Audio Note speakers

I owned AN-E LX speakers with paper cones and now own AN-J speakers with hemp cones, silver inductors, etc. I have used a variety of amps with both. I would guess that the paper cones will be a slightly batter match with the LTA’s OTL sound, but the higher you go up the AN line, the less grain you hear. If you switch to a SET amp or a higher end push pull amp at some point, that absence of grain will be more pronounced. Basically, the paper cones might give you the sound you want now for less $$$, but the higher end hemp and silver speakers will give you a higher ceiling for upgrades down the road.

To all here raving about AudioNote speakers I will point out that they are copies of the original speakers designed and manufactured by Peter Snell (RIP) in Massachusetts. Yes, the crossover parts are more costly but the overall designs are the same.The original Snell’s are available on the secondhand market for a fraction of the excessive prices charged by AudioNote. I have original Snell Type A’s, E’s and K’s. When you buy AudioNote you are paying for a marque name - not better sound compared to Snell.

I bought a pair of the original Snell E's a while ago and was not impressed. Sounded like the medium size boxes they are. And I like vintage speakers- replaced them with similarly scaled Monitor Audio MA-3's, which are a huge improvement. I find it really hard to believe Audio Note An-E's would win any fans at all if they sounded as "meh" as the old Snells that passed through my hands. Perhaps the caps in their crossovers were old, or something of that order. I have some breadth of experience with vintage speakers. Keepers: Quad ESL 57's, ADS 810's, Altec 604G's in 620 cabs, the MA-3's mentioned above. Out the door: Klipsch Heresy II's, Cornwall I's, Vandersteen 1C's . . . and the Snells.

Jason,

Which AN corresponds to which Snell?

Snell models I have seen used Vifa woofers and SEAS or Peerless tweeters.  Their secret sauce was custom calibrated crossovers, and all soldered wiring, but they didn’t use today’s boutique parts. Certainly no hemp cones!

No offense intended toward anyone, however, if someone says Audio Note UK speakers sound anything like the Snell's they don't know what they are talking about. Anyone who says they are built the same, they don't know what they are talking about.

The Snells in their day were truly unique and sounded better than many speakers at the time. They were forgiving of placement and were for their day quite amazing. But lets be honest, build quality, quality of materials, etc were all applicable to their day.

Today, Audio Note UK begins with far better materials. The cabinets are similar to Snells but different in meaningful ways (void free Baltic birch, different bracing, the science behind the ports, adhesives, etc). The drivers are exceptional and of a unique design, wiring, connectors, etc all built and designed and produced in-house to exacting standards. Caps, resistors, etc all to the highest standards.

I assure you, they don't sound like Snells any more than a Porsche 911 built today drives like a late 1940's era Volkswagen...the vehicle from which it originated. And for those in the bleachers who love to proclaim that anyone who pays more for something than they believe is reasonable are idiots...that's just untrue.

While I don't own Audio Note E's, I have in the past and perhaps will in the future. They perform at a high level and perform in certain rooms better than virtually any other speaker.