I'm so glad you got to experience Audio Note! I was just hanging out with Peter's son at the Britsol Hifi Show this last weekend. The whole clan is RAD! They have the best music selection. You will never see such a wide, eclectic music selection from any other room at show. Their gear is phenomenal. It can play anything and sound amazing. Tracks that absolutely fall apart on most gear doesn't even cause AN a sweat. It's so well designed and so well built.
Yup - Peter is a Gem .. LOVE their sound. I have enjoyed meeting their reps over the last few years .. and it's a joy to know them all as music lovers.
98db Sensitive and Field Coil woofers .. Ya .. lol .. Adrian and Frederico were likely not surprised .. Yes sir.. Same goes for his son Daniel and Vincent ( from Montreal ) The entire brand brings the most passionate people into the fold. =) Im happy to hear you love it like we do =)
My first full system was all AN Met Peter in England took me for a tour in his factory and listened to tunes in his house. Oh he drove us around the area and by the water in Brighton. A tour guild also.
Aston Martin?! This analogy is weird. The one and only thing these two have in common is that their British!… AN wishes it had the same level of craftsmanship! They are rather made like very early MG‘s. And remember: Aston doesn’t even have proprietary motors in their cars! They buy them from Mercedes-AMG … and plant em in.
Hi Mikey, thank you for sharing your audio note story with us. i always aspired to own that gear and when i turn 30 i hope to own an entire system of it and i hope i can buy it through you
Loved the audacity (and fidelity) of the Audio Note room. Reminded a lot of us listening that it’s not just a cerebral affair, but an emotive and visceral one as well.
I know, right? "this dude is 70yrs old 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙" Youth is wasted on the young. It's a shame wisdom is wasted on the old. ;) Buddy Guy at 87 is a head bobbin' groove machine, playing clubs since the 50's! He pre-dates rock and roll! ... otoh Pres..., nevermind
Hey OCD Mike! You had me in stitches with this video! I have always been interested in the brand and hope to hear more from you soon about it. Safe travels my friend.
Audionote is a Japanese company founded by Hiroyasu Kondo , PQ and Audionote UK were the distributors and later given manufacturing rights to produce a more affordable line of amplifiers , the Kondo versions carry far higher re-sell values because they are considered superior products.
I’m so glad you spoke to Peter instead of listening to riff raff. AN UK starts from a very low price point as well so it is definitely not only black tie level.
Hey Mikey, do you remember what amp they used because I have some Audio Note Speakers here and my single ended 5W amp is nice and works with the speakers but does not really rock by design.
Mikey.. Let me talk to Peter next weekend. I will get him to fly you over. Then we can all meet up a weekend and have a blast.... Peter is PETER. he is one of a kind in this audio industry.. And he is so much fun to hang out with. And he doesn't care for jazz and polite crap. He digs metal. Dubstep and hard rock big time.. Oh and whisky. He brought me into the whisky world 😅😅😅
Hi Mike I was at the Bristol audio show 2024 I only had two hours I went to hear the eletrocomponiet 1 mkv cd player that’s all over the net because I’m looking 1mkv or balanced audio technology VK d5se. But the one that blow me away was the Audio Note 1:08 and everything your said is true and he was one of the few that had he’s amp open and what a sight, full of goodies and I mean full. Love your show keep up the good work 🍻
@@AudioheavenDenmark do you have the cobra ? Very good amp , …when you look at it and think 28 per channel,….el34 …..huuuuuuu,mmm!? But then you hear it ….. :)
There are a few people in the industry I would like to meet. Peter Qvortrup is one along with Andreas Hoffman of Octave Audio, Lou Hinkley of Daedalus, Bill Dudleston from Legacy and Holger Adler of Voxativ. I'm sure there are others but those are the people that would be high on my list.
One more thing - on the CZcams channel “real hifi help” there are three videos from around Oct 20, 2020, covering a long Q&A interview with Peter Q. Very detailed take on his audio design philosophy, how he thinks about listening, music history etc. - illuminates the whole “Audio Note” thing, if one is interested
NIce meeting you at the show OCD , very cool . BTW you should look deeper into the audio note story , how they acquired the name , Pretty obvious with you showering love means you plan on carrying the line LOL.. Regards
Yes, all you said is true. He invite me to a lunch at Montreal audio fest because im the Oracle former designer and Peter is a brilliant awesome unique guy.
Wild to meet Peter Q., a legend to-be. He’s a carrier of the torch for high-efficiency speakers and SET tube amps and that they can play anything without apology. Thanks for all these posts on the show
It’s great to hear about metalheads in hifi, something near and dear to my heart. I totally get the polite stuff I enjoy it too, but if I ever feel like getting the police involved it’s going to be 90s era thrash, death, doom and black metal. It doesn’t have the ear candy but it has umm, the ear steak and potatoes I guess.
yep yep was shopping speakers way way back 90's in the 5k range guy in electronic creations in Orlando hooked up their Snell E3's 1k blew my freaking mind! I understand some of Audio Note 2 ways are, what, "based" on that model but obviously far superior, and have always wanted to hear them.
