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

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Richard Austen, Mar 19, 2015.

  1. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    @Acapella48
    For the future, don’t be concerned about ordering from Parts Connexxion. I buy stuff from them all the time and I have never had a problem with shipments to the US. For small orders I usually pay a little extra for express delivery and typically get the package the next day.
     
  2. Jaytor

    Jaytor DIY Enthusiast

    Location:
    Oregon
    Have you placed orders from Parts Connexion that were larger than the duty-free exemption (I believe this is currently $800)? Did you have to pay duty?

    Thanks.
     
  3. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Each of my orders has been under $500.
     
  4. Jaytor

    Jaytor DIY Enthusiast

    Location:
    Oregon
    I would expect that an expensive order, like a set or two of the Takatsuki 300Bs will add an extra 10 or 11% to the total. Still, PC's price is 36% off MSRP, which is much better than I've seen advertised anywhere else. I have made a few smaller purchases from Parts Connexion and always got great service.

    There is a small dealer in Portland, OR Takatsuki Vacuum Tubes that claims to be a dealer. Since I live nearby, I was planning to contact them (assuming I decide to go with these tubes) to see what they can do.
     
    Gjo likes this.
  5. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
  6. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    Salectric likes this.
  7. Martin Audionote (UK)

    Martin Audionote (UK) Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Hi All, Martin here from Audio Note (UK). Just to clear up some incorrect information in the above post, and to be absolutely clear, ALL the veneers used for Austrian build Audio Note (UK) 'speakers - so that's ALL AN-K, AN-J and AN-E - are real wood veneers. NOTHING made in Austria uses printed / fake patterned timber. EVERYTHING is a genuine real wood veneer, and any colouring or figuring or grain you see on the cabinet is as it grew in the tree, in nature.
     
    Atle Rovik, Mm2, JeroenPaco and 10 others like this.
  8. enginedr

    enginedr Its all good

    Location:
    New York City
    I am aware of that . Hence the term cheaptube audio . I just thought that the conductor that uses AN was interesting
     
  9. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    No worries Martin, I have a pair of Makassar Ebony E’s and the veneer is a genuine Makassar Ebony, I’ve worked with veneers and solid timber for 35 years. I’m not going to push back about this, I have a pair of J’s in the current Makassar finish and the grain, colour and pattern are completely different. If you want to discuss this further, you have my email.
    Just so you don’t think I’m not without a justifiable opinion, search for ALPI veneer, Legacy Range, Makassar Ebony and read the pdf and examine the image supplied and the description of the 3 different timber used, poplar, ayous and basswood. ALPI are proberly one of the Highest quality veneer companies in the world and the environmental benefits of this type of product are enormous and extremely worthwhile.
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2021
    Fred Hansen likes this.
  10. Martin Audionote (UK)

    Martin Audionote (UK) Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Hi Bryan, while I do not doubt your experience with all things wood, I suggest you talk with Gerhard in Austria, the person - as you know - who builds all of Audio Note (UK)'s current 'speaker range, and has done for over 15 years. He confirms - and quite emphatically so! - that all veneers used are real wood, not printed / painted or constructed. He is the final authority on this, after all. As to the environmental impact of real wood veneers, yep, I completely agree with you. It's a tough decision to make... offer a product that uses veneers from trees that have taken, at times, hundreds of years to grow, or use something that kind of looks the same and is less environmentally impactful in some ways (but not all). Personally, I think you can look at it like this; the 'speakers Audio Note (UK) make are not disposable, throw away products that are expected to end up as land fill in 10 years or less... they're an investment that will be around for many, many years (and quite possible - and hopefully - long after we have all moved on to the great Audio Show in the sky), so they're closer to pieces of fine furniture than pieces of consumer electronics. But if anyone wants 'speakers that may in theory be better environmentally than those using real wood veneers, there are always the automotive finish single colour options... any RAL colour you like. I have a soft spot for the white cabinets, particularly in the K or Hemp cone Js and Es... the blue cone looks stunning against the stark white cabinet in my opinion :)
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2021
    Mm2, fcdvpds, JeroenPaco and 11 others like this.
  11. SetANE

    SetANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney NSW
    hi
    found an article on SUT's

    don't see such articles every day. i recently went thru this thread and don't recall having seen it so thought would post here for anyone interested.

    it does turn into an Audio Note love fest but why not - who else is doing what they are doing in the transformer space?

    i am modest in my expectations for system components elsewhere, but for some reason the S9 with its attached cord has me transfixed.

    https://www.hificritic.com/uploads/...my__by_frankalnd__an_transformers-feature.pdf
     
  12. Peter Qvortrup

    Peter Qvortrup Forum Resident

    Greetings, the story behind Teodor Currentzis use of a top level system started with his purchase about 5 years ago of a DAC5, the difference that he felt it made to the sound of his system was so dramatic that he contacted his agent in London, Libby Abraham who contacted me to see if I would be interested in meeting Teodor for a chat about sound I said "of course" and we subsequently met in a concert in Bochum, Germany for a performance of Rheingold at the Jahrhundert Halle.

