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

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

  1. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I think this is the version of Beethoven that Kubrick would have liked to use in "A Clockwork Orange." I can't explain why but after listening to a different youtube clip - it seems more visceral than other versions. I am no classical music expert but I get the "Rock" observations. If it gets more people to listen to classical because it's less pipe and slipper stodgy then why not. Like any music - some people will love it and some won't. I never got into Prince but he was beloved.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSARYtZ0Wjk
     
  2. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    I would say that many of us were introduced to this work by the likes of Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic; Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony; Szell and the Concertgebouw; Bernstein and the New York Phiharmonic and of course Karajan.
    I think I was 9 maybe 10 y/o, the first time I heard it performed by the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner. It was one of those music appreciation or young person's guide to the orchestra moments, courtesy of the Chicago School District.

    I don't know about the pipe and slipper stodginess but I agree, if it gets more people to listen to classical more power to Currentzis. But I can't help that with MusicAeterna, something is missing.
    I think this version of Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker is richer and more musical in it's performance:

     
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  3. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Fantastic Karajan, there's so much passion, you feel the music. Late 70s?
     
  4. Atle Rovik

    Atle Rovik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Thanks @Acapella48 , @Footsurg and @jonwoody for very helpful input! I will try to play as much as possible the next month :) Though, I am not much of a background music guy. The pods are between the spikes and the floor, yes. I am very much in doubt if I am ready to pierce the oak floor with it. Will need to think about that. First, I will fill the stands and see what happens, They are not filled at the moment.

    The finish is Tulipwood, which I think is just gorgeous! It’s funny - I bought these used, but I think I would have chosen that same finish, if I were to order them new.
     
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  5. Encore

    Encore Forum Resident

    I my experience, it is very difficult to generalize when it comes to advising on how to couple any speaker, including AN speakers, to the floor. In my old apartment, I bit the bullet and removed the small coins that I had placed under the spikes of my AN speaker stands. Only to find out that it didn't make a difference.

    Later, during a stint where I had Verity speakers, I put Soundcare Superspikes under them, and that made a HUGE difference. Then I moved to my current apartment, and there the Superspikes didn't make much of a difference. I'm now back on AN speakers, and while I haven't tried having the spikes go directly into the floor, I have found that placing them on Townshend isolation bars gave a tighter bass and made voices more legible (it was easier to understand the words sung by a singer).

    There are so many variables when it comes to speaker placement and setup that experimentation is always called for.

    As for break-in, if you like the sound you're getting from them now, then just play music and enjoy their development. If not, you might want to speed up the process. My AN-E Alnico speakers sounded really harsh in my room straight out of the box, and since I still had my old speakers, I hooked up a small SS amp to them and feed them bass heavy music in counterphase when I wasn't at home. It took the better part of 500 hours before they didn't sound harsh in my room.
     
  6. al2813

    al2813 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels, Belgium
    So yesterday I finally found some time to do some testing and this is even confusing me further. In fact being on thier stands I cannot get the laser to hit the target because the speakers are simply too high compared to my listening distance (about 2 meters). So after moving this around all over the place, I ended up with an an a approximation giving me a more or less decent sound, but I do feel the speakers are not well-placed. I tried removing the stands and placing the speakers on the floor, and there the I could get a hit with the laser on both sides, but the sound is completely muffled suggesting these speakers cannot stand on the floor. Any ideas?
     
  7. Gjo

    Gjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The top of my AN-E speakers on factory stands and spikes (spikes extended about 1") measures 42" from the floor. The tweeter center is 38" from the floor. My ears are about 38" or so from the floor at the listening position. You may need to change your target height depending on the distance of your ears from the floor...but once you have determined your ear-to-floor measurement, then add 4"-5" to allow for the height of the laser light source (the laser guide mounted on the top of the loudspeaker).

