Audio Note UK Oto Line SE arrives ...

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by raferx, Sep 16, 2014.

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  1. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Tube amps like isolation. Herbie's products have worked very well for me. I want to get some squares and feet for my stands.

    You might be able to fit that block with some alternate feet that will fit on the top of your furniture.
     
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  2. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    OK, so I used an app I downloaded to my iPhone 5S to record SPL/dB measurements at my listening posting with several recordings. My listening space is roughly 11' x 17'
    Here are my results, and the LPs used:

    Sample 1, 11 o'clock on volume: LP, Tina Brooks, Back to the Tracks, song – Street Singer – Classic Records, 200G mono recording.
    Sample 2, 10 o'clock on volume: LP, Paul Simon, Still Crazy after all these Years, song – My Hometown – Stirling Sound/RTi, 180G stereo recording.
    Sample 3, 10:30 o'clock on volume: LP, Cannonball Adderly, Something Else, song – Autumn Leaves – Classic Records, 200G stereo recording.
    Sample 4, 10:30 o'clock on volume: LP, Crosby, Stills & Nash, S/T, song – Suite Judy Blue Eyes – Rhino/Pallas, 180G stereo recording.
    Sample 5, 11 o'clock on volume: LP, Neil Young, Live at the Cellar Door, song – Only Love can break your Heart – NYAS/Reprise, 180G stereo recording.
    Sample 6, 11 o'clock on volume: LP, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Ella & Louis, song – Can't we be Friends – Analogue Productions, 200G, stereo recording.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2014
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  3. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    I have found some serious variance in meters, but this looks pretty much spot on to where I typically listen, 85db being about average. At 80db, you can have a conversation of sorts over the music. At 90, not so much. Looks good!
     
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  4. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    One of the sad things about a measurement is you can see how much ambient noise you have. If my appliances are on I can have 55db in the room with nothing going on at all.
     
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  5. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
    Sorry I'm not sure what the point of the readings are, what is supposed to show us?
     
  6. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    He's driving 85db efficient speakers with a 10 watt amp. The speakers are rated for 25+, so readers were wondering about how the amp would drive the speakers. This shows in-room sound levels.
     
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  7. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Yes, I tried a few different ones, and then used the one that seemed to display "the middle range" of the readings, so I'm comfortable that these are accurate.
    My whole listening Modus operandi is about connecting with the music, and while I think a more efficient speaker could wrest a lot more out of this amplifier, I'm very happy with what the M30.1s are giving at this point. Incredibly musical and realistic... that said, I wouldn't rule out switching to the 98dB AN-E SPe/HE speakers down the road, as at this point I'm most liking what the amplifier is delivering in comparison to all else being equal.
     
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  8. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    That a 10W amp can drive 85dB speakers (which admittedly, present a fairly easy load) to suitable listening levels without breaking a sweat. Earlier in the thread I said I'd measure what I was listening at in comparison to where the amp was on the volume dial.
     
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  9. Blair G.

    Blair G. Senior Member

    Location:
    Delta, BC, Canada
    OK, got it :)
     
  10. beowulf

    beowulf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chula Vista, CA
    I'm sure there would be great synergy and ease paired up with the AN speakers ... Do you have the corners to support them?
     
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  11. norman_frappe

    norman_frappe Forum Resident

    That's terrific as long as you're not getting any unpleasant levels of distortion to your taste I think that's great. Enjoy
     
  12. molinari

    molinari Forum Resident

    Location:
    new york city
    Beautiful amp Rafe! With 10 watts powering a pair of 6 ohm Harbeths, I'd say it's pleasant distortion, not unpleasant... :)
    Unless you really turn up the volume, or listen to very dynamic music - then that seductive sound may start to compress...
     
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  13. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Nope. Clear and clean, no issues whatsoever.
    Those big Audio Note custom output transformers have incredible grip.
    Sounds just amazing, and it's a testament to Alan Shaw's ability to get such an easy load out of an 85 db monitor.
    Again, I would like to hear it with higher efficiency speakers to hear what the whole SET/high dB speaker pairing is capable of.
    Speed I'm guessing, and probably even more bass, especially as the AN-Es are supposed to be quite flat in-room to around 30 Hz.
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2014
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  14. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Many thanks my friend.
    Agreed.
    To me tubes are less about any negative-impact distortion and more about true-to-ear tonality and timbre.
     
