Audio Note Spkrs

I could not agree more to Willrobbins. I am also an AN-E HE owner and they are everything a music lover would ask for. Very musical and do cope with everything from rock to choral music. I owned at least 10 speakers before and never this contend. I still listen to many alternatives because infected with the disease like many others but never able to find anything this satisfactory. I used to listen occasionally to classicals because this kind of music do not sound very well on every disc with other components, but with AN it never fails to amaze. Everyday it is Chopin, it is Stravinsky, it is Mahler, it is Satie now. Do yourself a favor and meet somewhere with this enchanting brand. And no neither my front end nor the amps are AN. And yes I did a/b comparisons with Coincident, Harbeth, Wilson, Von Schweikert, Dali and Escalante Design. And by chance I am also a former Proac 3.8 owner.

To Rbrowne: my system consists of the following components: PrimaLuna Prologue8 CD player, Cary SLP98 pre-amp, Carver M1.5T amp, Thiel CS 2 2 spkrs. Interconnects: Harmonic Tech ProSilway MkIII, spkrs cables: Cardas Golden Ref (1.5meters.) I love the sound of my system but I know it could be better. At this time, I'd like to replace my amp and my speakers because I want to go with SET amps. SETs will not drive my 86db efficent Thiels...at least not satisfactorily. Question: do you have an opinion about the AN-E kits and the kit amps? Thanks. Michael

Ahmet1969...thanks for your response. I appreciate your mentioning that your front end components are not Audio Note. Did you go the kit route or purchase the Audio spkr from a dealer? Thanks. Michael

I really like A.N. a lot. I know several designers of A.N. gear. One of my best audiophile friends has a complete ultra high-end set up in a dedicated room with about 5-6K LP's and no windows. His A.N. system makes wonderful music. We tried his entire system in my ultra modern CA home (an Eichler) , lots of windows and totally open interiors, and it did not sound nearly as good (I'm being kind). My guess is that I have a lousy house for A.N. design center. So your room situation makes a lot of difference even with spectacularly great gear.

They are wonderful speakers.

Mdeblanc,

It is not a kit, I bought it from a dealer. Another thing you must be aware is that the speakers really need to burn to sound their best. So any comment before 500 hours is premature. What is funny the a/b test with the other speakers were done on brand new speakers. About the amplificarion, till now I drove them with three different amp, antique sound, an e otto integrated, an e quest monoblocks and tom evans lineer a, all produced very good results, but at the end I chose to keep my antique sounds (maybe again because the an amps i tried were not burned properly, that is burn in is a major issue with an than I know any other brand) But the main point is I see and experience no reason why they should not sound good with quality components.