    Now, you should be able to adjust the speakers to hit the target. You will need to adjust the spike's height incrementally to accomplish this. Very small adjustments at the speaker/laser results in large changes at the target. If the laser light is still too high, then experiment with tilting the speaker slightly forward. Remember, very small changes at the speaker result in large changes at the target.

    PS - Holding a 8.5"x11" sheet of white paper near the target is helpful to determine where the laser light is aimed, if it's off target. Caution - don't look at the laser!
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2021
  8. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    The excerpt at the beginning of the video is from February 1972. The full version of the 5th symphony that follows is from 1962.
     
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  9. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Congratulations Atle! Enjoy the process of finding the best position in your house. The recommendation to have the two speakers crossing about one meter in front of you is a good one, but not the only one. I had a dedicated listening room a few years ago in another house and it had dedicated electrical lines with a three meter grounding pole to help lower the electrical noise from the line. Also I added some acoustic treatment to get the most out of the room (not the expected panels but other items that work really well).

    In that room I spent an afternoon with a friend who was the manager at my AN hifi dealer. We worked on positioning the speakers to get the most coherent sound and the best sound staging and imaging, as well as the best bass response (not necessarily the most bass). In that room we both felt that the far field listening setup that crosses one meter in front of the listener wasn't as good or as involving as having the speakers cross just behind the listener, which created (almost) a near field listening setup. We discussed it and how AN always recommends the first setup and agreed that in my house and for our tastes this second approach was much better. So, I would say that it is worth a try, especially in a room that is not a large room. The far field setup may give a small or tiny image in comparison. Try it both ways and also variations of each and see which setup you prefer. If you can get a friend to help, that speeds it up a lot. When you can hear the changes right away, it becomes evident what is your preferred setup quickly.

    The only thing that I have found to be true every single time is that the speakers always sound better in the corners. Of course that is assuming that you have proper corners. If not, then the faux corners that you are using are ideal in helping to create a 'faux back or sidewall'. I also found that the wider that you can spread the speakers, the more open and relaxed the sound is. My last listening room (from memory) was 19' wide and 21' long with a 9' ceiling and it created a very open sound.

    Have fun and let us know what worked best for you.

    Don
     
  10. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    I would agree with what Don posted above in my very small space, with no corners, I have my J's positioned firing 2" off either ear and that's seems to work best for imaging and bass response.
     
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  11. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    This is great advice and I'm glad you shared it. I have used small KEF 102 speakers along with Thiel CS3.5, Magneplanar 2.6R, Opera Callas, Proac D-40Rs and AN-E SPE HEs (and others) in the last 30 years. Add in about ten different living spaces and I can agree completely that what is best in one room with one pair of speakers will not be best in other room/speaker combinations. I would experiment as mentioned in my previous post and also please do not put your spikes onto that beautiful wood floor. I appreciate the dedication to get the best possible sound, but try different types of disks under neath the spikes if necessary. I would suggest filling the stands though as I didn't like the way that they can ring when empty. I didn't realize the difference with these stands until I filled them with lead shot and sand. They won't ring like a bell unless you tap them with something metallic but they were quieter and more resolving with better and more coherent bass once filled. Sand in a bag that is meant for kids to use in a sandbox is usually washed or sterilized to prevent mold or growth of any weeds or plants. That saves any issues for you going forward. I opened my bags of sand and let them dry out for 2-3 days before pouring it into my speaker stands, to prevent any rust in the future.
     
  12. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    That sounds very close to how I had mine focussed for best sound. I will add that over the years I have felt more involved in music that felt closer rather than farther away. To each his/her own.
     
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  13. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    I've posted a version of this picture of my office system before, but check out the newest addition - the TT3 dust cover. I got it from Anders, the AN distributor in Denmark. It is beautifully done, and UPS got it here in 3 days.

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    Just to add a little perspective. I still remember watching Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Warner Bros. cartoons before and after school. I'm sure there are others here that remember too!

