Audio Note UK gear coming to me for review & studio use, Ginrei, M9, AN-E SPx Alnico, Sogon wire..

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Steve Hoffman, Nov 26, 2014.

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  1. Warren Jarrett

    Warren Jarrett Audio Note (UK) dealer in SoCal/LA-OC In Memoriam

    Location:
    Fullerton, CA
    And I have my new website, just the home page so far, showing photos of the Audio Note gear on display at my audio salon in West Hollywood, plus some of the new Music First Audio gear.

    www.SMAudioCorp.com

    Actually, you are both right because you are referring to two different things. Richard listed the models of cables used for internal wiring in the AN/J and AN/E speaker lines. Finn listed all cables that Audio Note offers as external speaker wire and interconnect cable. At this time, there are no Isis or SPa wired speakers (except possibly by special order).
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2015
  2. Warren Jarrett

    Warren Jarrett Audio Note (UK) dealer in SoCal/LA-OC In Memoriam

    Location:
    Fullerton, CA
    If anyone has any suggestions about my website, to help me make it more useful or interesting, please let me know. I am open to suggestions.

    Right now, on it's first day, it is just a home page. My plan is to add a dedicated page about Music First Audio and another dedicated page about Audio Note. But the most important feature I would like to emphasize is that I have many audio components to loan to customers as demos, to audition in their own homes.

    Sorry this is off topic, but I like the group of people that have been participating in this thread. I would like to hear anyone's comments about what a dealer's website should look like.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2015
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  3. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Yes Warren - I was just talking about the speaker model cables.

    As an aside my experience has been that silver is better within an all Audio Note system - not the case when not an all AN system. Many years back 2002/3 I auditioned the J/(some sort of copper model) versus the J/Spe and the latter was better with the OTO SE which is what I had. The difference was big (to be fair though the wire was not the only thing - the J (copper was chipboard the J/Spe was birch front and back with MDF wrap.

    BUT and this is important to some folks who may have SS gear - comparing the K, J,E-Spe on a Rotel integrated amplifier the copper sounded much better - the silver wired versions came across as nearly unlistenable. In a shootout a guy on another forum bought the K/Spe and I went over to compare and the K/Spe was fatiguing. He was running some Odyssey Stratos amplifiers, Celeste (which I believe is now Sim Audio) and a class T amp (interestingly this $30 amp with some mods bettered the pricey aforementioned gear.

    The LX models have less resolution - and are more forgiving of lesser gear. I know we all want more resolution but I think Peter was very smart with the level approach and it actually does work and it should more or less be heeded. It's not the individual part but the overall system result. And if Joe Audiophile has Rotel gear and he can make one purchase every 4 years - IMO he would be better off going with a copper version of the loudspeaker. Then get into SETs or the SEP OTO and then a NOS CD replay and then cables and then go back to the speaker.

    Silver is for the rich boys - you kind of have to go silver all the way - If you're going to go Spe in the speaker it makes sense to buy Spe cables and silver interconnects. Then buy an amp with at least SOME silver in the transformers - So that means a Quest Silver over a Quest or an Empress Silver over Empress and an M6 over an M3 or a Tomei over a Jinro.

    Warren - I still say you gotta convince AN to sell those corners of yours. From a forum poster who HATED Audio Note show demonstrations and ripped into me numerous times heard your room with the Triangle turntable and came on to the forum declaring it the best sound of the show. You would know him perhaps because he brings vinyl only and probably played Chet Baker. Jack Roberts on our staff also said it was the best sound he has heard from AN.
     
  4. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    That's an understatement. BTW, I feel the same about their speaker line and its convoluted designation. It takes a full-time cryptologist to unravel. Hats of to Warren.
     
  5. Raylinds

    Raylinds Resident Lake Surfer

    Warren,
    I would put the fact that you will loan your equipment for in-home demos very prominently, and talk about the benefits of auditioning equipment in their own listening environment and talk about how something can sound one way in a demo room, and entirely different in one's home.

    I think the site is looking good so far. I am looking forward to drooling over the AN gear. Best of luck with your web site.
     
  6. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Lots of pictures of the gear please.
    :)
     
  7. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    It's fascinating now that I have all of this Audio Note gear how different it all can sound from other AN stuff. But it all has a basic house sound as well. Can really be flavored to the taste of a person if he or she has an idea of what sound is ideal. OTO still the best bang for a buck (or pound).

    And the wire variations are bewildering to me no longer.. The copper stuff is good sounding, special to me as it's what I heard first. The silver wire is unlike all of the silver wire out there I've ever heard. The AN wire is not bright, grainy, aggressive and does not show any of those characteristics that made me shy away from silver wire after a few ear bleeding examples from other companies were sent to me.

    Indeed, the AN silver stuff, even the lower priced silver sounds even more neutral than I ever thought possible. It lets the sound of your electronics come right through without any coloration whatsoever. It gets out of the way of the music and if the gear is good, this is a great benefit. I've never heard a truly neutral wire before this AN silver stuff, I mean, it really lets the sun shine in.
     