My interaction with Peter Q was bar none the best in the entire show. One of the reasons they are so powerful is their use of electro magnets in their motor systems as opposed to permanent magnets. His speakers (Peter Snell derived) are meant to work in a typical living room which was why his room was one of the few that actually sounded good. Glad you had the same experience.
Audio Note have a really good reputation for high end audio. I particularly like their speakers. Great brand and when you come to the UK you've always got a place at ours in Nottingham the land of Robin Hood, we love the Black Sheep here. Bless you Mickey👍
Heard the ongaku a couple of days ago with the new avantgarde mezzo speaker , very fine sound , the dynamics were astounding ( like expected with a horn speaker) , Thought my favorite room was one with Marten Mingus septet loudspeakers , with the new octave flagship tube preamp and tube amps with 8 x kt170 per channel ,….200 r.m.s pure class A , streamer and dac was from Wadax ( ugly as hell , and full of bling …….a rappers dream :) But the sound …….oh my god ! That Martens are astounding , very fresh live feeling , true laser focus on voices with a very natural timbre , and a gigantic bass for what is still a not that humongous speaker ,…….but 108.000 euros de pair ……ouch !
I have an Ongaku and AN SEC Signature speakers. Also have some AN parts in my phono stage...that is not AN. When I went to London I took a train to AN and Peter is the best. It is a lifestyle and works well in certain rooms. Still like to have another system that does other things well in large rooms...like horns. Then you have the ultimate environment for music.
The Audio Note gear is kick ass, but tubes are for fun and solid state is serious listening…having both is the ultimate….just played tool on my Pass Labs pre and amp…it kicks ass too…rock on!!
With respect thats not correct, semi conductors generally suck. "transistor amplifiers sound poor for the simple reason that transistors are inferior amplifying devices. The word “semiconductor” really means what it says and it says it all, “half”-conductor, sonically this could be translated to mean half the signal! Which is really what it sounds like. Pure and simple, transistors are highly un-linear and need a lot of correction (feedback of some sort) to have a bandwidth wide enough to be able to reproduce any music signals, they are not natural voltage amplifiers. Likewise both the pentode or tetrode requires corrective feedback to lower the load sensitivity and improve bandwidth, they are less un-linear than transistors being high impedance devices that require matching from an output transformer. Thus they sound better when used well, especially when used single-ended or in pseudo triode mode by connecting the grids together. Pentodes and tetrodes are more efficient (give higher static power) and much cheaper than triodes, this price advantage is paid for in poorer linearity and therefore overall open loop power bandwidth and load stability, nature always gives with one hand and takes with the other! Directly heated triodes on the other hand are highly linear amplifying devices, the directly heated triode is the original voltage amplifier, the first, only and still the best, it responds well to better circuits, components and materials, but they are less efficient and more expensive than pentodes and tetrodes. Thus they require efficient speakers, with power output being at a premium price". excerpt from PQ I thought like you once but then Listened to Audionote now I understand a little better what I have bern chasing all these years.
I hear you, I was a tube guy and even had the AN Cobra, it sounded awesome. Some mornings it would give me fits when I turned it on, loud thump, had to mess with putting tubes in, it was fun at first. Before that I had lower price tube amps like Decware,Had and Primaluna they were mediocre. I just got burned out with the tubes so I landed on Pass Labs, a happy compromise, it’s dead quiet when I turn it on and off and I can just leave it on 24/7…
Those speakers they got are one of my favorite speakers at most audio shows. I thought it was a devore, but the one with the blue driver gives me very pleasant listening experience.
@@OCDHIFiGuy I know, his speaker just looks similar and I did not know any better. I asked him do you have the version with the blue driver, and he told me I think you are looking for audionote. He was definitely correct.
Audio note, UK, Peter was just the UK distributor. Ended up stealing all the products and intellectual property. The founder in Japan and your choice but to sue which started the legal problems. They basically took the Japanese products and put a different label on them.
@@OCDHIFiGuy yes, I remember when it happened. The products now are totally different from Kondo Japan. But Peter was the distributor for audio note, which was based out of Japan. After a legal battle, they became separate entities, with different products. Even today, some of the products share the same names but the companies now are entirely separate.
I added a letter from Kondo Japan, however, CZcams looks like they took my post down. Search “dear friends of audio note Japan“ and you will see the letter by Mr. Kondo himself.
