Audio Note speakers

[Ron Texas]

That is a perfect example how Audio Note marketing bull$... can be more powerful than obvious truth - at least to some gullible, naive customers, supporters and forum enthusiasts.
Here is the naked truth:

View attachment 366410
These are measured resonances from Audio Note cabinet (https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-note-e-lexus-signature-loudspeaker-measurements) - huge resonances which lasts more than 62 msec!!! Plus cabinet flexing for all frequencies below 200 Hz.
"Releasing energy from cabinet as fast as possible"?! In your dreams only!

Now, compare that with conventionally made cabinet from Triangle Antal (https://www.stereophile.com/content/triangle-antal-40th-anniversary-edition-loudspeaker-measurements):
View attachment 366413
Resonances die faster (less than 62 msec) than Audio Note! Also, this Triangle Antal has exemplary flat frequency response and about the same sensitivity, for a fraction of price.

Also, compare measured resonances for conventionally made cabinet from KEF LS60 (cheaper, also):
View attachment 366415

Cabinet resonances were not the only deficiency in the Stereophile review. The reviewed speaker was $12,000 in 2006 so it would likely be around twice that today.

 

[Sal1950]

They gave it Class A which is the highest they award to CD medium. That is the question - no one including AN says it measures good - we can all see that it does not but John and Art both say it sounds good - The question is how. To a consumer - the result is what matters and not the how the sausage is made.

Typical Stereophile review of an expensive, cultist component.
The CD-4 is a very poorly designed player that will give it's user a poor
representation of what the disc is supposed to sound like. JA's measurements
easily show that. One who's sound will also vary depending on the system to
which it's inserted. Proper handling of input and output impedance as to avoid
this type interaction was a solved problem decades ago. That is only one of the
issues revealed by JA but which he choses to ignore for reasons which I don't
need to go into here, we all know the "whys".

No one is dictating choices, that's a pathetic argument we are all tired of hearing. It's about educating people so they can make an informed decision. It's about eliminating the situation of uninformed people taking the advice of other uninformed people.

If someone is fully informed and still wants to make a left-field choice, then that's truly their decision and not one influenced by some know-nothing guru.

Can I get a big AMEN !!

I am a Single Ended Tube amp and Tube based Non-Oversampling CD player kind of a guy - the stuff that measures so bad - you will, in all likelihood, be able to tell it apart from a SS amplifier and SS equipment.

So you like distorted, inaccurate gear, we got that a long time ago.

My brain can tell m on an intellectual level that "the Kef measures better" but the feeling in my gut is my AN speakers sound better.

Better than what? Certainly not better than the musical performance the artists and production team desired to
put on the recording. That's easily and instantly proven by the measurements.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Sound test :

 

[MattHooper]

Sound test :

Cool. I enjoy those type of comparisons. Strictly based on how each recording sounded on my desktop computer speakers, I'd go with the AN-J for the richer sound.

 

[Sal1950]

Cool. I enjoy those type of comparisons. Strictly based on how each recording sounded on my desktop computer speakers, I'd go with the AN-J for the richer sound.

How would you know?
That tube amps output impedance will make the source sound different into very speaker it connects to.

 

[jsrtheta]

auditioned them many times. Mutton priced as lamb.

They don't sound bad, just wrong. Their appeal eludes me, even if they were cheap I'd avoid.

Whereas I never heard any bad Snells.

 

[DanielT]

Please forgive me but it's hard to reply to so many posts - First - I am not the manufacturer or dealer of this product nor do I own this or any PS Audio product. I am not "selling you this" in any way shape or form or even suggestiong that you will hear a difference. I have no idea if you or I will find any of their stuff to merit being worth the extra money.

I am a Single Ended Tube amp and Tube based Non-Oversampling CD player kind of a guy - the stuff that measures so bad - you will, in all likelihood, be able to tell it apart from a SS amplifier and SS equipment.

If I WERE a SS amplifier and SS CD player kind of a guy - I'd probably be in the ASR camp of spending as little as I humanly can to get the power that I need from gear no one can tell apart from other SS gear. I have looked into buying Benchmark myself for example because I wanted a system of "high technical accuracy" to give myself a reference point that is "beyond reproach" on that front. I STILL consider this.

