I think Audio Note UK needs its own YouTube channel*

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by ScottyNYC, Jun 29, 2020.

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  1. ScottyNYC

    ScottyNYC Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    nyc
    I just recently learned about this company and its line of products. I like their website and the information there, but I wish they included demos and more explanations about how their products appeal to prospective customers. I'd like a more thorough breakdown of the speaker line (hemp vs. paper too), how the amps are different and what speakers they pair best with, pre-amps vs integrated, more explanation about the Level# system and how the sound changes. Peter Breuninger's (AVShowrooms) vids are wonderful, and Richard Austen's posts have been very helpful but I'd like more videos/demos direct from the company. There aren't many dealers in the US and auditioning everything in the line is difficult. Good idea for Peter Q. to consider? What do you guys think?
     
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  2. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    yeah it is hard to carry everything they make.

    i carry every valve amp compliment they make, ECL82, el34, el84, 6L6, 45, 2A3, 211, 300B and that in and of itself is a lot of pieces but it is worth it and needed as they all serve a different music lover.

    you really should get to a dealer and start listening! :)

    i am working on a blog but won’t be up for a while. other dealers have blogs already.

    the audio note thread is a great place to post specific questions.

    the Level’s ... ah the Level’s ... they are there basically to serve as a guide or reference. as you move up the Level’s you get more and more of the Audio Note sound. you get more music ...

    at the end of the day, with audio note it is about bringing you closer and allowing you to really hear your own music. hope that helps! :)
     
  3. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    In my experience, Peter likes for his dealership network to handle the majority of customer inquiries. They have the product or at least a representation of the products and product knowledge for customers to audition, demo and can answer questions in their respective showrooms. Have you contacted the Audion Note dealer in Brooklyn?

    Many years ago, Audio Note had one distributor/importer for the entire U.S. That arrangement no longer exists. The decision was made to allow each authorized dealer to order directly from Audio Note.

    Also, like most high-end audio manufacturers, to become an authorized dealer, certain criteria must be met including the amount of inventory and/or orders placed. Many dealers can't meet these requirements or they make the decision to carry product that they know they can move quicker. This may explain why there are only 15 Audio Note dealerships to handle all of the United States.

    That's not to say that Peter won't respond to you directly if you contact him or anyone else such as Martin Grennall from Audio Note UK for that matter. Others can correct me if I'm wrong but the U.S. does not represent Audio Note's largest market.

    As far as videos are concerned - I honestly don't see how the company would have time to produce them. Audio Note has a world-wide distribution network, they conduct a lot of R&D in which I would imagine places some time constraints on the main players like PQ and Andy Grove. In addition to doing R&D, they're filling orders, assembling and testing product, and shipping orders out to their dealer network, so I imagine taking time to produce videos is probably not a priority for them.

    This is not to say Peter would not consider your idea. You might want to send him an email expressing what you feel current and prospective customers might gain from videos and demos produced directly from Audio Note.
     
  4. ScottyNYC

    ScottyNYC Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    nyc
    Thx for the response. As things start to open up in NYC I'm going to hear what I can in person. Breuninger's show vids have brought this gear to life for me, I have good headphones and can hear the tone and quality even on YouTube, it's obvious. I think Peter Q. is trying to protect his dealer network by laying low with AN vids, just a guess. But since they are unique in making everything, speaker to cables, they should still put up vids for info/education. I've lived in NYC for the past 30 years and consider myself well-read, and I'd never heard of AN. I read a 2015 Esquire article recently that featured Peter Q. discussing gear and then I dug in and did more research. They deserve to be better known in the US and I think good demo/educational vids would help that. (BTW, I support the dealer network, not advocating that he should get rid of it)
     
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  5. ScottyNYC

    ScottyNYC Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    nyc
    Thx for the info and suggestions, you make some excellent points. AN is a fascinating company and yet I found out about them almost by accident, they should be better known in the US.
     
  6. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    I’m pretty new to the Paul McGowan PS Audio YouTube videos. Really dig them. When making dinner, I’ll put those on, or Guttenberg, Darko, New Record Day. Zero Fidelity, etc.

    Audio Note would be great.
     
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  7. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    I agree. I happened upon them by accident too through friends who had purchased used AN amps on Audiogon back in the early 2000's. I actually got the chance to meet Peter at my dealer's store and again at CES and at one other audio show.

    Peter doesn't make the trip over here that often.

    The AN importer/distributor at the time I mentioned in my previous post was actually a good friend of my AN dealer. He was also the distributor for GamuT, Zingali speakers and a few other high-end equipment makers.
     
  8. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Half the time the dealers aren't even aware of all the products they make. On my facebook page my editor asked that I post abou the TT3 turntable. I also added it to Audio Note's FB page. I got a large number of questions - one dealer didn't even know about the table! They knew about the $100,000 TT3 reference table but not the new entry TT3 at around 1/10th the price so there you go.

