User211
26-05-2016, 12:37
Spent this last Monday morning driving the new Porsche 718 around the Porsche Experience tracks at Silverstone. Drove 4 different variants of the 718 selected from the pic below.
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/User_211/Porsche%20Exp/IMG_20160523_084138231_HDR_zps1osm4ckj.jpg
It is good fun up there, and you can arrange to do what I did by phoning up Whittlebury Hall hotel (the one that does the Hi-Fi Show) as they do quite a good deal on a night’s stay and Porsche Experience in one. It is cheaper than you might think. My session was free (not the hotel stay, though), including breakfast and lunch, but hey, I am a customer.
On the way back I went past KevinF’s house and stopped in for a chat and a quick listen to his current Audio Note Tomei (http://www.audionote.co.uk/products/amps_integrated/tomei_01.shtml), driving his Audio Note E loudspeakers with his Origin Live TT (Upgrades-to-Origin-Live-turntables-a-review-of-sorts (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?44613-Upgrades-to-Origin-Live-turntables-a-review-of-sorts)).
A while back I had taken my own 211 monoblocks around and that was documented by this thread: The 211s have landed (http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?76621-The-211s-have-landed)
Kevin now has rather nicer AN Es than in that visit. Thus far I have heard the AN P4 monos, the Kegon monos and Kegon Balanced (which he reviewed for Hi-Fi Critic recently), the 8 Watt 2A3 Kageki and this time the Tomei. These have been used with M5 and M8 preamps and AN 4.1 DAC.
The Tomei is between the Jinro and the Ongaku, which are all based on the Ongaku circuit. Output is quoted as 18 Watts by AN, though the original Ongaku of Japan is rated as 27 Watts. I am completely ignorant of the differences and reason for the power rating differential between the UK and Japanese efforts.
This was only a brief visit, with a few tracks heard.
From the line up of AN amps above, this integrated is by far my favourite. That is chiefly because it showed a very similar set of traits and general all round goodness that my 211 monos did.
So why was it so good in my book? The 18 Watts available from the Tomei still managed to produce a huge soundstage projecting right into the room many feet forward of the speakers, but still with excellent depth portrayal and detail rendition. The drive capability seemed far better than any 300B or 2A3 AN amp variant heard so far, very surprising considering the rated power. Not ultimately as capable as the Austria Analogue’s 80 Watts nominal – there is a limit to what 18 Watts can do, obviously, but much, much closer in terms of drive capability than perhaps you would expect.
Kevin has his AN Es angled in at what appears to be almost 45 degrees at the moment. From the other end of the large lounge, this really did work. One wonders what you are actually hearing, in the sense that the cross over point of the left and right channels is well before the seated position i.e. the right channel must be bouncing off the left hand wall before it gets to you to a large degree, but it certainly worked brilliantly in practice. The bass response at the far end of the room is also generous compared to that experienced much closer to the speakers i.e. at the point where the degree of inflection meets exactly with the left and right ear. Give me the longer listening distance every time, though.
The overall result was really quite close to the AA monos – far closer than the 300B or 2A3 variants. Detail rendition was, I would say, excellent. Definitely a fabulous amp.
What we’ve learnt is that if you want to peel a pair of AN Es wide open, and create a superb soundscape with excellent depth and detail, then a 211 based amp would appear to be the way to go. The power rating isn’t so much what is relevant here, it would appear that a high quality 20 odd Watt 211 amp will do the job very nicely.
The overall effect is very natural and real sounding, in the way that valve amps seem to be able to deliver, possibly by clipping well and adding a little something to the input source. But hell, at the end of the day, we’re in the business of listening rather than measuring here, and this is a fine example of technical prowess becoming irrelevant when you hear the sonic results of this particular implementation of thermionic madness.
Respect to PQ for this amp. It is for me the best of his I have heard. I’d be curious to hear the cheaper Jinro in the same situation to assess the differential, or indeed the more expensive Ongaku. None of these options can be regarded as excellent value for money by most, and indeed I don’t think they are. But that doesn’t stop the Tomei from being very good indeed, if you are prepared to pay the required wonga.
BTW: the Tomei was loaded with ELROG 211s, but Kevin rates the Psvane 211 replica as very good too.
