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

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

  1. jsr

    jsr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Good tip Steve, I will try powering up in a different order, btw this does not happen with the AN Pallas cable
     
  2. Chivas7

    Chivas7 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Knebwort, UK
    I think that must be purely coincidental. I believe it's the DAC's clocking mechanism and has nothing to do with the cable.

    Btw I aspire to get to the point where a CDT3 is the weak link in my system. Congrats on an awesome system!
     
  3. finn

    finn Forum Resident

    CDT 3 power up then Dac5 , reverse order in powering down. Pallas cables are no longer available as a finished product otherwise I would have suggested the Black Pallas as a consideration. CDT 4 is a significant performance jump over the 3 and in the context of the rest of your system, you would appreciate what it brings. Try a Sootto mains on your DAC and then the M8 as an alternative to the Pallas option, you won't be left hanging.
     
  4. jsr

    jsr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Interesting, thanks for the input. I got really lucky earlier this year. I have had all Audio Note gear for many years now in the level 2-3 range and never dreamed I would be where I am at today
    Thanks for you input Finn, always enjoy your posts/responses here. I made the leap into Isis mains throughout my system a few months back and great thing about AN they always have something a little further up the chain to entice you..... You have piqued my interest with the Sootto mains
     
  5. Rob Hume

    Rob Hume Forum Resident

    Location:
    England.
    Regarding the replacement of the Black Pallas. My mate Darko Greguras visited me at home last week. He had the the three Digital IC’s that will shortly form the cable range. I can say that the new top cable (yet to be named) is in my view clearly a better sounding cable between transport and DAC than Pallas. More lush sounding without any perceivable losses. Worth the wait!
     
  6. Chivas7

    Chivas7 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Knebwort, UK
    Why was the Pallas discontinued if I may ask?
     
  7. tommylion

    tommylion Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Burlington, VT
    My understanding (could be wrong) is that there was only one guy who made them, and he retired.
     
  8. BettisDad

    BettisDad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    Really?
     
  9. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Here’s some news for fans of Audio Note component parts. Peter Q said this in a recent email:

    “If you think the Silver Tantalum resistors are good, wait til we release the silver niobium resistors!”

    Don’t ask me for any details since that is literally all I know. And I don’t even know what a “niobium resistor” is. But I do know this: AN Silver Tantalums are great so anything better than Silver Tantalums would be something really special.
     
  10. Chivas7

    Chivas7 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Knebwort, UK
    Yikes, I din't know what a niobium resistor is either, but it sounds expensive!
     
    Richard Austen likes this.
  11. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Well it can't be that bad - it's not yet to unobtanium resistors.
     
    Chivas7 likes this.
  12. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    This makes me want to buy another Oto again. I love the internal layout of the Phono version, it's such a good use of space, practical, etc. I guess I could get a P1 SE Sig and swap it in from time to time, but it wouldn't be the same. It's just such a sexy all-in-one.
     
  13. Truly, what a thing of beauty!
     
  14. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    My first post. I am eagerly awaiting my new Meishu so have been searching around for any information I could find. Then I found this thread! Thank you everyone for the wealth of information posted here, it is a wonderful resource. (And also, thanks for being so civil to each other. There are some Boards out there where you really have to wear Kevlar if you post anything complimentary about Audio Note.)

    I’ve had AN gear for many years and have really enjoyed the upgrade process. All my stuff has come from Nick Gowan at True Sound. He is an amazing person and seemingly knows everything about all things audio. I’ve been able to purchase ‘previously owned’ gear knowing that Nick has made it as like new as possible. He also has a wonderful sound room where I was able to audition the Meishu. It will be replacing a Kondo Kassai which has given me years of enjoyment but is starting to show its age.

    Like so many others here, when I swap out a piece of equipment, it moves to one of my other sound systems. I have a pair of AN-K/SPe speakers, now being driven by a Peachtree amp and I can’t wait to try them with the new Cobra, whenever that may happen.
     
  15. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Well so long as you're wearing the Kevlar and not making woofers out of the stuff you're probably ok.

    This is one of the reasons I titled the thread in the way that I did in order to "possibly" let people say what they think. It may not seem like it but I restrain myself quite a lot. I will write something these days and then try to read it back a few times before I post it so I don't insult anyone or anything too much. About a dozen years ago I posted an Audio Note thread on a Canadian board. And back then I didn't reign in my opinion much and I was getting death threats - people sent emails to my editor. And Soundhounds - the Audio Note dealer in Victoria BC was getting irate calls about me. I think I mentioned they were selling a McIntosh amplifier for $2200 - it was a current but used model that retailed for $8k - I was talking about resale values (I get flack for that here too) and so they phoned them to confirm - yup sold for $2200 current model - big depreciation (it was a Solid State McIntosh). Interestingly, at that time almost no one on that forum had ever heard a single AN product - they just hated the fact that anyone could actually like their gear more than they liked theirs. One argument I made was maybe find something you are actually passionate about listening to then you'd know where I was coming from.

