This guy sure loves Audio Note!

[JayGilb]

HiFi collective sells Audio Note components - including some resistors that cost over £30 each and a range of capacitors that go up to well over £1000 each.

From their price list: CAP-7860 3.3UF 600V SILVER FOIL CAPACITOR £2,767.19

 

[sq225917]

They make gear for rich music lovers who want something other than neutral. They aren't buying hifi, they're buying music making in a way and package that they like.

Assuming they would prefer neutral is just incorrect. There's no reason any one person should prefer hifi over loft sound.

They're buying a brand, a product, a look and a story.

That the company gouges the shit out of them for components that don't make an audible difference is another point entirely.

 

[litemotiv]

They make gear for rich music lovers who want something other than neutral.

That's a good point, they are selling an experience rather than hifi, it's targeting a specific audience.

That the company gouges the shit out of them for components that don't make an audible difference is another point entirely.

I think it's safe to assume that the opposite is the case and that most of their equipment will measure so incredibly poorly that it will be audibly inferior. The amount of harmonic distortion will however likely sound 'better' to the people actually buying these devices.

 

[jsrtheta]

Yeah, It follows the usual standard audiophile script.

All it needs is a wife chiming in about how the sound just changed.

 

[litemotiv]

All it needs is a wife chiming in about how the sound just changed.

Yes but she has to hear it from the kitchen / other room otherwise it doesn't count.

 

[Garrincha]

All it needs is a wife chiming in about how the sound just changed.

Is is really amazing how often I have read this (most probably invented) story to give some credibility of the claim that there is a sound improvement. What is it supposed to prove? Most probably the misogynic implication that the wife has tin ears but even she could hear the difference. But on the other hand, what worth should be given to somebody supposedly not experienced in hearing nuances?

 

[Mart68]

Is is really amazing how often I have read this (most probably invented) story to give some credibility of the claim that there is a sound improvement. What is it supposed to prove? Most probably the misogynic implication that the wife has tin ears but even she could hear the difference. But on the other hand, what worth should be given to somebody supposedly not experienced in hearing nuances?

It's based on the concept that most wives do not care about audio quality even if they like music. Consequently the fact that they not only heard the difference from another room but were also driven to comment on it is taken as solid evidence that the improbable/impossible tweak or product actually does what is claimed.

Essentially it was considered to be the audiophile equivalent of a blind test, removing all doubt about audibility. In recent years it has been raised to cliche status and so has been replaced to some extent by fraudulent claims of actual blind testing, although it is still occasionally trotted out without any apparent irony.

 

[SKBubba]

I don't know anything about Audio Note and don't care.

But is that actually an hour and a half "video" of a guy reading pages that are shown on the screen? It's ironic, because this is why I don't much care for videos. They're a five or ten minute's read worth of info stretched out to 30 minutes or an hour of agonizing, "get to the point, man!" watching and listening.

Or wait. Is this performance art? A commentary on the absurdity of videos? An experiment to see if anyone will actually sit through an hour and a half of that?

 

[jsrtheta]

I don't know anything about Audio Note and don't care.

But is that actually an hour and a half "video" of a guy reading pages that are shown on the screen? It's ironic, because this is why I don't much care for videos. They're a five or ten minute's read worth of info stretched out to 30 minutes or an hour of agonizing, "get to the point, man!" watching and listening.

Or wait. Is this performance art? A commentary on he absurdity of videos? An experiment to see if anyone will actually sit through an hour and a half of that?

This is one of my bugbears, though I think it's primarily generational. For most things, but by no means all, you can communicate far more information, more economically timewise, via a printed article than by video. This is one reason I never listen to podcasts or watch videos.

The democratization of information, while a great idea conceptually, usually means bad information widely distributed and unfortunately accepted as gospel. I spent most of my working career on my feet in courtrooms trying cases and dealing with evidence. One rule of thumb is that testimony on a subject is accepted provisionally, a graphic representation is accepted as authoritative, and video representation is accepted as the Word of God. This is true even where the information conveyed is total bunk.

Do students in the hard sciences learn more from video instead of print? I don't know, though I suspect not.

 

[Waxx]

Audio note is wel build and designed stuff, but way overpriced and overloaded with audiowhoo and mystic. But for tube amps in general, and disregarding the ridiculous price, it's not that bad. But you can get better for a fraction of the price if you search a bit. And it's tube gear, so very coloured and high output impendance that will affect the speaker response. Their speakers are crap altough as far as i heared (never heared it myself).