@@OCDHIFiGuy It was so confusing to me to learn that there is Audio Note Japan, now called Kondo Audio Note, and Audio Note UK, especially because some of the products are named the same and look the same. What's going on here? It was further confusing to learn that apparently "Level 5" Audio Note UK Amps are actually hand made by Kondo Audio Note, so it seems. I could be wrong. Apparently Peter was in business with Kondo-San, an engineer who developed the original amplifier, and created the name Audio Note, until they had the equivalent of a nasty divorce after 20 years in business together. I've been trying to figure it out myself, because it's hard to know who to trust, and which company to buy from. Mike if you are thinking about becoming a distributor, I think you should do the following Google search precisely with the words below (I can't post links here). It'll take you to a 2012 forum thread at Audioreview with links to other forum posts publicly made by Peter and Kondo-San from the year 2000 about the split. It's remarkable that it's still online. What's even more remarkable is that they have both somehow kept the name Audio Note, while selling the same or similar products, and neither one fully rebranding. Google the following, it's the top result: audioreview "audio Note UK & Kondo Japan" Read every link provided on this page, and you can judge for yourself based upon the writings of Peter and Kondo-San what you make of the situation. Kondo Audio Note also has a website, as does Audio Note UK, and you can try to compare their offerings. I hope this helps.
@@OCDHIFiGuy No it's not the truth - Audio Note was started by Kondo-San in the 1970s - Peter Qvortrup ran Audio Innovations and was also an importer - for Audio Note Japan. Peter decided to partner with Kondo and make Audio Note a household name - Peter put up ALL Of the money, He took AN products to the US and paid for ALL of the audio shows and got the product a distributor - without PQ - nobody here would have ever heard the name Audio Note. Kondo basically designed a total of 6 products - the Ongaku, M7 M8 preamps and the Gaku-Ons, the silver cables and the IO cartridges). PQ knew that this would not work because there aren't enough people able to spend $89,000 for an integrated amp (1989 price!). Peter had his own engineers and they were the engineers who cam up with the OTO/SORO/Meishu/ M1-M6 preamps and all the level 3 and below products - and these units NOT the Kondo units were the big sellers. AN UK made and designed ALL of the Digital (CD players, Transports and DACS) and all of the turntables and arms and lower level cartridges - AN UK also made all of the speakers. Peter and AN UK were responsible for over 80% of the sales and income - more when you consider that it was Peter who was actually selling all the AN Japan gear outside of Japan. PQ got all the distributors, all the dealers, and paid for all the shows to make Kondo famous. He does all the work and puts up all the money and should get nothing I guess? Then when the financial crisis in 1997 hit - Peter told the Japan plant that they had to scale back that as an importer he could not buy all the stuff being shipped because it wasn't selling. Kondo like a little baby - complained that Peter should buy it regardless if he could sell it. Then Kondo - unilaterally gave the whole business to another importer DM Holdings - Peter was forced to sue to protect his business. And AN UK WAS the business by that point. PQ won in court. Now what is the "truth" in a divorce? We shall not know - but to me, the key points are this - Kondo only ever designed and built the absolute top-of-the-line components. The peanut gallery that always claims that PQ stole the company makes Kondo out to be David vs Goliath - yeah David who is selling $250,000 Gaku Ons - some David. All the products for the bottom 99% could only afford AN UK gear then or now. So the argument is moot. Lastly, How did affect Kondo? Not in the least - Audio Note Japan was and still is a company - they never went out of business - Kondo put his name in front so it is now Kondo Audio Note. Kondo was not impacted by one iota! All he lost was all of PQ's money in marketing and sales. Kondo had to find other distributors - he did. It's not like Kondo was booted to the street and wound up homeless - he still had his plant and all his employees and he still had the company name Audio Note Japan. And then people still argue that Peter "stole his designs" - they're not even the same designs - Kondo put out $32,000 Push pull amps - PQ believes in the Single Ended Triode - Kondo was not - they were putting out PP - they disagreed on the sonics and the designs. Moot now too since Kondo passed away many years ago and the company discontinued most of Kondo San's designs - so perhaps not quite as timeless as the peanut gallery thought. Meanwhile the AN UK OTO integrated amp for like $3800 designed by Guy Adams that was sold in 1995 is still selling to this very day in 8 versions - and won amplifier of the year last year in Asia. The "timeless classic" still selling - vs all the amps Kondo has discontinued. Guy Adams should be the household name. His amplifier is a rock star - and an amp people can afford - I've had mine since 2003 - and never had a problem.
This must be the best video i seen in a long time,for sure.Doing your own thing is the best,Do you like David Lynch,he does his own thing too and make some great music,please check him!
Whatever the ins and outs of the history of AN, the gear is shocking. If you get to the UK go and let Peter play you some music at their place and check out the record collection! And those speakers... wolf, sheep's clothing.