    Since then Teodor has visited the factory and listened my home system several times and now uses an almost complete Audio Note system at home, he moved from Perm to St. Petersburg in 2018/2019.

    The main reason for the dedication, apart from the fact Teodor uses a complete AN system at home, in several of his recordings is a result of my attending several of his recording sessions and commenting/advising on the sound etc. as a modest contribution to readings of quite special quality and depth.

    Peter
     
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  13. Footsurg

    Footsurg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque

    Hi Peter. Not sure which TC recordings you sat in on, but there are at least a couple of them that are the best respective performances I've ever heard. Particularly the Tchaikovsky: Sinfonia No.6 from 2017 and the Mozart Requiem from 2011. I consider those to be standards by which all others are to be judged. Not just the recordings which are exceptional, but the emotional impact of the performances. TC's orchestration while being traditionally different, brings a finished result that rivals the best performances I've heard. I was about to buy the newer Beethoven symphonies 5 & 7, but each is barely 30 minutes of music. Sony should have put both onto one CD. That is no gripe directed toward Teodor, but fully aimed at Sony Classical.

    Which releases did you sit in on?

    Mark
     
    Gjo likes this.
  14. gestalt

    gestalt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Hi, I'm happy to help with Takatsuki valves in the US.
     
  15. Peter Qvortrup

    Peter Qvortrup Forum Resident

    Hi Mark,

    I have so far sat in on the Tchaikovsky 6th, Mahler 6th and Beethoven 5th, 7th and 3rd, and on one session of the Verdi Requiem, .

    I agree that the Tchaikovsky 6th is exceptional, as it shows aspects of the music not heard in the other two great performances, the Mravinsky and the Golovanov, I had the privilege to sit next to Brian Eno at one of the rehearsals of the Tchaikovsky and Brian made the interesting observation that Teodor manages to combine the best elements of classical and "rock" in his readings, something that may explain the wider spread of age groups you find at his concerts.

    Teodor has a great future in front of him that much is certain.

    Peter
     
  16. Footsurg

    Footsurg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque

    Peter,

    Rats! Now I have to give in to Sony's greed and purchase the Beethoven 5th & 7th and now the 3rd. I understand that they are all exceptional. I agree that Teodor has a great future and surprisingly a very millennial following. Very unusual for a classical conductor. That is likely because of the way he does things. His collective, MusicAeterna, has rehearsals that don't start until after midnight because they spend hours in the evenings listening to hardcore punk records from the early 1980's and dark metal. There is nothing stodgy about their approach to the classics. That is why their interpretation of them is fresh and exciting. No wonder Eno made that statement about Teodor blending rock elements into his orchestrations. I bet the collective listens to "Music for Airports" as well. I wonder if the pre-rehearsal vinyl sessions are being played on an AN system?
     
  17. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    I just listened to Teodor Currentzis /MusicAeterna's Beethoven 5th. via headphones. Maybe it's me but I didn't care for it. I felt it was an assault on the senses. I've seen some positive reviews of this work but this reviewer gave it a 5 out of 10 on artistic quality and a 8 out of 10 on sound quality:

    "Here’s a recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony where Fate doesn’t knock at the door, but rather barges in for a hostile takeover. Indeed, Teodor Currentzis’ interpretation of the first movement is the musical equivalent of an unauthorized seizure of assets. The celebrated opening motive’s fermatas go for nothing, leading into an unyieldingly fast, relentlessly intense, and coldly precise rendition of the notes. As not to appear totally impersonal, Currentzis doles out his fair share of mannered and pointless dynamic hairpins that historically-informed performers adore.


    You’ve never heard such painstakingly calibrated and executed string phrasing in the Andante con moto: to paraphrase one of my late colleague Harris Goldsmith’s great lines, the playing conveys all the perfection of waxed fruit. For the third movement “Allegro,” the astonishing instrumental transparency may well justify the brisk pace, but it still doesn’t allow the cellos and basses to articulate the Trio’s difficult Fughetta theme with any real musicality beyond merely chasing the metronome.


    At least the cellos plow away underneath the Finale’s second theme more audibly than in most recordings; you also hear this in the Bernstein/New York Philharmonic and Dorati/London Symphony traversals, but rarely anywhere else. Yet the regimented first-desk solos and impeccably bloodless climactic orchestral tuttis lack any hint of exaltation, joy, or triumph beneath the pugilistic surface. It’s clear that Currentzis obtains exactly what he wants from his ensemble, and Beethoven be damned
    ."

    Another reviewer on the same review site gave the Tchaikovsky a 9 on artistic quality and a 6 on sound quality. Only one recording garnered a 10/10 on both artistic and sound quality -- Shostakovich No. 14.
    Interestingly enough, the Shostakovich was recorded on the Alpha Production recording label. All of the others including the Beethoven 5th, Mahler 6th, Mozart (Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutti) and Tchaikovsky were Sony Classical recordings.
     
    Gjo likes this.
  18. Footsurg

    Footsurg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque

    It is Teodor's unconventional interpretations of the classics that makes his music so fresh and exciting in this listeners most humble opinion. It is the flaws revealed in the quoted review that most attracts me to his music.
     
