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

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

  1. rubber duck

    rubber duck Forum Resident

    The review would have been much more informative if there was some comparisons. It's interesting that nothing is really mentioned in relation to the TT2. Is this to avoid criticising the TT2? If high torque is a key feature I for one one would love to hear how the TT3 compares to a direct drive like the Technics SP1000R. But really any comparisons with any similar priced deck would have been much more useful.
     
  2. rubber duck

    rubber duck Forum Resident

    Yes
     
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  3. Andy Saunders

    Andy Saunders Always a pleasure never a chore

    Location:
    England
    Agreed, have heard the TT2 Deluxe a couple of times and both times it sounded amazing and looks cool too, however not had the chance to hear it against other T/Ts.
     
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  4. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I use to own a NAD 533 (Rega P2 clone - belt drive) and later I heard a Technics 1200 and frankly I liked the Technics a lot more. I liked the TT2 a lot more than both however.

    The TT2 is a pretty great turntable - I bought it twice after all. The problem with reviewing is that if I say - the treble, bass, dynamics, pitch is all a lot better than the TT2 - it then gives the impression the TT2 isn't good at those things. I have been on forums where I told people I liked the Audio Note E speaker and someone quoted one line from Art Dudley that was critical of the speaker. Umm he bought them! But the only thing taken from the review was one line. Holy cow.

    I have not heard the SP1000R - it might be a nice comparison - but I do think the SP1000R is more than triple the price. A fairer comparison would be the Audio Note Half Reference (I have not heard it).
     
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  5. james

    james Summon The Queen

    Location:
    Annapolis
    Maybe I missed it: I see the prices of the IQ carts and the tone arms listed, but not the price of the deck itself. Anyone know?
     
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  6. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    Up at the top of the first page there is this:

    Specification:
    As reviewed: $10,795 USD
    TT-Three / PSU1 $7,735.00 USD (without arm and cartridge)
    PSU upgraded models are as follows: TT-Three / PSU2 $11,050.00 and TT-Three / PSU3 $13,585.00
     
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  7. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    My reviews are sent in MS Word - they do whatever they do to make it look the way it does. I don't have control over that - it probably should have been listed like this instead:

    TT-Three / PSU1 $7,735.00
    TT-Three / PSU2 $11,050.00
    TT-Three / PSU3 $13,585.00

    ARM-One/II $1050.00
    ARM-Two/II $1500.00
    ARM-Three/II $2030.00

    IQ1 $495.00
    IQ2 $705.00
    IQ3 $1030.00
     
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  8. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    Richard,

    What is the function of that bit at the front, with the applied logo? The sort of capsule-shaped thing.
     
  9. gov

    gov Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC Metro
    Wow nearly 6k for jumping up to the PSU3 from PSU1?!?
     
  10. J.Uotila

    J.Uotila Forum Resident

    Location:
    Espoo, Finland
    It is a counterweight.
     
  11. Subagent

    Subagent down the rabbit hole, they argue over esoterica

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    Ah. Thank you.
     
  12. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    Mr Uotila is correct in that both outriggers are counterweights to the arm so that the centre of gravity is the bearing housing of the platter spindle.
     
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  13. slcaudiophile

    slcaudiophile Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    you are exactly right. constantine does comparisons often and they are indeed useful. without it is sort of like heading to a vacation spot and saying, yup, this is it! :)

    but the TT3 is indeed very good.
     
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  14. Mulroydave

    Mulroydave Forum Resident

    .

    It’s a great cartridge, I have the IQ3 and it’s very seductive, very musical. I’ve just managed to buy a DAC2.1x Signature for my digital set up and I’m loving that as well.
     
  15. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Ideally I would have ten $10,000 turntables to compare back to back to back - but I don't. Moreover I am younger than Constantine - he grew up in the age before CD - I grew up in the Age of CD when vinyl was disappearing from the shelves. I am on more solid footing with CD, amplifiers, speakers than with vinyl. But it was too good and to "game changing" in my system not to cover it.

    The TT3 set up is IMO reference caliber which isn't to say other makers for similar dollars are not. I'll be happy to review other turntables but I feel reviewers need a reference point. UHF magazine has a long time reference system and they have something to compare products against.