@@OCDHIFiGuy I was just being humorous, in reference to the audio shrink rant I had just watch before. I'm a vinyl guy and the more people stay into digital the better, bin digging has become hard enough as it is.
And the cone material is made from hemp. OCD, exactly the same impression I got from last year's FL show. Yes, it seems like total bs for a simple box with an 8 and a soft dome, but now it all makes sense.
Yeah actually the first 2 albums by Rage Against The Machine are pretty much audiophile grade metal albums, especially the Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh Audio fidelity gold CD editions. Wow. Definitely worth cranking! Glad you liked it. Another good one is Metallica’s black album. That works. ❤
@@OCDHIFiGuy absolutely agree. Nice choice. You know who else actually has really damn good freaking recordings! Billy Idol! Dude. His original CDs from the 1980’s are unbelievable sounding. Rebel yell, charmed life, vital idol and whiplash smile. Nuts. Incredible fidelity. Anyhow. Love your video. Love your passion.
Right after you said you were going back to their room at the end of the show, I knew they were going to play rock or metal. Peter Q is known for that!
Oh god, they make those silver wound output transformers from silver wire, made in-house, drawn through diamond dies also made in-house. I'm surprised you're just finding out about them.
Thanks for watching ! Please SUBSCRIBE 🙏 to help support this channel !!
dont mix with KONDO AUDIO NOTE JAPAN :) interesting story by the way, both has ongaku but totally different :) Thanks great video again
Very good brand in UK - they don't put a price list on the products
I'm so glad you got to experience Audio Note! I was just hanging out with Peter's son at the Britsol Hifi Show this last weekend. The whole clan is RAD! They have the best music selection. You will never see such a wide, eclectic music selection from any other room at show. Their gear is phenomenal. It can play anything and sound amazing. Tracks that absolutely fall apart on most gear doesn't even cause AN a sweat. It's so well designed and so well built.
…well built ?? This was a good one 😂😂😂 -> Built like a $ 100.- cardboard box! Sold for many, many grands.
@@bikemike1118this is a fact.
Nice video! Nice story. Your enthusiasm is contagious.
Yup - Peter is a Gem .. LOVE their sound. I have enjoyed meeting their reps over the last few years .. and it's a joy to know them all as music lovers.
98db Sensitive and Field Coil woofers .. Ya .. lol .. Adrian and Frederico were likely not surprised .. Yes sir.. Same goes for his son Daniel and Vincent ( from Montreal )
The entire brand brings the most passionate people into the fold. =) Im happy to hear you love it like we do =)
Thanks for the rant!!! Will check out audio note!!!
Visited Audio Note in Sussex when I was a student. The system they played me then let an impression that has lasted decades. Brilliant, natural sound.
Great story !
Awesome!
Wonderful rant. I just love OCD MIKEY 😊
Best rant you've done in awhile. Great stuff Mikey! Hahahaha. Just great.
My first full system was all AN
Met Peter in England took me for a tour in his factory and listened to tunes in his house. Oh he drove us around the area and by the water in Brighton. A tour guild also.
Glad you found out about Audio Note. Excellent and well built gear. Aston Martin is a good analogy.
Aston Martin?! This analogy is weird. The one and only thing these two have in common is that their British!… AN wishes it had the same level of craftsmanship! They are rather made like very early MG‘s. And remember: Aston doesn’t even have proprietary motors in their cars! They buy them from Mercedes-AMG … and plant em in.
Hi Mikey,
thank you for sharing your audio note story with us. i always aspired to own that gear and when i turn 30 i hope to own an entire system of it and i hope i can buy it through you
Hi Mike, I meet you there. This is my brand. It is a particular sound. Glad to see you appreciate it too. Perhaps a dealership in the making…..
So cool to meet these principals of well made audio gear.
Sounds like fun !!
Speakers based on Peter Snell’s designs, which were always wonderful sounding speakers. I love my Snell Type E.
Ha ha, love it !
My kind of dude.
Loved the audacity (and fidelity) of the Audio Note room. Reminded a lot of us listening that it’s not just a cerebral affair, but an emotive and visceral one as well.
Mike - this may be my favorite of all your videos ive ever watched. Your obvious enthusiasm is infectious. Great job
Thanks 👍
You should one day fly to him and make a couple of videos based on hearing his own room and visiting the factory.
I emailed you about this vid ^^
But you are absolutely right!
Old guys rock too….
Yes ! Rock on 🤘
I know, right?
"this dude is 70yrs old 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙗𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙"
Youth is wasted on the young.
It's a shame wisdom is wasted on the old.
;)
Buddy Guy at 87 is a head bobbin' groove machine, playing clubs since the 50's!
He pre-dates rock and roll!
