(See my review of this DAC on this site).Īt that point the only Audio Note component in my system was the DAC. The balanced version of the DAC 3.1 being then some months away from production, I bought the single-ended version, upgrading later to the balanced model as soon as it became available. Never having owned a definitive vinyl rig I’d simply lived with CD in complete ignorance of what real pace rhythm and timing actually sounded like. I borrowed a pre-production prototype balanced version of Audio Note’s existing single-ended DAC 3.1 and was hooked within the first few bars of the first disk. My own conversion from sour sceptic to true believer was virtually Damascene. And yet, and yet…it sounds glorious – natural, organic, with none of the brittle edginess that leaves so many audiophiles deeply dissatisfied with CD. The resulting output, as Qvortrup readily admits, measures horribly on a spectrum analyser. Others, including 47 Labs, now tread a similar path. The work led Audio Note UK to pioneer a fundamentally different approach to D/A conversion than that taken by the rest of the industry, rejecting oversampling and digital filtering in favour of an architecture that takes the native data stream, converts it to analogue, then passes it through a simple filter. But champion he is, spending for a comparatively small manufacturer big R&D money in an effort to make CD deliver similar musical satisfaction to vinyl. As owner of what is probably among the world’s largest private record collections Peter Qvortrup might appear an unlikely champion of Red Book CD. It’s in the area of digital technology that the company differs from the mainstream – and radically too. The £2500 AN Zero system – if not quite music for the masses, still a comparative bargain basement package – apparently compares very favourably with its peers.īut in preferring vinyl and tubes, Audio Note is not alone in the wider audio world. You never had a cousin? Oh well.Īudio Note is actually about much more than esoteric systems at stratospheric prices the company’s range includes plenty of interest to those with less deep pockets, but who nonetheless yearn for quality music reproduction in the home. A pair of its flagship GAKU-ON monoblocks will set you back £159,500, (power cords included.) Sign up for a complete system and you can expect me to make an appearance as your long-lost cousin from Akansas angling to claim on the inheritance. Like him or loathe him, Peter Qvortrup and his Brighton, England-based company will not go away.Īudio Note UK is perhaps best known for its vinyl turntables and expensive single ended, directly heated triode, zero-feedback amplification. It’s Audio Note UK – high-end iconoclast or simply opinionated audio bad boy depending on where you sit –bumping rudely into the establishment.
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