where to get AudioNote wires

I purchased some from a company in the UK direct to my home in the US. Just google "Audio Note silver tonearm wire", or something like that. Finding it was not a problem. Trying to use the stuff IS a bit of a problem; it is amazingly thin silver Litz wire (a good news/bad news type of thing) and therefore very easy to damage. I am in the midst now of deciding whether I dare to try to thread it through a braided copper shield; the cut ends of the metal braid are very likely to tear the very fragile insulation, if not also to break one or more of the leads. Some others whom I trust swear by the Ikeda silver tonearm wire, which looks to be easier to work with.

Frogman, Good idea. I have done things like that before, or tried to. In some sense it is trading one problem (threading the fine and fragile wire through a braided shield) for another (threading the fine and fragile wire through teflon tubing). But the latter is probably easier to do.

Froggie, I do the same, using any fairly stiff solid core wire as a guide for the thin wire.

Nandric, While I have to agree that AN UK is different from AN Japan and that for a while at least the former traded on the very high reputation of the latter, it is also true that in recent years just about everyone knows the difference. The UK products are so much less expensive that it's obvious. Also, the UK products as a rule are not as good nor totally duplicative of what is sold by AN Japan.

But, having said all that, I have also to say that Kondo-san and AN Japan are also guilty of, shall we say, excessive "showmanship". The idea that silver wire, made from a base element that was in the ground possibly since the earth was formed from a cloud of gas, would somehow transmogrify to something more wonderful, if the end product made from it is aged above ground for a few measly years, is just silly, IMO. The idea that ANY amplifier can be worth sums of money in the $150,000 range is equally farcical, but I recognize that AN is not alone in promoting such costly products. I once had the pleasure of listening to both an Ongaku and a Kegon, consecutively on the same day in the same place, driving AN loudspeakers. Each was excellent in its own way (given the cost, I would say "merely" excellent), but I was struck by the fact that they sounded VERY different from each other. IMO, that should not be; there can be only one Nirvana.

Best idea I have heard or read today. Now to sleep on it.

Solder pot is the ticket for stripping Litz wire. Unfortunately, that AN stuff is so thin and flexible that it is tricky to dip it into the pot; it wants to bend and float on top due to resistance of the molten solder.

Pardon me. I thought you were being humorous about using aspirin, as a cure to the headache of trying to strip and solder very fine wires.