... otoh Pres..., nevermind
Hi Mikey, what do you think about their corner positioning? How's their imaging, soundstage etc?
This was a enjoyable episode, thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it
Hey OCD Mike! You had me in stitches with this video! I have always been interested in the brand and hope to hear more from you soon about it. Safe travels my friend.
I've never seen mikey this wild this crazy this passionate i'm slightly concerned........
Their preamps are particularly great. But no remote!
Love this video
Im glad to here this Mike 🤟
Audionote is a Japanese company founded by Hiroyasu Kondo , PQ and Audionote UK were the distributors and later given manufacturing rights to produce a more affordable line of amplifiers , the Kondo versions carry far higher re-sell values because they are considered superior products.
How do you polish your brass bowl in the background?
people forget that AN's chief designer, Andy Grove, is a *massive* metal head, OF COURSE it can rock!
And he is very good with a guitar to ❤
Yeah not really :D listen to some rock on three way vintage JBLs and compare
@@sats87 oh i love a vintage 3-way! AN's speakers very much have that satisfying flavour..
Glad you liked it! If you have any questions about how and why AN equipment sounds like it does, I'll try to answer them for you.
Great video
Thanks for the visit
I’m so glad you spoke to Peter instead of listening to riff raff. AN UK starts from a very low price point as well so it is definitely not only black tie level.
Spent an hour with Peter today.. he's great 👍
Hey Mikey, do you remember what amp they used because I have some Audio Note Speakers here and my single ended 5W amp is nice and works with the speakers but does not really rock by design.
Mindblown Mikey.Sounds like an awesome time. You’ve definitely changed my opinion of AN
Mikey.. Let me talk to Peter next weekend. I will get him to fly you over. Then we can all meet up a weekend and have a blast.... Peter is PETER. he is one of a kind in this audio industry.. And he is so much fun to hang out with. And he doesn't care for jazz and polite crap. He digs metal. Dubstep and hard rock big time.. Oh and whisky. He brought me into the whisky world 😅😅😅
Sounds Fun !
@@OCDHIFiGuy it sure could be..... Lots of music. Tons of fun to. Brighton is a lovely city to. We can smoke a cuban and have a scotch on the beach.
OCD Mikey, this is by far your best rant to date! Keep hitting them with the volume knob!
Thanks Sven !
Hi Mike
I was at the Bristol audio show 2024
I only had two hours I went to hear the eletrocomponiet 1 mkv cd player that’s all over the net because I’m looking 1mkv or balanced audio technology
VK d5se.
But the one that blow me away was the Audio Note 1:08 and everything your said is true and he was one of the few that had he’s amp open and what a sight, full of goodies and I mean full.
Love your show keep up the good work 🍻
The cobra integrated with the An-j lx is a blast of a combo for rock music ,
It can fill a hall... Done it several times. People are walking around looking for subs 😂
@@AudioheavenDenmark do you have the cobra ? Very good amp , …when you look at it and think 28 per channel,….el34 …..huuuuuuu,mmm!? But then you hear it ….. :)
@@MsCorbacho ive been part of the cobra team from prototype 1 to finished product. It's a kick ass amp and awesome value
I have a full Audio Note system! I absolutely love it!
Do you think AGD can compete with AN magic?
There are a few people in the industry I would like to meet. Peter Qvortrup is one along with Andreas Hoffman of Octave Audio, Lou Hinkley of Daedalus, Bill Dudleston from Legacy and Holger Adler of Voxativ. I'm sure there are others but those are the people that would be high on my list.
My two favorite Dac-brands, that I ever heard, is actually AN and PD . Would be crazy cool if you got involved in tha AN World.
One more thing - on the CZcams channel “real hifi help” there are three videos from around Oct 20, 2020, covering a long Q&A interview with Peter Q. Very detailed take on his audio design philosophy, how he thinks about listening, music history etc. - illuminates the whole “Audio Note” thing, if one is interested
Yes it's brilliant
This is why im following you Mike - THE PASSION :)
Thanks !
Haha great RANT Mickey!
NIce meeting you at the show OCD , very cool . BTW you should look deeper into the audio note story , how they acquired the name , Pretty obvious with you showering love means you plan on carrying the line LOL..
Regards
Yes, all you said is true. He invite me to a lunch at Montreal audio fest because im the Oracle former designer and Peter is a brilliant awesome unique guy.
Audio note is a very good brand , never heard anything from them that i did not like , including the less expensive one
Wild to meet Peter Q., a legend to-be. He’s a carrier of the torch for high-efficiency speakers and SET tube amps and that they can play anything without apology. Thanks for all these posts on the show
It’s great to hear about metalheads in hifi, something near and dear to my heart. I totally get the polite stuff I enjoy it too, but if I ever feel like getting the police involved it’s going to be 90s era thrash, death, doom and black metal. It doesn’t have the ear candy but it has umm, the ear steak and potatoes I guess.
yep yep
was shopping speakers way way back 90's
in the 5k range
guy in electronic creations in Orlando hooked up their Snell E3's
1k
blew my freaking mind!