I had a pair of their dual 300B SET monoblock amps (i don't remember the version) and a preamp full of tubes and transformers of them for a while in my house, guarding it while the owner was abbroad for 9 months for his job. And it was nice to have arround and to listen to. But no way i would spend 15K for that amp, and how much he spend for the preamp i don't wanted to know (ridiculous ammounts i guess). He used them with some JBL 4345's with, which was ok with the 15w they had. And their parts are very expensive, but even for tube amp builders, they are not the best, the much cheaper Tango and Lundahl transformers are seen as a lot better for instance... idem with their caps and so.

 

[Gorgonzola]

Ah yes, Audio Note. Brings to mind an AN fanatic who's been shilling for the brand for the last 20 years.

Face it, my ASR buddies: lots of audiophile LIKE distortion. That is, at least the low order 2nd/3rd order harmonics. IMHO, these benign, even pleasant and mask other distortions such as high order harmonics. Tube fans will tell you they like the warmth, full-bodied, and (sometimes) the "holographic" effect of tube equipment. They insist it is more "musical", "organic", "liquid" and other such BS descriptions. Also, they tell you they don't care about sharp resolution or crisp dynamics -- or else, implausibly, they tell you that the equipment improve the sound in these respects.

Audio Note, maybe more than most "enthusiast" brands sell equipment with exotically expensive components -- analog and power supply components that is. Have a gander at the insides of a AN kit DAC 5.1: the expensive transformers, capacitors, etc. are dazzling, but do they improve the sound or are they just sucker bait?

(Someday tech savvy person can explain to me in what way(s) tube power supplies are better. Am I simple minded to believe that clean, regulated voltage is just that however produced? ).

 

[bkatbamna]

Is is really amazing how often I have read this (most probably invented) story to give some credibility of the claim that there is a sound improvement. What is it supposed to prove? Most probably the misogynic implication that the wife has tin ears but even she could hear the difference. But on the other hand, what worth should be given to somebody supposedly not experienced in hearing nuances?

Well, to me it implies that even though women have better hearing on average, everything else that the reviewer had up to that point didn't make enough of a difference for her to care. The new component is so much better that not only she noticed a difference but it was better enough to comment.

 

[Jimbob54]

Well, to me it implies that even though women have better hearing on average, everything else that the reviewer had up to that point didn't make enough of a difference for her to care. The new component is so much better that not only she noticed a difference but it was better enough to comment.

Uh huh

 

[majingotan]

Audio Note, maybe more than most "enthusiast" brands sell equipment with exotically expensive components -- analog and power supply components that is. Have a gander at the insides of a AN kit DAC 5.1: the expensive transformers, capacitors, etc. are dazzling, but do they improve the sound or are they just sucker bait?

Definitely branding sucker bait. The markups for those AN components are literally 100 times its BOM + Labor costs. Take my tube amp for example, I bought my SET headphone amp for $250 (including a full set of KT88/6SL7 tubes, 2 output transformers with high and low impedance taps, 1 power transformer, SS rectifier). It's ultra quiet and produces a good 4W out of both its taps.

(Someday tech savvy person can explain to me in what way(s) tube power supplies are better. Am I simple minded to believe that clean, regulated voltage is just that however produced? ).

Just more mark up $$$ seriously. My tube amp has SS rectifier so I don't have to worry about rectifier tubes blowing up and damaging my amp when it goes bad

 

[Waxx]

Ah yes, Audio Note. Brings to mind an AN fanatic who's been shilling for the brand for the last 20 years.

Face it, my ASR buddies: lots of audiophile LIKE distortion. That is, at least the low order 2nd/3rd order harmonics. IMHO, these benign, even pleasant and mask other distortions such as high order harmonics. Tube fans will tell you they like the warmth, full-bodied, and (sometimes) the "holographic" effect of tube equipment. They insist it is more "musical", "organic", "liquid" and other such BS descriptions. Also, they tell you they don't care about sharp resolution or crisp dynamics -- or else, implausibly, they tell you that the equipment improve the sound in these respects.

Audio Note, maybe more than most "enthusiast" brands sell equipment with exotically expensive components -- analog and power supply components that is. Have a gander at the insides of a AN kit DAC 5.1: the expensive transformers, capacitors, etc. are dazzling, but do they improve the sound or are they just sucker bait?

