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

Except for our current state of affairs, sounds like good advice. My dealer has both tables.

 

I visited my audio note today and talked to him about upgrading my cartridge from the IQ3 to the IO ii. It struck me that it would be costly if I one day madeca wrong move and accidentally damaged the cartridge. I'm now thinking about upgrading the phono stage instead. I have an Oto silver signature and consider buying an M3 RIAA. Would this make sense? Any advice is appreciated

 

An interesting review of the Fifth Force/Fifth Element DAC.

Audio Note UK Fifth Element/Fifth Force DAC Review

It spends too much time on general descriptions of UK-AN products and doesn't have as much listening detail as I would like, but it's better than nothing.

 

I agree. Audio Reviewers who have reviewed and written numerous articles on Audio Note products over the years, spend too much verbiage, literally rehashing the same ground over and over again instead of focusing on the product that purportedly is the main subject of their article. Make up your mind. Either write an exposé on Audio Note UK or write a review of a specific AN product. It's like Rachel Maddow of MSNBC giving an audio review.

 

Very true! And I even like Rachel Maddow!

Seriously, one good thing about the review is the detailed photos of the interior. It appears that several of the resistors are 2w Silver Tantalums although most of them appear to be 2w regular Non-Magnetic Tantalums. If I am right about the Silvers (it's hard to tell for sure from the photos), then this DAC will be the first AN product I've seen that actually uses Silver Tantalum resistors. That's important since the Silver Tantalums sound a whole lot better than the regular Non-Magnetics.

 

There's also a review of the DAC 5 Special over at Håkon Rognliens blog. Not without some insights about AN, but with plenty of focus on how it actually sounds.

 

I'd say those resistors are all AN non-mag tantalums. 1W ones on digital board and 2w ones everywhere else. Audio Note Silver Tantalums are proper white, not off-white/light brown, like seen in those images. (I have two on my phono stage as 47K load resistors and two 100K in my Meishu's stepped attenuator.)
I've only ever seen Audio Note to use their silver tantalums on couple of positions (on the pictures) of the upcoming megabucks amplifier 'The Legend' ?

 

You could be right. As I said it's hard to distinguish them in the photos. But it sure looks to me like some of them are 2w Silvers. Look at the board in the middle of the audio chassis, the one with two tubes on it. It appears to have a pair of 4700 ohm (or 47 something) 2w Silvers towards the middle of the board. They have the white color body and silver leads of the Silver series. Also, the audio output board in the upper right of the same photo has a pair of 39K (or 39 something) 2w Silvers between the two tubes.

 

I think the light is just hitting those resistors harder, making them look whiter. Here's the same regulator board in the close up and there they all look the same? https://www.dagogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ANUK-FEFF-3.jpg (alhtough in that pic the 220k looks whiter than the others, but again in the two box image it doesn't)
Here's another picture of non-mags and silvers side by side: Audio Note Silver & Copper Tantalum Resistors Review The pure whiteness of silver tantalums is quite pronounced.

But it is an interesting question why Audio Note haven't been using the silver tantalums so far? They been out for some time now and no-show on even level 5 products and now the new best resistor is the AN Niobium?

 

I believe you're right. In that photo, they all look like non-silver tantalums.

 

Here you can see the two AN Silver Tantalums in use (bottom left corner) inside The Legend amp (whilst all other are 2W AN non-mag tantalums): Audio-philia (link to UK distributor AudioPhilia's Facebook post)

 

I have always thought that the rebuild cost of the AN cartridges was one of the main selling points rather than a negative. Not sure what price you were quoted but the listed price is less than 20% of a new cartridge which given the trend of other brand moving coil's these days, seems approachable.
As for considering the IO ll, I would caution that the cost involved would also eventually take in a step up such as the S3 or S4 as the required unit. The S2 will work obviously but the IO has more to give than what would be realised in that combination.
As for the M3 RIAA, it's a good unit, I'm not sure of the build component level used but the alternative of the IO ll, S4 and some manageable resistor upgrades to the Oto phono stage would present a compelling case and genuine reason for buying more records.

 

I'm so grateful for your advice, Finn! Just to be sure, you think the MC upgrade (the IO ii / S4) would be more compelling than the RIAA (M3) upgrade?

 

Hi Fred, if you've heard both can you describe the differences between the Oto Sig & Silver Sig?? Thx

 

And do you happen to know the rebuild cost of the IO ii?

Is it possible to say how many customers have accidents and need a rebuild? Everyone or a minority?

 

I have not heard the Silver Signature (I have the Signature), I'm sorry! I'm sure the SS is not a bad deal but it might not be far from the price of the Meishu Tonmeister Silver

 

And indeed maybe some will sell off their older Meishu Silver Sig for the new Tonmeister. So you might look for these second hand.

 

Second that; I moved from IQ3 to used IoII + S2 (from the local dealer) and thought it was nice upgrade to IQ3, but... only when I demoed S4 with my IoII, I realised just how good IoII actually sounds. (not to mention even superior S8 I had on loan)
S2 is really holding back IoII. With S4 (or above) you realise how restrained and congested, like having a flu, IoII sounds with S2.
It's almost criminal that Audio Note sells S2 for anyone with +$3000 Io-cartridges

 

@finn and @JanJ, you have convinced me of the IO2 / S4 combo. Thanks for your advice!

 

It's a combination that will provide years of enjoyment. It will take time to set the vta and when it is correct you won't believe how the depth changes in the soundstage. It will require a heavy counterweight to balance out the weight of the cartridge.
It may introduce a music style unheard before but if you want to hear how great this cartridge can sound, find a copy of Arve Hendriksen's "Cartography", turn the lights down low and you will understand the word "immersion" like never before.
Cheers.
The phono upgrade is 6 x 2 watt silver tants especially the 47k loading resistors that the phono cartridge sees.

 

Thank you!!

 

this is very true. the rebuild on AN cartridges is a fraction of what other manufactures charge. The IOI and IOII rebuild is essentially the same retail (which does make a nice case to stretch for the IOII if possible). The rebuild of the IO Gold is ~ 16% of retail ... compare this to the rebuild of say, the Koetsu RW Signature, a very popular cartridge -- that will set you back 49% of retail.

 

yeah ... the OTO Line SE Silver Signature is really close in retail to the new MEISHU Line Tonemeister so unless one really prefers the sound of the el84 over the 300B, it is a hard case to make. although, i know someone with the OTO Phono SE Silver Signature and he really loves it. it would be interesting to do a comparison of the the best OTO build vs the new entry level MEISHU Tonmeister.

 

As someone who loves the Oto amps and have done for 25 years since I bought my first one and will never sell my current one, the Tonmeister is a different beast and with outstanding tubes in place, becomes something that defies expectation of what a 300b amp is capable of.
If I was a young man starting out on the road of two masters, recorded music and audio reproduction, I would go listen to a Tonmeister in a system and then go buy what I could afford. I would bury in the back of my mind the sound of the AN amp and use that as a yardstick for everything else I heard along the way and if it still measured well in a couple of years then I would begin the accumulation of funds required to buy it.

 

I currently own an OTO Phono SE Signature. I was going to order the Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister this month but decided to save a bit longer and go for the Silver Signature version.

I've heard the Meishu Phono Tonmeister and it is outstanding.