I understand some of Audio Note 2 ways are, what, "based" on that model but obviously far superior, and have always wanted to hear them.
Do you show the ELAC room?
No
My interaction with Peter Q was bar none the best in the entire show.
One of the reasons they are so powerful is their use of electro magnets in their motor systems as opposed to permanent magnets. His speakers (Peter Snell derived) are meant to work in a typical living room which was why his room was one of the few that actually sounded good.
Glad you had the same experience.
In a typical British flat. The room must be on the smaller side... yes, called Field Coil drivers.. ;-) 😉
Audio Note have a really good reputation for high end audio. I particularly like their speakers. Great brand and when you come to the UK you've always got a place at ours in Nottingham the land of Robin Hood, we love the Black Sheep here. Bless you Mickey👍
Yep thats it……love the music First……
Were there any fleas at the expo?
Audio Note has been doing their demos with this music for years.
RIP Tim de Paravicini. LEGEND
Absolutely. He agreed to interview with me but said he was sick and had to get better... he never did.
Heard the ongaku a couple of days ago with the new avantgarde mezzo speaker , very fine sound , the dynamics were astounding ( like expected with a horn speaker) ,
Thought my favorite room was one with Marten Mingus septet loudspeakers , with the new octave flagship tube preamp and tube amps with 8 x kt170 per channel ,….200 r.m.s pure class A , streamer and dac was from Wadax ( ugly as hell , and full of bling …….a rappers dream :)
But the sound …….oh my god ! That Martens are astounding , very fresh live feeling , true laser focus on voices with a very natural timbre , and a gigantic bass for what is still a not that humongous speaker ,…….but 108.000 euros de pair ……ouch !
Mikey, no worries, "let it all hang out!" Rock on........
BTW, Seas manufactures AN’s woofers.
Cool story bro! I have enjoyed their stuff at Axpona.
Awesome !
Where does ANK fit into the picture?
The more you listen to Audio Note the better it gets. When you’re done listening to all the rest, you’ll find yourself back in the Audio Note room 😂
Always thought you should be an AN dealer. For me, would complete a triad of musicality: TAD, PBD, AN.
Love the enthusiasm dude.😊
yeah Mikey is really "relaxed" today lol
“Bulls on Parade” is my RATM fave 🤘🏼
I have an Ongaku and AN SEC Signature speakers. Also have some AN parts in my phono stage...that is not AN. When I went to London I took a train to AN and Peter is the best. It is a lifestyle and works well in certain rooms. Still like to have another system that does other things well in large rooms...like horns. Then you have the ultimate environment for music.
The Audio Note gear is kick ass, but tubes are for fun and solid state is serious listening…having both is the ultimate….just played tool on my Pass Labs pre and amp…it kicks ass too…rock on!!
With respect thats not correct, semi conductors generally suck.
"transistor amplifiers sound poor for the simple reason that transistors are inferior amplifying devices. The word “semiconductor” really means what it says and it says it all, “half”-conductor, sonically this could be translated to mean half the signal! Which is really what it sounds like. Pure and simple, transistors are highly un-linear and need a lot of correction (feedback of some sort) to have a bandwidth wide enough to be able to reproduce any music signals, they are not natural voltage amplifiers. Likewise both the pentode or tetrode requires corrective feedback to lower the load sensitivity and improve bandwidth, they are less un-linear than transistors being high impedance devices that require matching from an output transformer. Thus they sound better when used well, especially when used single-ended or in pseudo triode mode by connecting the grids together. Pentodes and tetrodes are more efficient (give higher static power) and much cheaper than triodes, this price advantage is paid for in poorer linearity and therefore overall open loop power bandwidth and load stability, nature always gives with one hand and takes with the other!
Directly heated triodes on the other hand are highly linear amplifying devices, the directly heated triode is the original voltage amplifier, the first, only and still the best, it responds well to better circuits, components and materials, but they are less efficient and more expensive than pentodes and tetrodes. Thus they require efficient speakers, with power output being at a premium price". excerpt from PQ
I thought like you once but then Listened to Audionote now I understand a little better what I have bern chasing all these years.
I hear you, I was a tube guy and even had the AN Cobra, it sounded awesome. Some mornings it would give me fits when I turned it on, loud thump, had to mess with putting tubes in, it was fun at first. Before that I had lower price tube amps like Decware,Had and Primaluna they were mediocre. I just got burned out with the tubes so I landed on Pass Labs, a happy compromise, it’s dead quiet when I turn it on and off and I can just leave it on 24/7…
Audio Note speakers remind me of DeVore speakers. Devore is a Big Fan of The Mikey and a huge Ess Jay Dubya
Namastepikaw 🤘🏻🤘🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
That is some brave legislation and brave women!
