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In Reply to: RE: Audio Note lies posted by keith_d on October 11, 2009 at 18:59:28
First why judge the Audio Note E because they make a $125k version? They also make a $2k kit version.
I will not justify a $125k speaker - the fact that a speaker using 12 woofers that cost $50 may and be 14 feet tall and 5 feet wide and weigh 400lbs doesn't actually mean that A) it sounds any good or B) that it's worth the money.
There is a lot of gear out there that to me sounds rubbish weighs more than a boat anchor. It's not terribly difficult to make audio jewelry - just put a sexy finish on the front - with big heavy 1/2 inch thick steel or brushed aluminium face plates and put in a bunch of "known" parts. Doesn't make it any good.
The $125k Version of the speaker is a one off for the manufacturer to take the speaker as far as he could take it. The outboard crossovers used more than 22KG of Silver, Alnico Hemp woofers, the Tweeter are Alnico tweeter - the only tweeter in the industry that I know of that uses Alnico. The outboard crossovers are very expensive to make and the crossovers boxes need to be rather massive - the size of a big Krell power amp.
But even if one still considers that silly prices - why focus on that?
Why not focus on the $6,900 AN E/SPE HE? Art Dudley of Stereophile liked them enough to buy em - he's heard a lot of loudspeakers over the years and despite only having two drivers seemed to be good enough to ward off a helluva lot of competitors.
One reason I like the AN E is that whether you want to spend $2k or $125k or about 12 models in between there is one available.
And when you start looking around at all the magazines in print or online and you look at the reviewers systems - and you look at what speakers they own - the AN E comes up a helluva LOT. Considering how many speakers are on the market and from manufacturers that dwarf an outfit like AN, I see a lot of Audio Note speakers. Stereophile, Dagogo, Hi-Fi Choice, Hi-Fi Critic, enjoythemusic.com, 6moons all have at least one critic who owns an AN E. In some cases several reviewers who own an AN speaker.
That is an amazing coincidence - if one believes in coincidences. And what is more interesting is that whether you're a huge mostly classical music listener like Art Dudley or or a vinyl guy like Art Dudley or your Constantine Soo of dagogo who listens primarily with digital they both got drawn to owning the AN E. If you're a drummer critic like Steven Rochlin of enjoythemusic he still bought AN J speakers. Rock, classical, jazz, pop, trance - the AN speakers are the artful dodger of the boxed speaker world. They manage to entertain, get the goosebump level up, create emotion, excitement without sounding fatiguing or getting in the way - and that's despite some audible weaknesses in the frequency range and some colouration here and there. They're some of the best balanced loudspeakers available at any price. Which is why I suspect many critics like them - they're not really a speaker for critics - they're a speaker to simply let play and enjoy.
My dealer, Terry, in Victoria BC who runs Soundhounds, probably the best dealer I've ever come across, has been to the audio shows, has run the shop for 35+ years. He has sold and auditioned more gear than any reviewer. He works with it all day day in day out and listens to music at home. The store is vinyl wall to wall, CD, they carry a huge array of very good gear. He goes home to Audio Note E's. This is a list of what they currently carry http://www.soundhounds.com/
A $125k AN speaker may seem nuts - but the people who think that probably think $125k speaker from anyone is nuts. This kind of speaker is the progression from a platform.
The people who love the AN E/SPE HE and listen to the next model up will hear the benefit of the added money. And then it keeps going up the line. If one does not like the AN E signature (and of course not everyone will) then spending more may seem idiotic.
The Boston Acoustics A100 looks a little like an AN E - that is true. So what? Why is that a bad thing?
Why not mention that there are about 100 loudspeakers on the market right now that have two to five 6inch plastic woofers and some sort of metalic tweeter in a skinny tall box deeper than they are wider. You know the carbon copy speakers from PSB, Revel, Klipsh, Paradigm, Totem, PMC, Audio Physic, B&W, Monitor Audio, Athena Technologies, Axiom, Jamo, Energy Acoustics, Sonus Faber, Boston Acoustics, JM Labs and the list goes on endlessly. The difference being an extra 6 inch plastic or kevlar woofer a different color life sucking cabinet material and some sort of different tweeter design to separate themselves a little bit from their direct competitor - maybe a horn tweeter or white woofers or silk domes. Or you pay a bit more for the odd one and get real wood like Totem.
It's no wonder so many people after listening to that stuff gravitated to some sort of panel or horn. The AN E is the middle ground. It has a lot of what the best horns provide - dynamics bass volume hit in the chest pressure but are surprisingly open very fast and supurbly transparent. Not quite the equal of the better bigger horns for what they do - and not quite the equal of the better panels but factoring in the average room, owners with space for only one audio system, price, ease of drive - I am not spurprised to see panel lovers go to the AN E - it's one of the few boxes they could stomach. And Horn lovers may grumble a bit about the lower sensitivity and absolute slam but they will love the tube friendliness and non shouty horn attributes - and for people who don't have the room to support ridiculous Avantegarde Trio sized speakers the small footprint makes a lot of sense.
IMO Goldilocks would say the AN E is "just right" - now if only Audio Note could actually keep up with demand so people didn't have to wait 6 months to a year to get one - that would be icing on the cake.
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