Strictly for fans of Audio Note UK (all things Audio Note UK)

You can also ask for close up detailed pictures and ask AN UK if they can confirm.

 

AN UK offer a service for confirmation of authentication of AN cables with the seller sending the cables to the factory where they are inspected and then on sent if verified. Over the years, Sogon 42, SPx and Lexus along with V and Vx have all been faked with most of the sales originating out of HK. It's not that hard to screen print similar looking cable. Some of the fakes have been very convincing on the outside but opened up and very different construction.

 

well ok!

indeed, there are great deals. but it is always best to buy from authorized retailer.

thank you for your thoughts!

 

That’s good to know. I wasn’t aware that AN offered this as a standard service. I will certainly keep that in mind if I am ever in the market again for additional cables.

 

i didn’t get a chance to make the show. how did it sound?

 

I attended the show and spent a considerable amount of time in the Audio Note/True Sound room. I also had the pleasure of a brief conversation with Peter Q. and our own John Mee.

I thought the room sounded fantastic with a wide variety of musical selections (curated by Leonard Norwitz). I've heard a variety of Audio Note systems over the years, and this one stands out as among the best sounding: dynamic, detailed, delicate, spacious and involving as hell. I was really impressed, though not surprised. I, like Richard Austen, prefer the AN-E (even in its most basic configurations) to most other loudspeakers out there, including many running into six figures.

But I must report that, as someone who has been saving up for a pair of the exact speakers on display (AN-E SPe HEs), I was more than a little dismayed by the new pricing.

Last year at this very show, and in this very same room, the AN-E SPe HE was listed as retailing for $6,918/pair. This year, the same speaker was listed at $10,233/pair. That, my friends, is a 47.9% increase in a single year.

Other items on display this year and last year (and thus allowing for direct price comparisons) included the Arm 3 Mk. II tonearm, IQ3 cartridge, and AN SPe speaker cable. All three of these products are now priced 24.5% higher than one year ago.

As I was a bit surprised by this, I asked Peter Q. (privately, outside the room) if he could address the price increases. He said that Audio Note had not adjusted pricing in a few years to reflect increased costs. He said speaker cabinets in particular were more expensive.

I accept this explanation, and my love for Audio Note products (and admiration/respect for Peter Q.) are wholly undiminished. That said, the prospect of my owning this stuff just receded a bit further into the distance. Which is disappointing.

--David B.

 

I'm curious, how is it possible that the cost of producing these speakers increases about 50% in one year? I'm not skeptical but also don't want to be naive

 

The price increase is probably needed to pay for the new (and much improved) website (!).

 

Thanks everyone for your advice!
I'm trying to engage with the seller, have asked for higher res photos, if they are AN UK or AN Japan cables, and if there is any way to verify their authenticity.
Will see how the Japanese-English divide work out : )
I'll report back if I have any success.

 

Companies often do not increase prices yearly, so that when they do increase prices, it is a big jump reflecting an accumulation of price increase as well as a projection of some future cost increase (so that they don't have to do another increase soon). It becomes one of those tough decisions--small increases that anger customers every year vs. really angry people over a huge increase every once in a while. The way to look at it is not what is the price compared to what it has been, but rather, what is the price compared to anything comparable in performance.

 

thanks for your thoughts on the sound David. the new Meishu (as well as the older one) plus the TT-3 are stunning components. they get into your head for sure

 

Has anyone tried EML, Elrog, or Takatsuki 300Bs in their AN amps? Is there anything to be worried about, say with the EML 300B XLS, which seemingly draws more current than a standard 300B?

 

The speakers are made in Austria so there will have been a big exchange rate loss due to the fall in the value of the pound against the Euro.

 

I'd say much like the case of SME tonearms taking on an extra thousand USD or so, you're going to get answers that suggest Brexit. I'm sure this has an impact on things, but makers of luxury-tier audio goods also just like to raise their prices because they can. Which is of course their prerogative.

 

The currency used to purchase goods is losing value so it requires MOAR to get same.

 

Could it have been that the $6918 price was where AN-E speakers started price wise in the range which would be roughly correct as AN had a price increase of 10% in October of 2018 and the previous price list is from 2016 so I don't know where the discrepancy occurs. Your pricing of $10233 is the current correct amount for a pair of AN-E SPe HE speakers in a satin finish, high gloss is extra as are the stands.

 

I suppose it's possible. That said . . .

My product and pricing information came directly from the laminated system-information sheet displayed in the room (which I photographed this year and last). According to those sheets, the speakers demonstrated in July 2018 and July 2019 were the same specification: AN-E SPe HEs. The price listed on the sheets was $6,918 last year and $10,233 this year.

Moreover, when I discussed this price increase with Peter Q. and another knowledgeable person associated with the room, neither corrected me or suggested I was comparing apples to oranges.

--David B.

 

The only way I can arrive roughly at the indicated price of the previous year's card was through taking the uk retail price indicated in the October 2016 price list and adding the state sales tax for California. If the individual who prepared the display list didn't realise the retail prices in the AN price list were in pounds rather than US dollars then the display pricing would reflect the price discrepancies you suggest. As I said, the October 2018 price list represented a uniform 10% change in retail.

 

I think that is probably the case because my AN-J/lx's cost about $5K in September 2017 so it wouldn't make sense for the AN-E Spe HE's to just be $6918 that's just too close in price. The AN-E/lx costing $6918 makes much more sense by comparison.

 

I kind of look at the price relative to the competition... the Joseph Audio speakers are nowhere REMOTELY in the same class and are $14,999. The Soundlab speakers, Majestic 645 are $24,000 and again completely outclassed by the AN E/Spe HE.

The Margules speakers were $19,000 and again. Not in the same class. Thos little Voxative standmounts were $8k! Seriously.

Try your best to hear the E/Lx HE.

I loved my regular E/Lx.

Some people prefer the E/Lx He to the E/Spe. The Lx cable is their top of the line 50 strand or something copper. The SPe is 21 strand silver or some such.

It also greatly depends on what you will run with it. If you're not comparing these things back to back you will like the basic E and J models. Dealers hear these things back to back so they get used to and can hear it. But I think the basic E/LX would have impressed at the show as well.

 

I don't know the exact retail on my AN-E lx's, but it was in the $6 thousands. I'm pretty sure it was over $6500 but definitely under $7000. This was early 2018. No special veneer, paint or any extras.

It may be that Peter Q. believed the OP's dismay was over the 10% increase (though I thought it was more like 15%). I wasn't delighted myself, as there were (and still are) future acquisitions on my mind.

 

I snagged a used pair of AN-E SPE HE's in May 2018. At the time I was researching a few different options, and was under the impression from scouring the web for price information that new they were going to cost me >$10K with sales tax. I'm still mildly amazed that seemingly within a week of deciding setting my sight on them, the exact model and finish I wanted popped up for sale about 30 minutes away.

 

This may have been lost in the shuffle. Does anyone have thoughts on these various 300Bs?

 

My understanding was that the EML tubes are drop-in replacements for 300b--they don't impose greater demands on the amplifier, but, they are capable of being used in designs that impose greater demand on the tube.

I have never used EML 300b 's in Audio Note amps. I have used EML 2a3s in my Audio Note Kageki, and in that application, the tubes gave me no trouble and were quite long lasting.

 

I have used the EML 300B XLS for a couple of years in my ANK Kit One amp without problems. However, I got the same concerns as you after having read the specs more closely only after having bought the tubes. I think they draw a little more heater current than a regular 300B but apparently that doesn't pose a problem in my amp. Knock on wood ... And they sure sound great