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View Full Version : Is Audio Note UK gear somewhat common in the UK?



goraman
09-03-2010, 00:34
I was just wondering if there is a good deal of Audio Note gear in the UK.
As here it is very rare.And because of import taxes,not to mention shipping even more expensive.And let's face it his stuff isen't light.

I like the ANE but am underwhelmed by the ANK and I have never heard the ANJ.

I belive the E is out of my price range at $8,000 with stands but mabey some day I will be able to get a pair of ANJ's.

His prices are in my world a little crazy but his stuff is first rate unless you count the speakers he made useing chip board and vynil contact paper,awful crap to look at. I asked my freind Deetes an Audio Note Dealer here.
Q:"why did he use cheap chip board and vynil ?" and there $2,800 dollers,if my memory serves me.

A:Wood is very expencive in england even MDF &
plywood.

MSAR:Ok, so make the cabnets out of cardboard and duct tape and only charge $2,000 ! Give me a fricking break.

I was just told Audio Note is haveing a price increase due to parts coast riseing.
I would love to see the profit margin in this stuff.

There is no question that it is the among the finest gear in the world,Hatz off Peter! There might be some stuff out there as good but not any better,that is for sure!
But ouch! I'd just love to have a pair of his speakers,not even his level 5 but a lower end pair of E's or J's but I'd almost have to sell the house.
What do you guy's pay in England would it be worth the flight?
And could I get a pair of J's through customs?

It would really be funny if Peter Q. had a big pair of Cerwin Vega Hip Hop speakers at home,or even worse a Bose system.
I'll bet his pesonal stereo would make me drual my shirt wet,I hear he loves records and has a world class collection.
I knew a custom car builder and painter here who painted very high end cars and he always drove an old beater.
I asked him why and he said "never fall in love with metal".
So I always wonder if guys like that really just have a lower mid fi system at home and have a good chuckle on all of us who take things to far.
Like my freind Roger who painted Lambo's and other exotic cars in his shop and would climb into something under $1,000 and drive home.
Some how in Peters case I think not,I belive it's his passion.

Rare Bird
09-03-2010, 01:03
Jeff
Can't you get Audio Note Japan cheaper over in the USA

Hows about the 'KONDO' badged SME '312' arm :eyebrows:

goraman
09-03-2010, 01:27
Yes, and Audio Note China is even cheaper!!
Now all kidding aside it's really the speakers I'm seeking and I like Peters Hotrodded Snells.
Peter is the Chip Foose of speakers.

Not all the basic Ideas are Peters yah,true but then Chip Foose never created a car from scratch but he takes a good thing and makes it better than anyone ever dreamed possable.
I'll bet Peter Q. has spent as much time refineing as peter Snell spent desighning them.
I hear people knock him all the time,but you would be a lier if you said he has conributed nothing to the hifi electronics world as well as the Brand Audio Note.
Mabey he and Kondo should have found a way to come to terms before things got ugly but Kondo is long gone God rest his soul
and I think Audio Note UK will out last Audio Note Japan.
Any chance there once was for the two of them to lick there wounds and make nice are long overwith now.
I heard some of the early AN UK gear had some problems that upset Kondo but I think Kondo over reacted.
And Peter has certainly shown he can match or even exceed Kondos AN Japan gear.So Peter proved his case one product at a time.
In the end Peter would have done well to use his own name and dump the names like Ongaku of Kega ect...
This would shut up his detractors and since his gear has evolved and has nothing to do with AN Japan or Kondo. How dose PQUK Audio sound?
OK, High Doller HiFi UK?
His amps could be called names like (your second morgage) (your kids collage funds) and (I miss my wife and kids and the house and the car but I love music).
Should Peter google this... Just kidding Peter I like Jaguar's to but can't afford the one I love or the maintanance that go's with owning an old E type.
When you make stuff only the .1 %ers can afford a little ribbing about it comes with the number one position.
Some one once said "when every body hates you,you know your on top!"

Steve Toy
09-03-2010, 01:59
We got AnthonyTD right here and he's every bit as good, probably better.

goraman
09-03-2010, 02:06
We got AnthonyTD right here and he's every bit as good, probably better.

Who? please educate.:scratch:

Rare Bird
09-03-2010, 03:16
Who? please educate.:scratch:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j280/Stevewaller/DSC_0011.jpg

http://www.tubedistinctions.co.uk/

goraman
09-03-2010, 04:06
very nice work but I was thiking speakers.

Rare Bird
09-03-2010, 04:23
Well you could make your own but even that aint cheap. Don't have to have a name tag attached, not sound any better with one ;)

http://www.audionote.co.uk/comp/speakers.shtml

goraman
09-03-2010, 05:15
I'll just wait till something good pops up on audiogon.
I could have gotten a pair of ANK's in applewood with the AN internal silver wire,There was very slight shipping damage to one corner of both speakers,just a little rounded where the corners came through the foam on impact.
$500.00 U.S. but I don't like the way the K's are voiced the E's sound so much better and I think the J's would be close to the E.

Spectral Morn
09-03-2010, 10:42
All the Audio Note UK speakers, had their origins in Snell speakers (an American company). I would have thought that Snell originals would be easy to find in the states. Just be aware that the rubber surrounds on the drivers can have rotted (or are in the process of doing so). Easy enough to fix (though getting the drivers out of the cabinet is hard, as they are glued in with a cross between mastic and tar. Its very easy to damage the chip board cabinets.), and Peter Q can supply you with the parts to do it.

Regards D S D L

Ali Tait
09-03-2010, 13:19
Jeff,search out Hi-Fi Collective here in the UK.They sell valve amp kits,their own and Audio-Note's.They also sell kit verions of AN's speakers.Not cheap,but a damn sight cheaper than the finished products.