Upgraded to Audio Note J - and other musings.

[92135011]

why argue when you guys can just go out and do an A/B test?
Hey, whatever floats your boat.

[benil]

why argue when you guys can just go out and do an A/B test?
Hey, whatever floats your boat.

i can't agree more. technical information has its limitations after all. those branding audio note as hype probably haven't even heard them yet.

[RGA]

i can't agree more. technical information has its limitations after all. those branding audio note as hype probably haven't even heard them yet.

Hype doesn't have legs to last 30 years going back to Kondo - since they don't advertise and don't have product literature and don't ever pay for reviews(errr give gifts of appreciation), you don't last that long on hype - since most people have never heard the product even me 2 years ago. Heck most have never even heard OF them so it is a word of mouth company and more importantly a listen to it against anything and everything else company - and see what you end up with. (Which does not mean AN is perfect by any stretch of the imagination - the best statement is that they "choose their compromises artfully"). Well balanced would be a great term. There is not too much of one thing at the expense of something else - because that advantage in one area can be a dsitraction later.

There are plenty of good systems that are total opposites from what AN is doing that I do like as well - but IMO there is room for both. What I've heard from an all AN set-up was amazing - nevertheless even the reviewers do call the sound of a lot of their products somewhat coloured. I dislike the term because I don't get what they're really talking about - I am perceiving a greater sense of decay - a lot of slim line speakers and high power amps seem to kick everything at you with impressive initial attack but I get the sense I'm missing the piano's full body and full tone. If that "body" you're not used to then I suppose some will think it's colour? Distortion? The numbers don't support distortion though, so I'm not sure what the reviews mean when they throw that in sometimes.

Paul Messenger of Hi-fi Choice makes inconsistant statements about the E/LX speakers. He makes note that some may be put-off on the level of coloration the speaker exhibits when one "first" listens - and that the coloration doesn't go away - but mentions how strong it is in realism and dynamics compared to others.

Well of course the speaker must sound fairly different from slim line speakers currently available if my and other raves are going to hold water - it must sound wildly different to sound wildly better.

However, later he states while listening to Radio 3 that

"I found myself sucked in by the sheer realism of the singers' voices. Speech is also imbued with a healthy dose of realism, so that although voices are quite laid back, even slightly shut-in, they remain very expressive, and individual accents are particularly clear."

Reading this carefully makes almost no sense - how can voice be laidback and shut-in but very clear and expressive and REAL - all the while you say there is also colour?

Peter Qvortrup noted the inconsistancy on another forum that all of those statements are a result that people find it hard to put into words what they're actually hearing(and what they're using to run the speakers with and the room) - regardless of whatever anyone reads in to this review from Aug 2004 Hi-fi Choice about the speaker's weaknesses(they all have them) they awarded it their top rating in the $2500.00GBP range and Mr. Messenger has not returned the speaker. So all the things not right about the design might be very true, but it is right enough for him to have him actually keep the speaker and listen to music on apparently. And Hi-fi choice did not shy away from talking about its weaknesses.

And when so many reviewers from so many magazines use the same brand(and mastering studios and interestingly other manufacturers) as their own speaker/amp/system etc should at least indicate you might want to give them a try. That is different from just a positve review - it would have to be absolutely hideous to get a negative review - but the reviewers are basically saying that yeah all these are good but I want the Oto and the E or J or DAC 5 etc etc in my home to listen to music. Is music not the point - or is the one that has bass that can kill you or a tweeter than can shatter every poiece of glass in your home?

The inferior SET design the inferior speakers with wide baffles and hard corners and PAPER woofers - this is all wrong, two drivers - can't possibly get bass - no damping must create terrible colourations(well maybe pleasing colouration???) or as AN claims doesn't damp out the life of music while damping out distortion - how would the speaker know what it is damping out? It has to damp out some of the good while getting rid of the bad.

In the end the technology is being blathered about - I could care less whether it's tube or SS or SET or digital or whatever - I don't care about the brand name the look or the price - I was going to buy a very pretty ASL or Jolida tube integrated which LOOK stunning - I walked out with a used ugly Sugden that had no tube FUN FACTOR - Audio Note sounded best when I auditioned - simple as that. Compared directly against the top competition and it was even more evident to me that the their system knew something about music that was lost for whatever reason on the other systems. Is it expensive yes, but you could pay a lot more from others and get a lot less.

[benil]

There are plenty of good systems that are total opposites from what AN is doing that I do like as well - but IMO there is room for both. What I've heard from an all AN set-up was amazing - nevertheless even the reviewers do call the sound of a lot of their products somewhat coloured. I dislike the term because I don't get what they're really talking about - I am perceiving a greater sense of decay - a lot of slim line speakers and high power amps seem to kick everything at you with impressive initial attack but I get the sense I'm missing the piano's full body and full tone. If that "body" you're not used to then I suppose some will think it's colour? Distortion? The numbers don't support distortion though, so I'm not sure what the reviews mean when they throw that in sometimes.

In my opinion, the dominant or mainstream audio reviewers or commentators consider amps with good technical measurements as their reference amps. Once they get used to the sound of these reference amps, they are able to call or classify other amps as either "neutral" sounding if they sound like their reference amps or "coloured" or “musical” if they sound different or fail their measurement standards.

Those of us who like our music with body, tonal and timbral accuracy, warmth etc. do not believe or agree with the use of the terms “neutral” or “coloured”. Personally I find what they refer to as “neutral” gear to sound very lean and clinical however low their “audible harmonic distortion is”.

What I liked about my friend’s AN-E is its lively and very, very involving and it really makes the SET amps bloom. I have heard quite a number of crossoverless/ single-driver speakers and I find them to be very deficient in some areas like midbass, where they seem to have a very audible suckout. I’ve heard a few super high-sensitivity horn speakers hooked up to SET amps too. They are superb in the area of dynamics but are not as involving as the AN-Es.

In other words, its hard to get it right with SET amps but once you find the correct matching, all the hard work will be more than worth it.