  19. Atle Rovik

    Atle Rovik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Just have to share. Picked up this lovely pair of AN-E SPe HE today, and finally I have an all-AN setup (sans streamer). It also came with a complete set of AN-SPa for bi-wiring, but I wanted to hear the difference, so I connected them with my old cables first. I have not landed the perfect position for them yet, so any tips are welcomed.

    Also, they have not been used for two years, so I suspect some serious break-in is needed?

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  20. Footsurg

    Footsurg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque



    Beautiful speakers and awesome system! The synergy of having those in your now all AN system goes so far beyond just a mere speaker change. You get the benefit of better and more tightly matched drivers compared to your old speakers and you also benefit from the synergy those drivers and cabinets will provide in an all AN system. The tone and dynamics should be leagues ahead of what you had. If you want to get the most out of them you should angle them in toward the center more so that a straight line fired from the center of the drivers should intersect about one meter in front of your listening position. That toe in does work best when you have 2 good corners. I see that you don't have 2 good corners, so you will just have to experiment. Try different toe in angles. Listen to familiar music. Try a different position a few times a week. Once you find what sounds like the best placement, mark the floor with tape and go back to some of the other positions you tried to make sure that you still like your "reference" position.
     
  21. Atle Rovik

    Atle Rovik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    I love how you boost my expectations, there, @Footsurg ! :winkgrin:

    But, yes, this is much of what I expect from the change. They already sound beautiful on more quiet, open music. But more busy music is exactly that - a bit busy. They are now touching the lowest part of the wall with one of the stands’ corner, seems like the bass is fullest that way. But what I feel missing when positioning them that far back, is a bit of the virtual positioning of the instruments in the stereo picture. I feel that this is better with the speakers further away from the wall, in my room, but then I loose some of the bass. Have to keep experimenting, I guess.

    Edit: I suppose the busyness will be less as they break in. Any thoughts on break-in needs, anyone?
     
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  22. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    The best thing to do is to play some music. If those speakers have been sitting for two years with no signal being fed to them, then Yeah, music, music and more music!

    This is what the Audio Note AN-E manual has to say ...

    "While we fully expect your AN-E loudspeakers to produce beautiful music, they may not do so from the first moment out of the box. Don’t be alarmed; this is perfectly normal.
    Dynamic loudspeakers have a running in period, during which time the drive units “loosen up”. During this period, the sound may be somewhat dry , bright and constricted.
    As the suspension and cone materials of both drive units “softens up”, the fullness of the bass and the smoothness of the treble will start to emerge and the true sound of the AN-E will be
    revealed.

    We expect the AN-E to have a running in period of around 100 hours, which for the average listener will take about a month, based on three hours of listening per day. This period can
    however vary considerably due to factors such as music types, listening volume and type of amplification used. (Loud heavy metal or Mahler symphonies are especially effective!)
    If the rest of your system is of commensurate quality, you may notice that when you haven’t played your AN-E for a week or longer, they seem to experience a lesser version of this
    running-in process again. Everything will be completely back to normal within 5 to 10 hours."

    Playing some loud music will displace any dust that has collected on the drive units!

    After two years, I suspect it may take closer to the initial bedding in time.
     
  23. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    Atle congratulations gorgeous speakers and a lovely setup! May I ask what finish that is on the E's? And @Acapella48 is right in regards to breakin so keep experimenting as the sound keeps improving. That 100 hour mark was dead on for my J's most noticeable was the fleshing out of the bass region.
     
    Footsurg likes this.
  24. Footsurg

    Footsurg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque

    Are those pucks that I see between the stand spikes and the floor? If they are, you will battle with getting optimal low frequency extension as long as they are there. To get optimal LF extension you will need to have the spike contacting the floor directly. I know it is painful to see a hole in a wood floor made from a sharp spike. But to make them sound right, you have to lose the pucks. I know this from first hand experience.

    And yes I agree totally with all that was said by Acapella regarding break in. If they have been sitting around a long time unused, they will require some time and use before they come into their own.
     
  25. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    It's possible that Currentzis /MusicAeterna's Beethoven 5th recording on Sony Classical may have been closer to it's debut performance in 1808 at the Theater an der Wein in Vienna when the orchestra at the time was missing several of its musicians.
    MusicAeterna appears to be an ensemble with approximately 45-50 members, which could correspond to the size of the orchestra available to Beethoven on the night of the 5th Symphony's debut. Most of us are probably used to the size of modern orchestras which usually have more than 80 musicians. Ironically, the debut of Beethoven's 5th in 1808 was not well received.

    Since this appears to be the first recorded performance of Beethoven's 5th by Currentzis /MusicAeterna, it would be interesting to compare a later, subsequent reading and performance of the work. When I'm reading reviews of classical works, I place more weight on the recording's sound quality than the reviewer's impressions of artistic ability.

    I listened again on Sony Classical YouTube channel, again with headphones:

    Maybe my impression after listening to the work on my AN two-channel system may be different.
     
    jonwoody, Footsurg and Lowrider75 like this.

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