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  8. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Hey! I didn't know that I was one of the rich boys :D. Of course, my Meishu Silver isn't in the same price category as the separates you mentioned, but I can pretend to be one of the rich guys!
     
  9. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    How can it be flavored (or flavoured) to the taste of a person? Do they offer options? I'm really attracted to the UK AN. Can you tell us more? And is it possible to provide some experience with the music you've listened to? And, maybe pics?

    Btw, I was just replying to another thread about cables. I have Kimber 8TC speaker cables. And complained about not getting enough bass as I'd like. You replied, "get those Kimbers outtta there!" It's a big room, with high ceilings, almost impossible to pressurize the way it should be. What would you suggest?
     
  10. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    That is a great quote right there and a great endorsement. Warren, I would suggest putting that on your AN page in the cables section (with Steve's permission, of course!). Some, like myself have not necessarily had great experiences with silver cables in the past and that might change someone's mind on where to end up when it comes time to purchase cables.
     
  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Well, flavoring is subtle but it is there. The 211 based Jinro integrated is more delicate than the Genrei (which has double the power and more silver in it) and the Empress 2A3 amps have more detail if one is a detail freak and the OTO has a nice, authoritative signature. The preamps share a singular sound, the true sound of Audio Note, I think, the phono stages, the DACs are also quite similar but the higher up you go in levels the subtle but noticeable changes in reproduction are fully audible. Tube brands also have a signature and can flavor these pure circuits with whatever you like in the way of tonal reproduction. Not a lot but just enough to flavor to taste.

    What I'm trying to say is that I've not heard a clunker yet and the house sound is strong in every component including the speakers. One could be happy with one duo or trio and upgrade later or never upgrade and be happy and content. The stuff is that good (and you know it is, brother or I wouldn't be spending any time with it, I can get almost any gear from any company to play with, I've chosen Audio Note UK) and sometimes (if buying used from fickle audiophiles) there can be amazing bargains. I saw a pair of Genrei monoblocks for sale on line for like 20 grand ($100,000.00 list price) for example and even much less expensive stuff also used.
     
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  12. Henley

    Henley Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    This is how I bought my AN Dac 5 Special a couple of months ago :righton:

    Currently I do not have room for my main system (AN-E Spe Sig, NAF 845 Se and AN Dac 5) so today on my day off I decided to hook up my AN Dac 5 in my second system just for fun, should not have done this.....

    I thought that the impact of a dac swap would be limited given the budget setup in my second system (Rogers Studio 3, Onix OA31, Metrum Nos Mini Dac), boy was I wrong..!

    After a day of playing around I'm currently listening to the old setup again, no life, no colour and very one dimensional :thumbsdow
     
  13. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Yeah, I know tubes can be used to tailor to a taste. I'd like to get a tube pre/amp from AN, based only on what I've read only, that seems like the way to go for me. What speakers would mate well with the AN? I've got a room with high ceilings. Or is that out of the question? Do I have to stick with solid state and buy some Duntech's?
     
  14. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    AN speakers, of course.


    Speaking of that, Peter of Audio Note wrote me a note asking me how I liked the new AN-E Alnicos he sent me for my mastering room. I wrote him this back:

    Dear Peter,

    Good to hear from you. Yes, I got the Alnicos a few days ago. They are fantastic speakers, dynamic yet delicate, but authoritative when needed. This is out of the box. I'm sure they will get even better when fully broken in. I'll enjoy doing just that. The perfect speaker for me! Many thanks.

    Have a great Easter.

    Best regards,

    Steve
     
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  15. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Great suggestion! Perhaps you can point someone in a certain direction on your website if they like certain types of music. Ie. Soro SE for Rock 'n Roll.....

    That's just a guess by the way. You are the expert, so if you say another model suits that more, then I believe you.

    I would simplify the website as much as possible. When you see how many SUTs ther are for instance, it is very overwhelming. I would suggest showing that there are about seven models including the S9, but that you order the specific version of that model, according to your cartridge. Same thing for the various amplifiers, such as the OTO or Meishu. Show the amplifier and then show the entry price or show that there is a range of prices, from X to Y, depending on the specific model ordered.

    Also, about half of the www.audionote.co.uk website doesn't work properly on an iPad. I would make sure that yours does. The best website that I have seen for Audio Note products is the English website Audio Note Lounge. Very well laid out once you get down to the part of the page where you can select what you would like to look at:
    http://www.audionotelounge.com/audio-note-integrated-amplifiers (this is their page for integrated amplifiers).

    I would also keep a page for demo models for sale and used or trade in items. I have been known to peruse a webpage or two when looking for a specific item : )

    Good luck Warren!
     
  16. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    There are a lot of devices in each category. I had no idea. The Web site is still a work in progress as each line drawing is not yet a hyperlink.
     