    How a whole generation learned classical music from watching old cartoons - Classic FM

    During the '50's, there wasn't a lot of television programming to be had but there was a lot still happening on radio and dollars to donuts, a lot of people heard classical music as part of local radio programming back then, especially after Van Cliburn won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958.
     
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  15. Encore

    Encore Forum Resident

    IME, this is again room dependent but should of course be tried as the first option. In my old apartment, neither Es nor Js worked in the corners. In my current room, I can only parlay across the short axis of the room bc of a crazy severe bass suck out down the middle of the room, so only one of my Es is in a corner.
     
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  16. Peter Qvortrup

    Peter Qvortrup Forum Resident

    Hi Acapella,

    Which Kleiber, Erich or Carlos? :)

    For me, I still greatly prefer the early 1950's Furtwangler and the 1927 Felix Weingartner and given there are so many other no. 5s to choose from, including also Bruno Walter's simple and elegant performance, it is a pretty crowded field.

    When I am honest, I cannot get on with virtually anything that Karajan conducted, I find that there is a pretentiousness in his readings of almost anything he has recorded, the exceptions being his Tristan & Isolde and one or two other things.

    In Teodor's case, only time will tell whether his performances stand the test of time, so when people look back in 30, 40 or 50 years time he will still be regarded as a great interpreter along side the other greats.

    Peter
     
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  17. Encore

    Encore Forum Resident

    I can't help liking his recording of Sibelius' En Saga, the one on EMI from the 70s (with Gülich and Glotz), even though it's about as far from the Finnish restraint of Berglund that you can get. Maybe it's because it was the version I heard first. In fact, the LP it is on was one of the first LPs that Anders at Pladeklassikeren sold me back in the late 80s and thus one my first ventures into classical music more modern than the likes of Mozart and Beethoven.
     
  18. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    Greetings! Peter,

    That would be Carlos on Deutsche Grammophon. I don't think I've heard any of Erich Kleiber's recordings. Yes, Karajan is/can be controversial but he's recorded the 5th and much of the Beethoven cycle so many times, it's hard to not include him in the mix. I agree with your assessment of Teodor and made a somewhat similar comment in an earlier post:

    Hope all is well with you, yours and all of the ANUK crew -- this global shipping crisis must be vexing you to no end.


    EDIT: Forgot to mention that I listened to Riccardo Chailly's Beethoven Symphonies on Decca last week and noticed Chailly favors faster tempi.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2021
  19. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Toscanini's tempi for Beethoven sounds good to me.
    Not trying to stir the pot, but Currentzis doesn't always complete a phrase, Chailly and Toscanini gives us a more accurate interpretation at roughly the same tempo.

    A very good point earlier about Currentzis appealing to a new and younger audience.
     
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  20. Jellis77

    Jellis77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brighton, UK
    I am just reading the 200th edition of the UK HiFi+ magazine where they list Top 100 best brands in Audio today and Audio Note is conspicuous by its absence. I also note that in 200 issues they have never reviewed an Audio Note product. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why?
     
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  21. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    Sounds like an editorial inquiry for HiFi+ if you ask me.
     
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  22. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Not enough advertising?
     
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  23. Lowrider75

    Lowrider75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    That's how it works in the US... allegedly.
     
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  24. Acapella48

    Acapella48 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elk Grove, CA.
    HiFi+ and TAS are sister publications, so advertising revenue may not be an issue. I don't think AN needs the advertising exposure, so it may come down to the need for HiFi+ to attract new readership; the magazine's loan liability policy or their readers haven't expressed an interest in seeing reviews of AN products. I still say it's a editorial question for the magazine. Would be interesting to get @Richard Austen's take from an industry perspective. There could be various reasons why a publication doesn't review some products. In terms of advertising exposure, I think AN has it's hands full just filling the orders it receives. Advertising would be a non-issue for them.
     
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  25. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I can't say but not every company "plays ball" with TAS.
     
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