(Someday tech savvy person can explain to me in what way(s) tube power supplies are better. Am I simple minded to believe that clean, regulated voltage is just that however produced? ).

many keep the lid off to show of to friends, or make a plexiglass lid. The parts are made to look good and work well, but are not that special. And for this kind of flashy expensive looking amps there is a big market, Audionote is not the only brand that caters them. Brands like Vinylsaivor and Shindo Labs do the same and often for way higher prices. They are all way overpriced, but good working tube amps that sell a lot to rich people who wants something exclusive and shiny with tubes. Each have their styling and very dedicated following.

My tube amp looks a bit bland, but is better build i think, with solid state regulated PSU, autobias and more real technical innovations (not exclusive to the brand mostly), and mainly, way cheaper and more priced reasonable. And if i would pay more for a tube amp because of styling, i would rather get something like this: The Axis Valv-A-Tron ST 200, a handbuild 2x100w tube amplifier build in the UK. No whoo or mystic arround it, it's an oldskool design cabinet with a modern push pull amp with custom transformers ( made by Sowther i tought) and solid state psu and generic but very good quality parts. The extra price you pay (price is 2500£+VAT and import taxes if you are not in the UK, last time i checked) is because of the woodwork and the hand build and calibrating, not some esotheric stuff. The builder does not claim technical better sound, he claims an oldskool tube sound and it also looks a lot better i think...

 

[Cbdb2]

There is a shop here in Copenhagen "Audio Consult". Everything from good middle gear, to Krell, Audio Note, Martin Logan, etc. A few years ago, I heard a couple of big Lowther horns, with a 5-7 watt Audio Note single ended Triode amplifier there.
It was really something special. Audio Note is a really nice brand. But I simply can't afford it. So I use something else, I can live with.
I love the brand, but it's too expensive for me.

Did you listen to those speakers with any other amp?

 

[egellings]

Audiophile orthodoxy...

 

[Zaireeka]

From another videos of his:

Best speaker in the world part 1 of 4​

I believe that the top 10 speakers of all time are:

1. Audio Note AN-E Sootoo (all AN-E speakers sound more natural without the glossy finish) 4.5x better than my own
2. Audio Note AN-E Sogon 4x better than my own
3. Audio Note AN-E SEC Signature 2.5x better than my own
4. Audio Note AN-E Alnico 1.5x better than my own
5. Audio Note AN-E Spe/HE (my own)
6. Peak Consult dragon legend mk2
7. Verity Saraestro 2
8. Marten Design Bird 1 (I do not like the new bird 2)
9. Marten Coltrane 2 10 .Top Marten Design Coltrane Supreme 2

 

[Ro808]

I watch (listened?) to a few excepts. After such shock to my reasoning I feel I need to watch a few QAnon videos to start the slow process of reintroducing myself to logical thought and argument.

Edit

Haven't watched the video myself, as I avoid most of the audiophool blurb.
However, you'd better get acquainted with the more philosophical thoughts of people like Niels Bohr and Max Planck.

I always love to read audiophile reviews about brands like these, for instance the one below about the Audio Note UK DAC 0.1x (€1800):

Audio Note UK DAC 0.1x Review

The Audio Note UK DAC 0.1x is part of Audio Note UK’s entry level zero system. At first glance, the DAC 0.1x can seem to be a tough sell in a 2018 marketplace with far more modern DA converters competitively priced, most of them having half a dozen inputs and outputs and impressive techno babble...

www.dagogo.com

Some highlights:

It's based around a 35 year old DAC chip that was considered low-budget even back in the day:



Non-oversampling, and no digital or analogue filters:



Technical details don't matter, it's what you hear that counts:



Digital bad, analog good:



Lifted veils and tapping toes, as is tradition:



I can enjoy reading stuff like that all day.

Just don't confuse "reading" with "knowing".


In any case, during the early days of this forum, amirm showed interest in a brand with a similar R&D approach as Audio Note.

 

[killdozzer]

Audio Note surely has a passionate following. I know some people that love them.

But I highly doubt that ASR would approve them as all their amplifiers and pre-amps have valves.

And the speaker description says it all:

"The majority of the high-end audio marketplace is occupied by ill-conceived low efficiency loudspeaker systems. These designs usually consist of several less-than ideally-matched drivers and a very complex crossover, crammed into a cabinet that exhibits the tonal and textural qualities of reinforced concrete. Their designers are blinded by the dogmatic quest for high sound pressure levels and flat response.

But what of the other factors which are essential for emotionally involving music reproduction? What about coherence, full natural micro - as well as macro - dynamics, inner detail?

What about LIFE?

What about EMOTION?

Sorry, they’re just not part of the “High Performance Audio” design brief. And Music suffers for it."