  17. BSC

    BSC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Just out of interest if SH is interested in answering I'd be keen to hear his answer.

    Is it a totally easy transition from working in the studio to assessing hi-fi equipment?

    It's taken me years to learn how to listen to equipment and even then I struggle with subtle differences. Indeed even now if I'm comparing cables or even recordings with subtle differences I can get confused. My whole 'journey" has been based on big differences of course when you pass through levels you can hear what hi-fi can really do but it's all within a certain context-your room and the rest of your equipment.

    I guess as well I wonder just what a person who has sat and heard classic recordings in a way few of us do just what is he aiming for at home?
     
  18. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Completely easy transition for me, yes. Years of practice doing it helps a lot. For example, I mastered something last week at a studio and when I got the check disk at home a few days ago, the match (sound tonality, levels, etc.) was so close that I didn't need to make a single change. Sounded better at home (as it should on the Audio Note UK gear) but the point is, my brain can do the translation both ways with ease. Not everyone can do that (most can't).
     
  19. BSC

    BSC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    Thanks for that.

    One of the genuine benefits of the internet is reading forums like this and latching onto to both the fantastic information and reading the experiences of how people listen and what they rate. I had a decent system for years, good by most standards but I still probably wasn't totally aware of all aspects of building a system. Once I got up to bigger speakers at 4 ohms and tried to get my system matched I learned an awful lot both about recordings are (compression was unbearable with a mismatched amp and speakers-no headroom at all) and indeed how important at the high end matching equipment is. I also got to listen to some highly rated amps to I found the right one-something I hadn't done before to any great extent which I think is a trap a lot of us have fallen into.

    I have mixed feelings about equipment-one is that the enjoyment of music simply doesn't require high end stuff-music is so powerful that budget equipment will suffice if you are making an emotional attachment and are passionate about music.

    However having a high end system just takes that enjoyment to another level.

    The funny thing though is away back in the day when me and my teenage friends listened to vinyl or cassettes on total crap we had very strong opinions about what was a good recording and what wasn't and that was important to the experience even then. The more we change.....
     
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  20. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Lots of fun toys here to play with, it must be FUN. I have a Audionote Kageki amp (currently on loan to a friend) that sounds very good with EML 2a3 tubes in it. It is a terrific amp if you are looking for fast, detailed sound (not as warm sounding as other Audionote amps). I also use Audionote cables. I have a 4-meter run of Sogon between my linestage and amplifier and I use 2 meter Sogon speaker cables. These wires are very expensive, but, they are quite good. I know a couple of people who have even bought Sootto cables, but they manage to get away with 1/2 meter pairs so the cost was not totally crazy. My next possible step is to wire my speakers with Audionote cables; I have not got up the nerve to calculate the length I would need to do the whole system in Sogon.
     
  21. LeeH

    LeeH Active Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    My pair of silver Empress turned up last week, these are absolutely stunning amps, I've got about 30 hours on them now so they are still running in, the sound is room filling to say the least, they come with PSVane 2A3, Jan Phillips NOS 6SN7 and EH5U4GB valves, I shall take the EH valves out and probably roll in something NOS such as RCA 5R4GY or similar as I feel that amps like these do deserve something a tad better

    Anyways here's a couple of pics of them, also the rack is going to be changed so that I can get them apart a bit better probably onto there own stands

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Anyways I'm off to have a listen to some more music
     
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  22. rbp

    rbp Forum Resident

    Okay I'll ask a naive question. Why are AN silver cables so expensive?
    Silver is about $17 per once - not that expensive.
    How much silver is used in a metre of cable?
     
  23. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    If you believe what Audionote says, they have a very slow, labor intensive process for drawing the silver through special dies to form each strand (they use a lot of strands in their litz configuration). I have no idea if this explains much about the cost of production and the pricing of the product, but, I do know that their results are quite good--they make silver wires that do not have the hard, brittle and bright sound of some other cables, particularly silver cables. I suspect that pricing on their cables is based a lot on performance rather than cost; it is not that easy to find comparable sounding cables at any price. I like a few other cables made by other companies too, but, they are comparably priced and some, like NBS Black Label, are not as practical (very thick, ugly and inflexible). Depending on component interaction and particular listener taste, it is of course possible that MUCH cheaper cable would actually work better in some instances, but in my system, the silver Audionote stuff works really well. I have heard systems where their much cheaper copper cable worked very well too, so there isn't any kind of neat price/quality relationship with cables.
     
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  24. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    Manufacturing costs for litz cables are significant over standard construction cable . Specialist cable manufacturers charge a premium for the process given the minimum runs and disruption to normal production and given the numerous cable variations Audio Note make, the cost would normally defy logic but rarely anything Audio Note does fits an accountant's sense of responsible behaviour. I'm just glad they do what they do.
     
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  25. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Received a more accurate price on the Audio Note UK AN-E/SPx HE Alnico hemp speakers. They are $25,000.00 a pair with the custom book matched mirror image hi-gloss wood.
     
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