate to travel the least few years for our wedding anniversary each year, with a road trip. I’m seeing more of America (I’m Australian, she’s Belarusian).
Our first night stop was in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Audiogon member wilgolf (willgolf?), wanted me to have the opportunity to meet with the designer/owner of Viking Acoustics in Santa Fe, who made his speakers. Fortunately, it was Saturday (my wife sleeps in on Saturdays whenever she can) and I left early to meet David Counsell at his workshop, like pretty early. I was warmly welcomed and we’d already discussed allowing me to use my digital front end with his amp and speakers.
I’ve been to Scandanavia; Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and like the ships they built, David didn’t deliver small, not a bit. After I managed to get my digital gear assembled, we got straight into listening to his speakers, he was so accommodating I was allowed to also use my FoilFlex cables.
I’d guess nearly all who might read this already know that generally, we should consider that loudspeakers are designed for a reasonably varied size of listening room. Designers will know that different sized rooms will load differently and speakers of appropriate sizes and designs work better in different environments.
It’s not unreasonable to see speaker choice as a solution to enjoy music in your specific environment. The Viking Acoustic Fantom horn speakers (I have not heard any of the rest of his arsenal) are a larger room solution for music pleasure. I am not a polished, seasoned reviewer, though I love this sport and have heard some pretty fantastic sounding gear in my days.
I was given the privilege to hear the Fantoms with my digital front end, giving me the chance to have at least something of a reference. The room interaction, and the horn speaker sound were all entirely foreign to me. I told David at the end of our listening session, as I rushed to gather my wife as I’d stayed longer than expected (which actually does say something about the sound), I don’t know if I’ve come across the Bugatti or Ferrari of horn speakers or not, because this is my first listen to horn loaded speakers.
So, what did I hear? The room was a large factory of sorts, if you ask me the sizes, I’m going to have to ask David too. I’ll just say these deliver a big controlled sound, and as I’d not encountered loaded horns before, I didn’t previously know that the horn itself controls how it loads the room.
David is a bass lover, he outright told me that, and they were not lacking in authentic sounding musical bass. After going over his design with him, and as he showed me where the speakers port and load into the horn (oh hell, I don’t know the technical jargon) I was shown that the cabinets weren’t entirely inert, he’d designed a baffle in the back port area, I would imagine acting like a passive driver configuration? Either way, the sound they produced was exciting, clear and still controlled well by the horn.
As far as a large room solution goes, these were obviously created to play large orchestral movements with authority, and to be fair, it was a workshop, without thousands invested in room treatment and it was more like a cathedral shaped open plan living room. And yet it sounded very good to me, with everything I played on them. His German amplifier, the build may have been an ex-tank manufacturing plant, it was big and bold in keeping with the rest of his gear. He had a reel to reel player on the rack, if you want to know his reference.
If you have a largish room, and you need a quiet touristic place to take your wife as an excuse to go hear some extraordinary loaded horn speakers, this is a winner. You might just leave with your wallet a little lighter though, just saying. I have a small room, thankfully!
I personally love hornspeakers and Viking Acoustics looks very interesting. I don't doubt it was an excellent ear opening audition. And very nice of David to let you bring some of your own gear in to use.
When I went on my original cross country speaker search, I never thought I would end up buying a horn speaker. Once I heard the AvantGarde Uno Fino it just totally changed my mind about horns. So my journey changed to a horn search. I had at least 25 recommendations from fellow A'Goners and WBF's.
One of them mentioned Viking Acoustic, which I never heard of. After meeting David Counsell and hearing them in his studio and studying his craftsmanship, I was sold. There is something about a boutique speaker maker which I like. One, the personal attention and communication you get. Two, being able to discuss my musical nuances so that he can tailor the speaker to your desire. And finally, to be able to upgrade within his line.
You can read about my impression about Viking Acoustic in my thread called " Viking Acoustic L'Instrument Grande Voix first impressions".
Viking Acoustic has a very diverse set of speakers. Rixthetrick talked strictly of the Fantom which I also heard in his studio. But for smaller sound rooms or budgets he has the Berlin R ranging all the way up to the Gottenburg (my dream speaker). In addition, they have their own line of amps, cables, interconnects and power cords.
