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In Reply to: Re: A-U-D-I-O N-O-T-E posted by Len_ on March 21, 2007 at 14:31:20:
It is surprising that the original poster specified AN UK. It is widely accepted that AN Japan is a superior product. What makes AN products so costly is obsessive attention to detail. AN Japan is regarded as the manufacturer of choice for this reason.
Follow Ups:
I know AN Japan's handicraftsmen is top notch. But then again, they "manufacturer" ridiculously priced cables that appear no harder to make then Belden bulk wire.I've always found AN (UK and Japan) electronics justifiably priced, even if they are on the expensive side. In other words, I can see why one would justify paying a premium for their design, component, and build quality. Some of their other product offerings, however ...
I have had the opportunity to hear both the Kondo and Audionote (uk) gear, and in the case of linestages, comparable models at the same dealership. Both sound good, but they do not sound the same (uk linestage sounded a touch more romantic). I don't think it is "widely accepted" by those who know the gear that one is superior to the other. The construction and quality of parts of both are terrific.I heard that after the split, Audionote (uk) got the proprietary gear for drawing the wire and making the transformers. I don't know if this is true, but for a while, the Kondo stuff was being made with off-the-shelf (Tango?) transformers. The Tango transformers may have been an ideal fit, but I suspect it was more a matter of what was available.
I was always a bit of skeptical of AN gear ... at least, their stuff that I could afford never really blew me away.Then I heard an Audio Note system including AN Japan Gaku-On parallel 211 monos. Holy moly. Closest thing to a religious experience I've had in audio. Simply perfect, with the exception of slight cone breakup audible at higher levels due to the Snell-style speakers. Kept at ~75-85dB, the sound is seemingly perfect. I remember the experience in pictures, colors, and shapes ... and if I were incomprehensibly rich, I think I could justify the multi-$100k expense.
I`m in Japan on vacation and visiting the in-laws. Having some extra time, I decided to try to hear some Kondo (i.e. Audio Note Japan) equipment to see what the fuss was all about. My wife called Kondo`s office (I don`t speak Japanese) and was surprised to find out that that Kondo actually doesn`t have any dealers in Japan. The president of Kondo (can`t recall his name right now) actually invited us over to their listening room to listen. He was extremely courteous and hospitable; offering us coffee and conversing with us about audiophiles in Japan, WAF in Japan (unfortunately Japanese audiophiles have the same problems), and the construction of Kondo equipment (100% by hand, including hand-wound silver transformers). We ended up listening to the new yet unreleased turntable and arm with the new IO-M (?) cartridge running through the new M-1000 II preamp (he said that they had just shipped the first batch) to the Ongaku amplifier and some Kondo speakers (I think they were Ruthys). The sound was pretty incredible. It was as if a veil was lifted on the music. Every detail could be heard, but not in a hi-fi`ish kind of way. The sound was extremely natural and life-like. Female voice and acoustic instruments were so realistic, it was almost scary! And this was with the volume at VERY conservative levels. The equipment disappeared, leaving just the music. Definitely my dream system if I had $200K plus to spend!
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