  15. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    I have one good corner, but would need to use a solution similar to what Steve (Mr. Hoffman) is using with his AN-Es in his 2nd listening room for the left-hand speaker – if I decide to go that route eventually.
     
  16. norman_frappe

    norman_frappe Forum Resident

    There must be a reason people don't all goto higher efficiencies. I am assuming there is a trade off. Go to high and you really need a very light material which would be fast but would you lose weight in the presentation? Too heavy a material you gain weight but lose speed and make something too hard to drive? Don't know but am betting Mr Shaw did what he did for a good reason to achieve the right balance.
     
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  17. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    A complex crossover is generally about flattening out the response and steepening the curve of the drop-off. Harbeth's have a very easy transition, to my ear. I was chatting with a friend who is not an audiophile, but recently got a set of Tektons that are very efficient. He didn’t exactly know what I meant when I commented on this, but later mentioned that he had wall-shaking volume at 3 o'clock of the volume knob.

    I went froma 90 db (87 real world) to a 92 db speaker recently. This difference is not small. It is hard to pinpoint though, as one had a 8" mid/woof and these have two 6.5" drivers. Both do very well at low-level listening.
     
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  18. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Agreed, but I think the larger cabinets employed by many high-efficiency speaker designs help with bass weight where the lighter cone material may be lacking in ability to fully translate the lower octaves?
     
  19. vinylkid58

    vinylkid58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Victoria, B.C.
    I've got a couple pairs of speakers that work pretty well with lower powered amps. You're always welcome to bring your amp over for a demo.:D

    A friend here has a pair of standard AN-E's. I've never heard them get anywhere near 30Hz, but he doesn't have them in the corners.

    jeff
     
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  20. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    I run 98db speakers on a 2wpc tube SET, and get deep, musical bass. In fact, the bass with this set-up is much better than when I was running the same speakers with my 125wpc solid-state Odyssey Khartago. My experience is that tubes generally produce better bass for the dollar, regardless of power.

    And raferx--I envy you your jazz listening with the new amp and speaker combo--should be plenty of power for small-group stuff.
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2014
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  21. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Rischa my friend, thanks for the kind words... yes, the jazz LPs are sounding absolutely stunning. My mother and father came over a listen to the new amp the other day (my parents run the same Harbeth M30.1 speakers, but with a Nova125 integrated amplifier and digital sources) and my mother kept shaking her head and saying how lifelike the sound was, and how she couldn't believe these were the same speakers they had; my father said very little, but listened intently and then left seemingly preoccupied.
    He called a couple hours later and said he had yet to hear a more more musical combination. High praise indeed from a man with a lifetime of hi fi experience.
     
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  22. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Just going by a few Stereophile reviews and measurements which had smooth and lively bass response to 31.5 Hz.
    http://www.stereophile.com/content/...re-loudspeaker-audio-note-espe-he-august-2008
     
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  23. norman_frappe

    norman_frappe Forum Resident

    Thanks, if you look in the measurements part it says: "it looks as if the AN-E really doesn't produce as much bass as you might expect. I'm not surprised that Audio Note recommends placement close to the wall behind it. This will both extend the low frequencies, as AD found, and bring up the midbass level, though at the expense of lower-midrange smoothness....And its specified sensitivity and bass extension are misleadingly optimistic, in my opinion"

    But to be honest I don't really need a speaker to go much below 50Hz anyway.
     
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  24. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    The thing with this combo is how completely unfatigued the listening experience is (and honestly always has been with any Harbeth I've heard), and while I imagine more speed and greater dynamics/bass response would be achievable with a higher efficiency speaker like the AN-E, I worry what other trade-offs would come with that efficiency. Specifically fatigue.
     
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  25. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    In-room bass reinforcement seems to be key to getting the best from the AN-Es. It's my understanding they are specifically designed for corner loading. I'd really like to compare them directly in my room with the 30.1s

    I don't really need it either, but it sure would be something special to have a speaker that can reach into the 30Hz range with realism.
     
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