    That thread was the biggest thread on that forum by a long shot (other than those what are you listening to threads) - and you would think that a smaller forum would like to have big threads as it shows up in searches and increases eyeballs on their site. And being a Canadian forum - myself being a Hockey goalie for years I was used to taking shots - I figured the Canadians on that board would have grown up with thicker skins and not be such crybaby snowflakes. I mean no one forces you to open the thread and read it. Indeed, these forums now have ignore lists - I tell them - put me on your ignore list.

    The new Meishue Tonmeister is just superb. I am somewhat tempted to investigate the power amp version of it.
     
  16. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    Actually, one fun upgrade was with my speakers. I had a pair of AN-E/L speakers and the foam around the speaker cone was turning to dust. We asked Audio Note about replacement parts, but when they learned that the speakers had 2 digit serial numbers, they strongly suggested new speakers. Fortunately for me, I found a pair of AN-E SEC Signatures and, of course, I had to buy them because I needed speakers, right? I am very happy.
     
    Don Parkhurst likes this.
  17. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    True across many different fields. We make wine, and I used to post a lot on some of the wine boards. Wow, if I didn't like the wine you are drinking or think it is not worth the $1000 you paid for it, boy was I in trouble! This is especially a problem with things that are subjective.
     
  18. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    Hi Bob I was wondering if you could elaborate on how your Kassai is showing it's age? I have lusted after Kondo gear for years and always been curious how it compares to AN UK. Also nice to see a vigneron here! Twenty one years in fine wine wholesale and counting for me.
     
  19. NapaBob

    NapaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Napa Valley CA USA
    Jon,

    One day I turned on the Kassai and there was this nice loud hum coming from the right speaker. I spent the better part of a day doing all the usual things to isolate the problem, but nothing would budge the hum from the right channel. Fearing that it was a capacitor, I put the beast in my car (well, two of us did) and drove down to True Sound (2 to 4 hours, depending on traffic).


    When we took the bottom off we saw that there is a potentiometer for each 300B to set the bias current. Apparently, they are now old enough that on one of them the rotor had lifted a little and was no longer making contact with the resistive material. Jiggling it just a little brought it back into contact and the hum vanished.


    But, while we had it open, we noticed that almost all of the caps were slightly discolored on their bottoms – a sign of trouble ahead. Bringing it back to new would likely require all new caps, new pots and new tubes. And there might still be things we missed. Plus, it would no longer be all OEM Kondo, for which there is actually a market!


    While Nick was doing all this, I was listening to music through his system, which that day was all level 5 except for a meishu tonmeister. I became an instant convert. I brought the Kassai home and put it back in my system, where it again sounds wonderful. It is really at the Bass end that the meishu out performs it.
     
    Encore likes this.
  20. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    Understood and thank you for the very detailed reply. I am sure the Meishu sounds amazing you are going from a great amp to another great amp for sure congratulations. :)
     
  21. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    I got a blurb in my linkedin thing that I never use - but it told me that Peter Qvortrup has hit 30 years at Audio Note UK

    So congrats Peter Q on 30 years.
     
    jonwoody likes this.
  22. tommylion

    tommylion Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Burlington, VT
    Does anyone have any details about the CD5.1x single box CD player?
     
    geodiak likes this.
  23. Don Parkhurst

    Don Parkhurst Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Yes it’s true. Russell made them all by hand and after a lifetime working in the trades, he has arthritis I believe. It just became too painful to keep up.
     
    BettisDad and WayneC like this.
  24. WayneC

    WayneC Hopelessly addicted to vinyl

    Location:
    England
    I'm in the UK, I know Russell & you're right Don - just too painful for him. Great shame he's stopped / stopping, IMO some of his own cables are better than the AN ones he made. His interconnect and power cables are remarkable things, and he talks a lot of sense about audio and amp design generally in a very amusing way!
     
  25. Andrewscag

    Andrewscag Active Member

    Location:
    Mission, BC
    What an informative and entertaining thread! Thanks to all have contributed!

    New member here lurking around the foyer of the audio note mansion. Looking forward to picking your collective brains as time wears on. I’m planning on picking up a Bluesound node 2i in the coming weeks so that’s got my attention at the moment. Cheers!
     
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