    This Review by the three reviewers at Hi-Fi Critic is stronger than mine because They have wider and deeper experience on turntables than I do. I did this one because it is a complete set-up.

    Here is the Hi-Fi Critic triple review of the TT3 https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/89c2...jVrTAGL7qaxbo3RAgI5BZ1NvD3z81-egw6eOrcYoqc4jE
     
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  16. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    I've been reading reviews of hifi gear for close on 40 years and I've never bought anything based on the written word. I enjoy a good wordsmith ( miss Art's work) but I look at reviews much the same as menu's, delightfully descriptive and instructive but ultimately ethereal. Designed to get me a seat at the table and tuck in.
    Aside from comparing 2 or more turntable systems side by side of a similar price point, comparing between the TT2 and TT 3 would be pretty straight forward as long as you had the same arm and cartridge, something most AN dealers could do as I think most would have both deck in stock. The 2 deluxe properly setup is an excellent device to reproduce records the way AN want them to sound, the 3 fills the gap between the 3 reference and the 3.05 reference and succeeds very well in doing much of what those higher level turntables do.
     
  17. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Thanks for posting a link to the Hifi Critic review. The descriptions of the sonic changes due to the three power supplies were interesting and helpful. However it too does not include any comparisons to other tables which is a serious shortcoming in my opinion.
     
  18. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I think Kevin basically says all heavy platter designs regardless of price is inferior. So he's naming names without specifically naming them - which is quite diplomatic.
     
  19. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Well, if that’s what he meant, then I am quite sure he’s wrong. But I don’t think he intended that though.
     
  20. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I can't say he's right or wrong - just saying what I think he is saying.

    "I do not recall hearing sufficient of these desirable qualities in such generous measure from any high-mass turntable of my acquaintance, no matter how costly. Indeed I was caused to ponder if the TT Three might illustrate an Engineering Truth; that the high-mass low-torque approach is sub-optimal, and can only made to sound acceptable if a lot of effort is put into mitigating its fundamental flaws."

    In any case - it's a brilliant sounding deck in pretty basic form. The PSU3 and IO Gold and S9 SUT is all probably miles better again. There is always something better.
     
  21. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Yes but he’s careful to say “any high-mass turntable of my acquaintance.” That could be two or three, maybe more, but certainly not all. It’s next to impossible to make universal statements about any high-end gear but especially about turntables since it is rare to be able to compare more than a couple and setup on each one is so critical. I don’t doubt for a moment that the TT3 sounds good and it does appear to provide very good value considering the modest price, but is it better than ALL high-mass tables? That would be a stretch.
     
  22. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I have a side question regarding volume pot upgrade for M3.

    I have the older pot and wondering what is the upgrade. More resisors but is there anything else to the upgrade? Thanks
     
  23. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    Without an image to see what components are in play, it’s a tough ask to accurately give you an answer. It is always possible to take an older M3 and rebuild using higher spec componentry but the specific issue for you would be the reviewing aspect of using a non factory product and how that impacts the system in play. I don’t use anything non AN so there is consistency there but the performance difference can be very substantial and therefore your M3 would not be representative of factory level for that Pre. If you weren’t using it for review purposes and just wanted to do an Arlen Ness on it, then it’s possible to really push the envelope. If you wanted to make a fundamental change to the volume attenuation, the new style stepped units are wonderfully transparent and worth the effort to fit. The conventional 211 Mk2 conductive film unit is a worthwhile upgrade for the really old volume pots but the stepped units are in a completely different class.
    By the way, I’ve just finished the second gold leaf top plate for the Quest Silvers so once I get everything back together, I’ll put an image up of them.
     
  24. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Thanks Finn.

    I have the M3 mkiii so it's new but has the 20 something stepped version. They now come with the newer 36 stepped version. I was thinking to review it and then put the new pots in and discuss the changes.

    Or I save sell the M3 and make the move to the M6 but that would be a year off as the M6 Phono is quite a lot more money. The phono version especially.

    I was mainly windering what the difference was between the AN 36 step and the lower step pots was. Just more resistors or does the 36 step version use superior parts?
     
  25. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    It’s a far superior switch mechanism and sounds much better. I had the old style in my M6 and replaced them with the 36 step units with the 2 watt silver tant loading resistor. No contest between old and new.
     
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