I am not a shill for Viking. I had Wilson Audio and Sonus Faber Amati Tradition Homage speakers before. I can tell you that my Grande Voix blows them away by a country mile. If nothing else check out their website.
Anyone in Arizona or the local audio club is welcome to hear a demo at my house.
Willgolf, It is always reassuring to see that I am not the only person who will travel to wherever to hear gear of interest. I am also in Phoenix and would enjoy the chance to hear your treasures! Not knowledgeable about how to PM folks.
wilgolf and glory, I didn't know that you guys were in Phoenix. I am as well. I would love to hear your speakers wilgolf. I own the Viking reference tube preamplifier and love it. I have never heard their speakers but would love to. Is there a chance that we might all get together?
Roxy I figured it was old and kinda funny. And too bad it sounds like you have an excellent system. Gazing longingly at audioporn is one of my favorite pursuits.
All are welcome. You are welcome now if you want and we can set up anytime. However, I am in the process of trying to order 16-18 Western Electric 300 B tubes for my amps. I have to sell some stock first. I am also trying to work with LMC and Vicoustic on a few wife allowed room treatments. I do not have dedicated music room.
I have a list of local guys I would like to invite over. I really want input on my system because I am not an expert and I have thick skin. I am looking for honest assessments.
I live in Gold Canyon at Superstition Mountain Golf and CC. By the way my speaker journey took me from New Jersey to LA so I heard a ton of speakers. If anyone is having trouble sleeping at night and would like to read my journey...lol
@tvad - Call David Counsell. He is hard to get a hold of and just listen to his story. He can tell you all about the Tubemaster. He is a wealth of speaker information. No pressure at all!!!
Fix, In Santa Fe I hope you made it to Gestault Audio?
@chorus - The F is directly under the R on my keyboard, you were asking me?
[I'm just going to
presume so]
I was in enough trouble from my wife as it is. Really. We were on our way to Washington State, we were in Colorado briefly and Utah, I must have passed by dozens of hifi shops on our way up, without a visit to any of them. Super glad willgolf managed to get me an intro, and I met Dave early in the morning, before stores open. I feel very fortunate, not many people are that accommodating to someone they’ve never met.
I kinda didn’t want to share the hour of the day, so nobody else might expect such an early tour. I didn’t have time to wait for normal trading hours, Dave is a very generous guy, my circumstances were pushed for time on my nearly 2000mi trip up.
I was also directed to another hifi store in Seattle, but I did not dare make the day anything other than about my wife, on that particular day I could have gone, was the 13th, our anniversary. So unfortunately, I couldn’t go hifi shop touring, we did loads of sightseeing. Moab arches, Twin Falls, Mt Rainier, Multnumah Falls, Lake Tahoe (sadly smoked out, like a Scottish fog, it was thick and impenetrable) and Yosemite before a mad dash back to where gas prices were sane through Arizona, New Mexico and into Texas.
It was literally $2 a gallon cheaper not long after leaving California.
@tvad, If you decide to do this adventurous road trip, I and I’m sure others will be interested in your listening impressions of this intriguing Tubemaster speaker. Would you take your Audio Note amplifiers along or would it be too much of a hassle? Charles
Ricky, My bad on the keying. If we gather I will share the results of my trip to Moab heaven. Please don't say you missed Hawthorne Stereo? Best assortment of British sound in one place. Now he has picked up Dynaudio and Fyne.
tvad, Have some fun on the Amtrak SkyChief Run. LA to ABQ I believe. I took it to clear to Kansas once to buy some army surplus.
18 watts of Audio Note 300B PSET would seem an absolutely beautiful pairing with the Viking Tube Master with power to spare. I strongly suspect that this speaker (high sensitivity and easy impedance load/curve) could driven very comfortably with a good quality 2A3 SET. Charles
One of you guys talking to David Counsell should convince him to do some audio shows next year, assuming they return. A lot of us obviously would love to hear his speakers!
Hearing your first good horn speaker can be a real ear opener for sure, the detail, dynamics, sound projection, and accuracy can be scary good compared to other types of speakers especially in less than optimal rooms and setups.
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