No pics I am afraid, Kevin can oblige if he feels that way inclined I would guess.
http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/User_211/Porsche%20Exp/IMG_20160523_084138231_HDR_zps1osm4ckj.jpg
It is good fun up there, and you can arrange to do what I did by phoning up Whittlebury Hall hotel (the one that does the Hi-Fi Show) as they do quite a good deal on a night’s stay and Porsche Experience in one. It is cheaper than you might think. My session was free (not the hotel stay, though), including breakfast and lunch, but hey, I am a customer.
On the way back I went past KevinF’s house and stopped in for a chat and a quick listen to his current Audio Note Tomei (http://www.audionote.co.uk/products/amps_integrated/tomei_01.shtml), driving his Audio Note E loudspeakers with his Origin Live TT (Upgrades-to-Origin-Live-turntables-a-review-of-sorts (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?44613-Upgrades-to-Origin-Live-turntables-a-review-of-sorts)).
A while back I had taken my own 211 monoblocks around and that was documented by this thread: The 211s have landed (http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?76621-The-211s-have-landed)
Kevin now has rather nicer AN Es than in that visit. Thus far I have heard the AN P4 monos, the Kegon monos and Kegon Balanced (which he reviewed for Hi-Fi Critic recently), the 8 Watt 2A3 Kageki and this time the Tomei. These have been used with M5 and M8 preamps and AN 4.1 DAC.
The Tomei is between the Jinro and the Ongaku, which are all based on the Ongaku circuit. Output is quoted as 18 Watts by AN, though the original Ongaku of Japan is rated as 27 Watts. I am completely ignorant of the differences and reason for the power rating differential between the UK and Japanese efforts.
This was only a brief visit, with a few tracks heard.
From the line up of AN amps above, this integrated is by far my favourite. That is chiefly because it showed a very similar set of traits and general all round goodness that my 211 monos did.
So why was it so good in my book? The 18 Watts available from the Tomei still managed to produce a huge soundstage projecting right into the room many feet forward of the speakers, but still with excellent depth portrayal and detail rendition. The drive capability seemed far better than any 300B or 2A3 AN amp variant heard so far, very surprising considering the rated power. Not ultimately as capable as the Austria Analogue’s 80 Watts nominal – there is a limit to what 18 Watts can do, obviously, but much, much closer in terms of drive capability than perhaps you would expect.
Kevin has his AN Es angled in at what appears to be almost 45 degrees at the moment. From the other end of the large lounge, this really did work. One wonders what you are actually hearing, in the sense that the cross over point of the left and right channels is well before the seated position i.e. the right channel must be bouncing off the left hand wall before it gets to you to a large degree, but it certainly worked brilliantly in practice. The bass response at the far end of the room is also generous compared to that experienced much closer to the speakers i.e. at the point where the degree of inflection meets exactly with the left and right ear. Give me the longer listening distance every time, though.
The overall result was really quite close to the AA monos – far closer than the 300B or 2A3 variants. Detail rendition was, I would say, excellent. Definitely a fabulous amp.
What we’ve learnt is that if you want to peel a pair of AN Es wide open, and create a superb soundscape with excellent depth and detail, then a 211 based amp would appear to be the way to go. The power rating isn’t so much what is relevant here, it would appear that a high quality 20 odd Watt 211 amp will do the job very nicely.
The overall effect is very natural and real sounding, in the way that valve amps seem to be able to deliver, possibly by clipping well and adding a little something to the input source. But hell, at the end of the day, we’re in the business of listening rather than measuring here, and this is a fine example of technical prowess becoming irrelevant when you hear the sonic results of this particular implementation of thermionic madness.
Respect to PQ for this amp. It is for me the best of his I have heard. I’d be curious to hear the cheaper Jinro in the same situation to assess the differential, or indeed the more expensive Ongaku. None of these options can be regarded as excellent value for money by most, and indeed I don’t think they are. But that doesn’t stop the Tomei from being very good indeed, if you are prepared to pay the required wonga.
BTW: the Tomei was loaded with ELROG 211s, but Kevin rates the Psvane 211 replica as very good too.
No pics I am afraid, Kevin can oblige if he feels that way inclined I would guess.