I just pointed out that PS Audio has all the best test and measuring equipment at their disposal - they make deliberate products - are they better or worse - can anyone tell their Class D or SS power amp apart from a Benchmark in a DBT or a Rotel or Naim or Sim Audio etc? I don't know. If you need to see a DBT to be convinced to buy it - then don't buy it. Hell most of the SS stuff I don't like when I am listening to it sighted because most of it all sounds the same to me - or enough the same that I am pretty certain I would not pass a DBT so I am not doling out 5x the money for some amp because it's big and heavy and has a famous name.

I am not sure why people get agitated over a preference based purchase when the person acknowledges that what he is buying measures worse. My KEF LS-50 probably measures better than my AN speakers - but when I play Eva Cassidy or the Right of Spring or audiophile recordings or AC/DC or Motley Crue or Lady Gaga or Jackson Browne or Ella or Julia London - all of it "sounds much much much better" on all of my AN speakers than it did on the KEF. My brain can tell m on an intellectual level that "the Kef measures better" but the feeling in my gut is my AN speakers sound better. And since I am the one paying the dollars the only person I gotta make happy is me.

Like this, if you want to color the sound, do it. HiFi is meant to be a nice innocent hobby and of course you can do exactly what you want BUT then I think it's a shame if there are those who think that a gadget like that PS Audio PowerPlant 12 would do something about the sound. It doesn't add a shit. It is just completely unnecessary, snake oil and thus just throwing money down the drain.

On the other hand, high distortion with wacko FR speakers + single end tube amps (preferably then poorly designed tube amps, the worse the better so to say) then you can definitely talk about coloring the sound. If you like it, do it, buy stuff like that.
I mean, just adding an extra small grain of salt to a top notch pasta dish created by a master chef makes no difference. More is needed than that, for example
lots of ketchup. Soak the dish in plenty of it and it's really colored and flavored.

By the way, before transistors, the designers of tube amps had as a goal to reduce the distortion of their amps. A tube dude lover nowadays should consider that to be a completely wrong construction goal. If it is the case that you want to color your sound.

Edit:
As can be seen here:

It had a modest output power rating of 15 Watts[a] but surpassed all contemporary designs in having very low harmonic distortion and intermodulation, flat frequency response throughout the audible frequency range, and effective damping of loudspeaker resonances. The 0.1% distortion figure of the Williamson amplifier became the criterion for high fidelity performance[2][3] that remains valid in the 21st century.[4]

Williamson amplifier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Does anyone have a Williamson tube amplifier?

Or have had, listened to a Williamson tube amplifier? Impression? Are they available? What can one, in reasonable condition, cost? I could really imagine having one. Mostly for its HiFi history. :) Not as a main amp but in some nice secondary system. Then together with a subwoofer + LP/HP...

audiosciencereview.com

Well, logically, I agree with you. I try to come up with analogies as to why people strongly gravitate to AN CD players and DACs when they measure so badly and it usually comes down to the reviewer saying something like it sounds "analogue" which is unhelpful because I am not sure what that means - I am sure what they are trying to say (me as well because I too have likely said it) is that it sounds warmer or less sterile - the leading edge perhaps is softened a little bit - bad recordings can sound quite acceptable.

On another forum, there is one of those "what's spinning" threads and people post a photo of a record or CD they are playing. I put up a record of The Outfield's "Voices of Babylon" and 80s recording that is a little lean but I can happily play this whole album - someone with a big-time SS system said they liked the music but it was completely unplayable on their system because it was excessively bright.

