Wood color of my Audio Note UK AN-E/SPx HE Alnico hemp speakers, had a request for a pic..

Hi Don,
Just a couple of suggestions for you to consider as an interim measure to your upgrade path, firstly find someone who can replace the resistors in your Meishu with the new silver resistors. If you want to stagger the job, just start with the pre amp board and you will then start looking for a second job to pay for the rest. Secondly, regarding the ELROG ER 300B tubes require at least 70 hours run time to come on song, under 50 hours and they sound pretty ordinary. There also was a change internally in the construction which had a significant impact on the sound of the tubes leading to an improvement that is quite obvious but the serial numbers need to be 900 and above. The reliability has also dramatically improved with the modification.
I have the AN-E Alnico SPe Signatures and you are on the right track, just keep going.

 

Encore;
Thanks for sharing that. It is interesting the different experiences people get with the same gear. I was quite surprised when the two fellows in England shared their opinion on the Alnicos and how in the end they preferred the SPE HE. I can respect that. However, the sound that you describe from the Alnicos would be right up my alley.

I have put hundreds of hours on my SPE HEs and the bass has calmed down quite a bit. I am a little limited in how much I can alter my room to help in that manner, as my floor is a wood suspended floor with a three foot crawl space below. I have one more trick up my sleeve to help though : ) I feel like I am very close to getting the most absolute best out of my system. This has been a bit of an adventure, but with some work, the system has been coming together very nicely. My questions regarding the Alnico version are really to satisfy my curiosity about what is a slightly legendary performer.

Steve;

I appreciate you sharing your experiences. This gives the rest of us a chance to enjoy the same gear somewhat through your reviews and postings. Your statement of "the fatigue free playback of the AN stuff was what I had been searching for" is almost exactly how I felt. That is the reason that once I had spent a little time hearing a few pieces of AN gear, I have switched my system almost entirely to Audio Note. I had a pretty good solid state based system and I kept thinking that I should be more emotionally involved in the music, especially for the amount invested. When I have asked about components farther up the AN food chain, it is because I keep feeling that if my system is this enjoyable now, how much more wonderfulness would be added by upgrading this or that part..... Hence my questions regarding Alnico AN Es or M6 Phono or Jinro/Ginrei....

 

But gaol is just weird.

 

Ok, so I have to apologize for being so long winded and slightly without focus on my last couple of postings yesterday. I had covered over 20,000 miles in the previous five days for work and jet lag had definitely set in! Put the iPad down Don and respond tomorrow ; )

As I mentioned in the posting above, although I have added a lot of Audio Note gear in the last year and a half, that was because I had sold off my previous system piece by piece and upgraded to AN gear as each piece was replaced. So, although it may appear as though I was in a rush, that wasn't really the case - I have a lifetime of experience with different but mostly solid state gear. Once I had heard what I liked, it just made sense to sell off my old gear and order the appropriate piece from AN (and then wait a few months for it to be built!).

So, with the TT-2 Deluxe coming next week, that is the last piece in my system for quite a while. (I have no more pieces of old hifi/old electric guitars/Canon L series lenses/etc. to sell to fund any more changes). I foresee 'one last upgrade' to the speakers or integrated when I am much closer to retirement in about nine years. In the meantime I will live vicariously through you and Warren (and anyone else) regarding the sound of a Jinro/Tomei or M3/M6.

I really am enjoying what I have. I noticed yesterday that these new tubes (Shuguang WE 300B Replicas) didn't allow me to focus on the various audiophile parts of the music, such as sound staging or imaging. I kept getting lost in the enjoyment of the music!

 

Thanks Finn. I had planned on putting in El Rog 300Bs into my Meishu Silver last year, but several people warned me away from them due to their reliability issues. As I have had two pairs of Sophia Royal Princess 300Bs die on me (U.S. $1200/pair), I am looking for a far more reliable tube! I have it on good faith that the Shuguang WE Replicas are far more robust. They sound terrific so far : )

I am sitting on the fence regarding the upgrading to silver resistors. I keep hearing good things about them and how much people have been amazed at the improvements that they gave. My local dealer, who has a very good technician, tells me that any modified piece is much harder to sell, even if it is AN parts that are put inside. He feels that I should save the money for an upgrade to an M3 Phono or M6 Phono.

 

The M6 Phono was what I put the silver resistors in and the difference it made was such that the Dac4 is on the table this week and the parts count is done for the Conqueror Silver Signature already. I had already done the mod to 2 watt tants on the M6 so wasn't going from the standard 1 watt. T here is so little AN stuff out there secondhand that it shouldn't be a problem selling it if the mods are done carefully and with the right components, but there also are some horrific jobs done by people who should never go near a soldering iron.

 

Wow! That should be a stunning combination. The M6 Phono with the Conqueror Silver Signature. Do you mind sharing what each silver resistor costs? Each 2W tantalum? I appreciate it!

 

Calm down!

 

You are always trying to limit my fun

 

Depending on the deal you can get, somewhere around $55 each for the silvers, $15 for the 2 watt tants. I also replaced the copper foil caps with silver foil at the same time so it was a reasonable chunk of change. This system runs a pair of AN-E SPe HE which work very well with the electronics, very effortless and lot of fun.

 

Steve,

I agree with you about the characterization of AN 2a3 amps. They ARE able to deliver a detailed and vivid sound (I own Kageki monoblocs). The Kageki sounds like a less powerful version of the Gaku-On in some systems. I have heard a Kageki modified to run 45s and I like that sound, perhaps even more than when they run 2a3s (a little more bass weight and punch, not as analytical sounding). I have also tried the Kageki with EML tubes, both the meshplate and the regular solid plates. The meshplates are really quite good and they work well in AN amps (they can be short-lived in amps that run them hard.

I have NOT run the Kageki in my system with an AN linestage (my stubborn insistence on something with remotely controlled volume and a balance control), but it worked well with my Emotive Audio Epifania and even with my custom-built version of a Western Electric linestage (Kageki worked well with the transformer output of this linestage; most amps don't do as well with the transformer output of this linestage).

The other AN stuff I have is a 4-meter run of Sogon interconnect wire and a 2-meter pair of Sogon speaker wire. I got to hear a .5 meter run of Sootto interconnect running between a DAC-5 signature and an M9 linestage and that was a bit depressing (surprisingly better than the Sogon).

 

Two countries separated by a common language. . . .

 

Lol. I work at a Cadillac dealer and we sell aftermarket Vogue tires. They actually read VOGUE TYRE on the sidewalls.

 

I don't have any Audio Note gear but I can vouch for the new Audio Note Silver resistors. I recently installed several in my linestage and power amps (Emotive Epifania and Vitas and DIY SE amps) and the improvements were quite satisfying. The resistors are expensive but so far each one has more than justified the cost.

 

And tire is tyre, and yes we do drive on the correct side of the road, LOL

 

And in Scotland, we deep fry both!

 

(Twice over it would seem!)

 

Yes I think they did. Sometime around 1909. We have an old Caddy in the showroom from that era and it is fully intact and functional. Plain sidewalls on that one though.

 

You heard this system in this room?

Oh right. You didn't.

 

sorry, I shouldnt have said that.

 

First....count me in as a huge Audio Note fan. Thanks very much for the AN threads around here. Larry, could you please elaborate on the compatibility of your preamp to various amps? I also have a WE linestage. Mine is an Aldo. Is yours the same? I hadn't heard this about compatibility issue so I would welcome your comments. I'm running mine with a P3 silver signature. With WE 300Bs. It sounds very good to my ears but I would love to hear more. Thanks.....Vernon.