    Back circa 2000 AN was fairly small - now not so much and Peter strikes me as someone who tries to be hands on almost everything and perhaps a "control freak" which is understandable because it's his legacy. They make so many products 600+.

    I remember in a second hand shop in Hong Kong I saw a used Audio Note Tuner. What? That's not on their website and I don't recall it being on their old website. I said to Peter "why isn't it on your website?" and he replied "because then we'd have to make them."

    Back in 2002 when I first heard about Audio Note by listening to them at Soundhounds the AN K/Spe speaker beat out my two front runners that the store also carried. Back then Peter didn't spend money on advertising. I suppose the old "if they listen they will buy" was the idea back then. I believe dealers pooled their money to advertise on behalf of Audio Note at the time.

    On audio asylum a few years back Peter noted that the US Market was 5% of his overall sales. I think Audiofederation is the biggest AN dealer in the US with Mike and Nelly - they have a blog and did do this video or a walkthrough.



    I used to teach business and marketing at a high school in my practicum and I proposed to the class the notion of the "no advertising Advertising model." The old Rolls Royce line when they asked them "Why don't you advertise" and they replied "If you want the best you'll find us."

    It creates a mystique of sorts. Audio Note generally doesn't need to advertise - they're not trying to be B&W or Marantz. They're not selling to people who want to impress people with a big name product - CLEARLY since even audiophiles like yourself never heard of them. Other than forum posters and fans ( a fan made their website apparently), they are pretty under the radar.
     
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  9. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    I find this to be true. Oftentimes, I know about AN product offerings before my dealer does :confused:
     
  10. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Dear moderators, please fix the thread title. No search engine will catch it correctly. It is: Audio Note. Two words.

    Thanks.
     
  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    When I search up AN info on line, it usually directs me back to a thread on SH TV. That's silly but knowing Peter as I do, I think they have their hands full.

    I mean, the company has as many orders as it can fill. It always has as many orders as it can fill. Why advertise? Full up is full up! They can't make the stuff fast enough..
     
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  12. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    In fact, not being able to fulfill orders can lead to very unhappy customers. A success crisis is still a crisis.
     
  13. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    I find this marketing concept interesting as it applies to AN UK. The Audio Note business model has been working for years, so why change.

    There is an allure to their products due to the mystique and cult-like following. Audiophiles who read the forums or attend shows will undoubtedly find a pathway to the company. Word of mouth can be better than an advert.
     
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  14. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.

    And they have a Facebook presence. I just finished chatting with Martin Grennall on FB a few minutes ago.
     
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  15. Encore

    Encore Forum Resident

    Which clearly shows their focus on music. At least half of their posts are recommendations of music often far, far away from mainstream, and very little of it of audiophile recording quality. I love it.
     
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  16. ScottyNYC

    ScottyNYC Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    nyc
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  17. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I had not seen that - Peter Qvortrup and Audio Note in Esquire. Well done article and true - it's not a showy hobby. The people into audio are in it because they love sound quality - many of them may even like music.
     
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  18. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    I relayed your message. Here's the response from Martin Grennall:

    "Hi Dwain! We actually have been discussing making some videos covering things like turntable set up, correct 'speaker positioning etc. Unfortunately at the moment, there is simply not enough time to do this, as everyone is already working flat-out on building and delivering orders. But we will get to it, maybe once the Audio Note (UK) cloning tank and time machine are finally ready [​IMG] (valve based, obviously!) Regards, Martin."
     
  19. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    In other words, not going to happen. They're busy.
     
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  20. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    im just happy they finally got the TT3 manual up! :).
     
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  21. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    That's the gist of it.
     
  22. ScottyNYC

    ScottyNYC Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    nyc
    Yeah, she did a good job on the article. I liked how she set up Peter Q. as the guru of hifi and then when I read his quotes I thought...wait, this is an audio executive who has ears? He really cares about tone? That's what made me check him out. My image at these companies are accountants/lawyers/marketing calling the shots, with the engineers making measurements and plotting graphs. My take on AN is Peter is very astute and knows the history of audio, and he's taken the best bits of what's worked in the past and incorporated it into their present designs. And he's got the guts and conviction to stick to his guns and just make what he knows sounds good. AN is the real deal, it's true. I actually think they could be really big in the US, more on that later.
     
  23. Peter Qvortrup

    Peter Qvortrup Forum Resident

    Dear Scotty,

    First of all thank you for mentioning the article, I have never seen it, secondly, with regard to availability, advertising and general marketing the best I can say that we would fall into the "contrary" category, which makes for a highly amusing conversation when I get approached by a conventional marketing consultant trying to sell their "services", the confused expression on their faces, when I have explained our market strategy is priceless!

    I genuinely subscribe to the idea that "hearing is believing" and unlike all other manufacturers we have nowhere to hide because we make everything, no excuses are available as a result, play music and stand back, basically.

    We will be at the next show in NYC whenever that will be in these Covid19 soaked times, so perhaps we will meet there? I don't go to many shows these days, but New York houses so many friends that I always attend :)

    Peter
     
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