Lol yeah – I don’t care much for SJ. Good looks and all, but am not interested
Audio Note UK vs Audio Japan Sonic Differences
- Thread starter caesar
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Lol yeah – I don’t care much for SJ. Good looks and all, but am not interested
I agree, Kondo cartridge sounds best with Kondo system. I have a Kondo system at least 10 years but haven't owned a Kondo cartridge yet. Hopefully in the near future. There are also better alternatives. IMHO Kondo Ginga turntable is much better than Da Vinci.
Not similar , but obviously prime examples of SET distortion / coloration
Unfortunately not so obvious to " the Golden ears " on this forum.
Every SET owner I know all owned many excellent measuring SS amps. This may indeed be a preference perhaps for more "euphony" in the presentation but most people hear the same things - that's how all of us can recognize the same singers we hear on the radio - we all know instantly that the singer is Sarah McLachlan or Jackson Browne or Madonna or Pavarotti - then that same information is sent into our brains and we then decide whether it suits our preferences - the hearing of them and the recognition of them is the same. Thus, we can both hear a SS amp that measures great and then our brain decides whether we like it or not.
The problem is that Kondo designed none of the new amps from Kondo - It's the same with Shindo - when you bought a Shindo you were buying KJen Shindo's expertise - he passed away - the company is still going but is it really still Shindo? Same for Line Magnetic - it was a two-brother operation and one brother made Western Electric copies - LM was in possession of all the original machines and for many years did Western Electric restoration work and they hired people from Cayin (China's best and biggest tube amp maker). Cayin makes LM's transformers.
The other brother manufactured the lower-priced value propositions like my LM 219IA SET amp and the gold amps most people buy. Both brothers unfortunately passed away - so who knows what is happening now. I do know that when my CD player's transport died - it was using a Sanyo mechanism that cost $5. They advertised that it comes with a Sony KSS-13 metal mechanism. What one ex-dealer said is that it's a bit hit and miss - the amplifier sold in HK was a notch above the amplifiers they ship to Europe and America. The gold series was invented to separate the US/Euro market and the Chinese market as dealers tend to upcharge them threefold - The CD player I have was $2200 HKD and in the US it is $1500.
You are correct that direct fair comparisons are rarely ever done. First, if you are an AN UK lover maybe you will "want it to be better" when you sit down for the comparison - if you "hate PQ because you feel he is a douchebag who stole the company name" then you are equally not objective when you sit and listen. So to be "fair" it would have to be a double-blind level-matched audition. Let's face it - nobody is going to do that and even then it is only relevant that day with that music in that room with the particular speakers being used.
Personally, I feel like SET amplifiers tend to be streets ahead of other amplifier designs and most any reputable SET amp from these manufacturers will be top 1 percent - then it's a matter of bickering over things like 2a3 is best - no damnit 45 - no 300B no 211 and only with this tube.
The fact is most people in a SET thread who love SET amps already agree far more than they disagree - it's more like we need to find further separation to argue about what to me amounts to nonsense. We can't really argue about sound quality - what moves me may not move you and vice versa. It's as useless as arguing whether Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream tastes better than Strawberry.
Also wanted to add: like with Kondo, if you cannot get Margot Robbie, you can try for a copy
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Everyone is entitled to his / her opinion .
My estimate is people tend to think the bigger the tube , the better the design ( wonder where they got that from
)
I'd love to try a SET amp if and when I have the appropriate speakers. Variety is the spice of life and all that. It's probably not going to be Audio Note (put off by the history) or Kondo (put off by the price) though. There's a Canadian manufacturer - local to me in fact - that makes intriguing amps that aren't cheap but also not as expensive as these two. I just need about 10 db and 4 ohms more sensitivity and input impedance, respectively...Everyone is entitled to his / her opinion .
My estimate is people tend to think the bigger the tube , the better the design ( wonder where they got that from
Emma Mackey in these photos looks more like Margot Robbie than Margot Robbie
I was going to say something, but since I think all who profit through piracy are dishonourable “douchebags”, I am not ”objective”. Never mind.