What ?
Good rant
Thx
Those speakers they got are one of my favorite speakers at most audio shows. I thought it was a devore, but the one with the blue driver gives me very pleasant listening experience.
Devore could only DREAM of a speaker like this. Talk about TOOL !! LOL. shiiii
@@OCDHIFiGuy I know, his speaker just looks similar and I did not know any better. I asked him do you have the version with the blue driver, and he told me I think you are looking for audionote. He was definitely correct.
Audio note, UK, Peter was just the UK distributor. Ended up stealing all the products and intellectual property. The founder in Japan and your choice but to sue which started the legal problems. They basically took the Japanese products and put a different label on them.
Wow. Is that truth ?
@@OCDHIFiGuy yes, I remember when it happened. The products now are totally different from Kondo Japan. But Peter was the distributor for audio note, which was based out of Japan. After a legal battle, they became separate entities, with different products. Even today, some of the products share the same names but the companies now are entirely separate.
I added a letter from Kondo Japan, however, CZcams looks like they took my post down.
Search “dear friends of audio note Japan“ and you will see the letter by Mr. Kondo himself.
@@OCDHIFiGuy It was so confusing to me to learn that there is Audio Note Japan, now called Kondo Audio Note, and Audio Note UK, especially because some of the products are named the same and look the same. What's going on here? It was further confusing to learn that apparently "Level 5" Audio Note UK Amps are actually hand made by Kondo Audio Note, so it seems. I could be wrong.
Apparently Peter was in business with Kondo-San, an engineer who developed the original amplifier, and created the name Audio Note, until they had the equivalent of a nasty divorce after 20 years in business together. I've been trying to figure it out myself, because it's hard to know who to trust, and which company to buy from.
Mike if you are thinking about becoming a distributor, I think you should do the following Google search precisely with the words below (I can't post links here). It'll take you to a 2012 forum thread at Audioreview with links to other forum posts publicly made by Peter and Kondo-San from the year 2000 about the split. It's remarkable that it's still online. What's even more remarkable is that they have both somehow kept the name Audio Note, while selling the same or similar products, and neither one fully rebranding. Google the following, it's the top result:
audioreview "audio Note UK & Kondo Japan"
Read every link provided on this page, and you can judge for yourself based upon the writings of Peter and Kondo-San what you make of the situation. Kondo Audio Note also has a website, as does Audio Note UK, and you can try to compare their offerings. I hope this helps.
@@OCDHIFiGuy No it's not the truth - Audio Note was started by Kondo-San in the 1970s - Peter Qvortrup ran Audio Innovations and was also an importer - for Audio Note Japan. Peter decided to partner with Kondo and make Audio Note a household name - Peter put up ALL Of the money, He took AN products to the US and paid for ALL of the audio shows and got the product a distributor - without PQ - nobody here would have ever heard the name Audio Note. Kondo basically designed a total of 6 products - the Ongaku, M7 M8 preamps and the Gaku-Ons, the silver cables and the IO cartridges). PQ knew that this would not work because there aren't enough people able to spend $89,000 for an integrated amp (1989 price!).
Peter had his own engineers and they were the engineers who cam up with the OTO/SORO/Meishu/ M1-M6 preamps and all the level 3 and below products - and these units NOT the Kondo units were the big sellers. AN UK made and designed ALL of the Digital (CD players, Transports and DACS) and all of the turntables and arms and lower level cartridges - AN UK also made all of the speakers. Peter and AN UK were responsible for over 80% of the sales and income - more when you consider that it was Peter who was actually selling all the AN Japan gear outside of Japan. PQ got all the distributors, all the dealers, and paid for all the shows to make Kondo famous. He does all the work and puts up all the money and should get nothing I guess?
Then when the financial crisis in 1997 hit - Peter told the Japan plant that they had to scale back that as an importer he could not buy all the stuff being shipped because it wasn't selling. Kondo like a little baby - complained that Peter should buy it regardless if he could sell it. Then Kondo - unilaterally gave the whole business to another importer DM Holdings - Peter was forced to sue to protect his business. And AN UK WAS the business by that point. PQ won in court.
