Audio Note UK AN-E LX/Signature System

Audio Note in the house! Thanks to Nick Gowan I have a pair of AZ-Two Deluxe singing my tunes while the factory is busy building my speakers.
Nick was kind enough to lend me AZ and a Rega Brio 3 until my stuff arrives. I can now see what the fuss is all about. Listening to the Thelonious Monk in Tokyo LP, the bass and cymbals are so musical. Also the level of details I can observe! Imagine, that this is only an entry level system and what my eventual system will sound like..

 

Hi Steve,

The thing to remember is...?

(Did you forget?!)

 

Congrats - Audio Note's entry level really isn't entry level - An all zero system is pretty great. Which speaker did you wind up ordering? And which finish did you choose? A lot of options on the finish. Cheers,

 

Ordered AN E LX HE Signature. I loved the olive wood finish but none of the finishes matches my furniture (industrial mango wood) so decided to go with Black Ash. On the electronics current thinking is to go with Oto phono SE Sig unless until I learn of an integrated amp better than Oto through this forum. I found out I cannot accommodate separates (pre/amp) right now due to space limitation. I am also replacing my Nottingham Spacedeck tonearm to AN tonearm and getting IQ3 cartridge.

 

Congratulations!

I have an Oto phono SE Sig, and love it.

 

You might find interesting my own road towards AN joy, auditioning both the AN/E and Oto Phono SE Sig at Week of Audio Note UK Heaven! I'm not sure if you have the exact same AN/E as @Warren Jarrett , but his speakers are pure joy. While auditioning the Oto Sig with the AN/Es, I almost missed a meeting one day because I just couldn't bear to press the off button on SACD player!

 

I admit that my quite basic AN/E-LX-HE sound really phenomenal with my Empress 2A3 amps. I take them to audio shows and people stay in my room for hours at a time. But the AN/E-LX-HE-Signature is a gigantic jump in every sonic way.

 

Pics dang it! I don't read.

 

OK, here it is... I am very, very tempted to switch the order of Oto to M3 Phono & a pair of Conquest. I am trying to make space in the rack to fit the amps. If I were to make this happen, this will be the end-game system for me (as I truly don't want to go through another $$upgrade$$!). I will probably get M3 new, and opt for used Conquests. Wondering how much do used Conquests go for...

 

If you are considering mono blocks, what I generally recommend with the signature version of the AN-E's is to place the power amps and x-overs onto a custom small rack , one above each other and use long interconnects and short speaker cable. Something like AN-Vx for the interconnect and SPx for the speaker cable from the amp down to the x- over, you could get away with 0.5 mtr biwire. Personally I would have suggested the SPe version of the speaker you ordered and make sure you get the double c-core versions of the power amps if you buy the conquests second hand as they sound much better than the standard IE version. You will end up with a very enjoyable system and Lee and Nick are 2 individuals who I met at a audio note distributor conference and were an absolute delight.

 

Yes, I most certainly read and enjoyed your experience with AN. Thanks for sharing!

 

Finn: Thanks for the suggestions. Might you have a link to the custom rack that you mention? The speakers I ordered will have long crossover cables so I can hide the crossover boxes in my rack & to have shorter speaker cables. Reason I went with LX instead of SPe is because I don't have other components in my system that have silver wiring.

 

It will be more financial layout at the beginning, but I can share from my own personal experience that you will really enjoy your M3 Phono and Conquests for a very long time! You would have definitely enjoyed the OTO SE Signature Phono as well, but this is an entirely different level and one that if you are like me, you won't feel the need to change, period (My only temptation is that I would love to have a stereo amp to not have quite as much territory in the living room taken up by my rack - but I don't think that will ever happen). I had my Io Gold MC cartridge damaged accidentally by our cleaning lady and I was using an AN-S2/H SUT with a Denon 103 cartridge, which sounded nice, but a bit uninspiring, as I had been spoiled by an AN-S8/Lo and Io Gold combination.

The Io Gold arrived a few days ago as did the AN-S8 (minor fix to a very slightly loose interconnect caused by our last move). Put them both back into the system and I am hearing (Bob Marley's Exodus) a sound system once again that I like more than (almost) any other system that I have heard. Maybe we enjoy it more because it is your own?! All I know is that when you spin your LPs on your system with the (broken in) AN-Es and your new tonearm and cartridge, on the M3/Conquest combo, you will have a smile on your face that doesn't go away : ) They are built to last a generation and the fact that you can put on a record any time you are home from work and enjoy beautiful sound, is a wonderful thing!!

We are a terrible influence on this board and your wallet takes a beating, but you will be happy ; )

 

If I had an Io Gold and S8, I wouldn't choose an Oto (this is for sure) and maybe I too would entertain an amp with a little more "magic" than the Oto Signature. But the jump to Signature is a big sonic difference without a big cost difference. The Oto Signature is really very fine sounding into the higher-end AN speakers, and with higher-end source material. In fact, pairing the Oto's Signature transformers and capacitors with the E speaker's Signature crossovers is very significant, a good level match.

Nevertheless, it is a matter of each owner's goals, his financial budget and keeping equipment within close to the same "level". Writeface's goal of playing an IQ3 directly into the phono stage is a big level jump below an Io Gold and S8 step-up. So, in my opinion, an Oto Signature is as logical a choice for him as upgrading to separates.

What about the next upgrade too, considering an M3 Signature and Conquest Signature amps? Yeah, though, that's a big jump in price.

This all said, an M3 and Conquests into AN/E-LX-HE-Sig speakers... wow... very nice. An Oto Signature into those speakers, also very nice. More along the lines of different rather than likely to."feel the need to.change" someday.

 

Don, Warren: Thank you both for valuable input.

I am getting a chance to test a used pair of conquests to drive AN AZ-Two DLX before I can make up mind. I don't have an M3 or a Oto to pair with it for now.

 

Re you aware that LX is copper and below SP-E which is 17 strands of silver?

 

Yes, he knows that any LX model is copper wired, and the one step up (more expensive) upgrade is Spe, silver wired.

 

Thanks Warren

John - Yes, I considered SPe but decided against it as I heard the real benefits with silver are evident only with the higher end silver wiring "SPx".

 

Mostly, not "only". Everytime you add even a little AN silver wire (Spe or Spx), there is some increase in open-ness and airy-ness. But, once you start, you're going to want to keep going, and that gets expensive.

 

Warren, if I choose AN SPE HE Sig but connect to Conquests by LX cable, LX interconnects to M3, will I still notice an improvement in sound over AN LX HE Sig? Thanks

 

The answer is an emphatic yes. Even that little bit of silver cable inside the speaker and in the crossover conductors will make noticeable improvements in detail and liveliness. This is especially true of the Signature model speakers compared to the non-Signature. These are not big sonic differences, but definitely noticable.

 

I am now a proud owner of a used pair of conquests now! One of the amps is giving some trouble but Nick will fix it. The wallet is unrecognizable

 

Have upgraded my speaker choice to SPe. Thank you!

 

I believe that is a very wise decision, speaking as the owner of two silver wired AN-E pairs of speakers.