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The reporters from Soundstsge global seem to have an opinion from the recent Warsaw show
That's rather interesting - I too would have expected given the price of the Kondo Room that it would have walked all over a pretty entry-level AN UK room (level 2/3).
I think there is a bit of a difference though - AN UK will play any music from any genre of any recording quality at any volume level. Many showrunners play handpicked audiophile froufrou recordings and it's tough to win people over when they're rolling their eyes at "Oh no not Diana Krall or Nils Lofgren or Dire Straits or Tracy Chapman or Hotel California again!"
I even like this music but it is so overplayed and IMO it shows a lack of musical knowledge - it's like they're selling to people who own 20 albums and just want them played as good as possible.
I mean even "girl at a piano" music like Diana Krall - even just within Canada - can't you choose some OTHER Canadian girl at the piano and maybe mix it up with I don't know - Sophie Milman, Niki Yanofsky, Chantel Chamberland, Sarah McLachlan - SOMEONE ELSE!?! Still women - still well recorded (enough).
I think you are being quite intellectually dishonest if you are taking these two reports of rooms at a show of any sort of differences between these two, given completely different speakers and music. Kondo on AG duos won’t make AG duos sing.
A really surprising report, but it just goes to show that you can tell very little from a show demo.
Why do you think the brands are incompatible
I have never heard AG Duos sing.
That aside, I have never liked Kondo at Munich either.
All show reports are an as-is result and speaks to that comparison at that time - these two reviewers heard both set-ups and clearly liked the AN UK room more - a lot more. What is dishonest about that?
I have heard AN UK suck at audio shows - I have covered Audio Shows as a reviewer and while it's great if a room can sound great in that environment (because if it can sound great in a bad environment you will be able to make it sound even better in a better environment) I don't hold it against gear that doesn't sound good under show conditions. I ranked two rooms as dead last at one show and the next show they placed 1-2 best of show. Sometimes shit happens - the soundstage reviewers felt there was a speed problem with the turntable - maybe it was damaged in transit. My only issue there is that why didn't any of the Japanese Kondo Staff hear it? If they did they could have switched the session over to digital as the source - or didn't they notice? Maybe they're so tired of playing the froufrou music they don't pay attention anymore.
I auditioned and covered Kondo at the Hong Kong Audio Show and the room sounded quite good in spite of being very much a less-than-ideal set-up.
To pick that up as a data point.
If someone walks past a room at Munich and hears it sounding bad, it is not technically dishonest. Though it actually is. And citing it as a data point is.
The only "honest" way to test this would be double-blind listening tests wherein the music is the same, the phonograph is the same, the cartridge and SUTs are the same, the wires and speakers are the same, etc., the only difference would be the pre-amplifier (both set to MM), and amplifier (both equal level). The person switching between UK/Japan-originated systems wouldn't know which was which, the listeners wouldn't know which is which, and both should be selected from people who were totally unaware of "AudioNote" (regardless of which), and preferably not audiophiles.All show reports are an as-is result and speaks to that comparison at that time - these two reviewers heard both set-ups and clearly liked the AN UK room more - a lot more. What is dishonest about that?
I have heard AN UK suck at audio shows - I have covered Audio Shows as a reviewer and while it's great if a room can sound great in that environment (because if it can sound great in a bad environment you will be able to make it sound even better in a better environment) I don't hold it against gear that doesn't sound good under show conditions. I ranked two rooms as dead last at one show and the next show they placed 1-2 best of show. Sometimes shit happens - the soundstage reviewers felt there was a speed problem with the turntable - maybe it was damaged in transit. My only issue there is that why didn't any of the Japanese Kondo Staff hear it? If they did they could have switched the session over to digital as the source - or didn't they notice? Maybe they're so tired of playing the froufrou music they don't pay attention anymore.
I auditioned and covered Kondo at the Hong Kong Audio Show and the room sounded quite good in spite of being very much a less-than-ideal set-up.
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