Now what is the "truth" in a divorce? We shall not know - but to me, the key points are this - Kondo only ever designed and built the absolute top-of-the-line components. The peanut gallery that always claims that PQ stole the company makes Kondo out to be David vs Goliath - yeah David who is selling $250,000 Gaku Ons - some David. All the products for the bottom 99% could only afford AN UK gear then or now. So the argument is moot. Lastly, How did affect Kondo? Not in the least - Audio Note Japan was and still is a company - they never went out of business - Kondo put his name in front so it is now Kondo Audio Note. Kondo was not impacted by one iota! All he lost was all of PQ's money in marketing and sales. Kondo had to find other distributors - he did. It's not like Kondo was booted to the street and wound up homeless - he still had his plant and all his employees and he still had the company name Audio Note Japan. And then people still argue that Peter "stole his designs" - they're not even the same designs - Kondo put out $32,000 Push pull amps - PQ believes in the Single Ended Triode - Kondo was not - they were putting out PP - they disagreed on the sonics and the designs. Moot now too since Kondo passed away many years ago and the company discontinued most of Kondo San's designs - so perhaps not quite as timeless as the peanut gallery thought. Meanwhile the AN UK OTO integrated amp for like $3800 designed by Guy Adams that was sold in 1995 is still selling to this very day in 8 versions - and won amplifier of the year last year in Asia. The "timeless classic" still selling - vs all the amps Kondo has discontinued. Guy Adams should be the household name. His amplifier is a rock star - and an amp people can afford - I've had mine since 2003 - and never had a problem.
I’m ATL based and looking at audio note - do it!
Call me up...
This must be the best video i seen in a long time,for sure.Doing your own thing is the best,Do you like David Lynch,he does his own thing too and make some great music,please check him!
Sounds like praise not a rant. 😂 was waiting for the take down.
It's a good rant.. 👍 just like someday I'll find a Turntable that rivals digital.;-)
@@OCDHIFiGuy such a good rant you said it twice 🤣 in stereo.
@@oohtob6685 damn phone ! Lol
You must visit London. Come in the summer 🇬🇧 and do a show you’d be most welcome
Mikey, you know my ear. Can’t wait till you hear my level 4 Audio Note with my MPD-8 🙂
The An-j speakers are great for rock , …I do find the J version almost always ( what I have heard until now) , better than the an-e
Whatever the ins and outs of the history of AN, the gear is shocking.
If you get to the UK go and let Peter play you some music at their place and check out the record collection!
And those speakers... wolf, sheep's clothing.
70 years old makes him in his prime during the 70s punk era, of course he's going to go big...
Did you ask questions concerning his analogue gear?
I asked broad questions about his company. I didn't ask about digital gear either..
@@OCDHIFiGuy I was just being humorous, in reference to the audio shrink rant I had just watch before. I'm a vinyl guy and the more people stay into digital the better, bin digging has become hard enough as it is.
Cheating somewhat,as that Rage album is really well recorded and sounds good on alot of systems.
And the cone material is made from hemp. OCD, exactly the same impression I got from last year's FL show. Yes, it seems like total bs for a simple box with an 8 and a soft dome, but now it all makes sense.
Laugh, Jaguar Land 🤠
Your impression means that feasible to have hiend gear and play rock!
That is how people reacts for first time when they hear field coil drivers :))
I own Field Coil Drivers.. Handmade Feastrex with mono Tungar power supplies... lol...
@@OCDHIFiGuyIs your speaker single driver design?
Big difference between companies owned by a family focused on products and customers vs corporate owners focused on maximizing shareholder value.
Said like a guy in the know... Jim knows what's up !
Yeah actually the first 2 albums by Rage Against The Machine are pretty much audiophile grade metal albums, especially the Steve Hoffman and Stephen Marsh Audio fidelity gold CD editions. Wow.
Definitely worth cranking! Glad you liked it. Another good one is Metallica’s black album. That works. ❤
For sure. AC/DC BIB as well
@@OCDHIFiGuy absolutely agree. Nice choice.
You know who else actually has really damn good freaking recordings! Billy Idol! Dude. His original CDs from the 1980’s are unbelievable sounding.
Rebel yell, charmed life, vital idol and whiplash smile. Nuts. Incredible fidelity. Anyhow. Love your video. Love your passion.
Right after you said you were going back to their room at the end of the show, I knew they were going to play rock or metal. Peter Q is known for that!
Was fun !
I use Audionote resistors and caps in my Donizator modded Lampizator. super good super musical super bad ass
Hi, will they sell components to diy folk?
Not sure I had a company do it for me that is a manufacture of other equipment and I know the engineer. Vujade audio@@jdekong3945
Audio not equipment is very musical amazing
Absolutely
I knows this already for 30 years haha, audio note your (my) last system !
There you go
Oh god, they make those silver wound output transformers from silver wire, made in-house, drawn through diamond dies also made in-house. I'm surprised you're just finding out about them.
It has to be good. Too many people pay good money for Audio note.
Me gusta tu Pelo😂
Lmaooo I use audio note in UK
Conceal Carry Audionote
Rants are good for the soul. Lol story makes a person cautious about boutique brands?
Feeling a Hot Stick here