On another thread, I posted that I played Aurora's "All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend" and again a person found it unrelentingly unplayably bright - completely fine on my system. I think of those two guys and I think - man - they have spent way more money and can't play a whole bunch of music unless their recordings are of utterly elite recording quality. I remember way back when I played an Amanda Marshal CD - which sounds fine but sounded godawful on the Bryston/PMC setup - - "Well sir - this system is so good it shows you how awful your CD was recorded." Wow - where do I hand over my credit card - I definitely want a system that will make all my recordings sound lousy forcing me to only buy and play boring dreck from Patricia Barber and Diana Krall and pipe and slippers Classical music from Reference Recordings and Chesky Records. I listen to everything - I do not own a recording that sounds so bad it's unplayable - and that was the problem with the top ATC speakers and Bricasti system I auditioned not long back - I pulled out tracks from 5 different albums and they all sounded too fatiguing - I understand why those guys complained about Aurora and The Outfield - but I also thought - gee 5/5 randomly selected tracks and all had the same "sheen" in the high-frequency band - I would not be able to play any of those discs on that system - 5/5 so I thought - well how many of the rest of my music collection could I play. I also had the dealer set up the Parasound JC 1 monoblocks which i was interested in purchasing at the time. It faired marginally better to me (albeit again a sighted not blind audition so I wouldn't bet on it as perhaps I liked them better because they were much cheaper than the Bricasti and we tend to want to like the stuff we can afford).

The other dealer also using ATC speakers had them connected to Line Magnetic 219IA SET amplifier - and it sounded quite a lot better - Goddamn stupid SET amps with their goofy low power and bad measurements keep making AC/DC sound better. Shake me all night long vs twist a fork in my ear all night long.

Anyway - no one holds a gun to anyone's head to buy any of this stuff - the vast majority of even audiophiles - go and listen - not blind or level matched - and they listen to their recordings and they choose what they "like best" if it sounds bright as hell - no amount of blab blab on forums about the measured response is going to change their minds. Nor will most people spend $5,000 to cover all their walls with room treatments their wife won't allow anyway. Most people are not after the "absolute best-measuring systems" they want to be able to play their music collection fatigue-free - do that and you're ahead.

If you're one of those guys who agonizes over cables or wire lifters or putting tape markers down to get the frequency at the chair just so - etc - that's fine - it's not me.

Okay, the theme is color or not. There you can test yourself with the right/wrong stuff, as I mentioned above.

 

[Mart68]

Whereas I never heard any bad Snells.

I have but only because the owner had replaced the tweeters with different ones, and put another tweeter on top of the cabs.

Actually they didn't sound that bad, just weird. I think he was very much into his 'air and space'

 

[Richard Austen]

Like this, if you want to color the sound, do it. HiFi is meant to be a nice innocent hobby and of course you can do exactly what you want BUT then I think it's a shame if there are those who think that a gadget like that PS Audio PowerPlant 12 would do something about the sound. It doesn't add a shit. It is just completely unnecessary, snake oil and thus just throwing money down the drain.

On the other hand, high distortion with wacko FR speakers + single end tube amps (preferably then poorly designed tube amps, the worse the better so to say) then you can definitely talk about coloring the sound. If you like it, do it, buy stuff like that.
I mean, just adding an extra small grain of salt to a top notch pasta dish created by a master chef makes no difference. More is needed than that, for example
lots of ketchup. Soak the dish in plenty of it and it's really colored and flavored.

By the way, before transistors, the designers of tube amps had as a goal to reduce the distortion of their amps. A tube dude lover nowadays should consider that to be a completely wrong construction goal. If it is the case that you want to color your sound.

Edit:
As can be seen here:

It had a modest output power rating of 15 Watts[a] but surpassed all contemporary designs in having very low harmonic distortion and intermodulation, flat frequency response throughout the audible frequency range, and effective damping of loudspeaker resonances. The 0.1% distortion figure of the Williamson amplifier became the criterion for high fidelity performance[2][3] that remains valid in the 21st century.[4]

Williamson amplifier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Does anyone have a Williamson tube amplifier?

Or have had, listened to a Williamson tube amplifier? Impression? Are they available? What can one, in reasonable condition, cost? I could really imagine having one. Mostly for its HiFi history. :) Not as a main amp but in some nice secondary system. Then together with a subwoofer + LP/HP...

audiosciencereview.com

Okay, the theme is color or not. There you can test yourself with the right/wrong stuff, as I mentioned above.

There are at least 2 factors going with these discussions - the technical merits and the subjective listening (the perceptual listening).

I have heard pretty much everything in the last 35+ years when it comes to stuff sold to pros and home users. I started in the objective realm mainly focused on speakers and amplifiers that were well known in recording studios - and I brought it home to try. My first exposure to a SET amplifier was "pseudo blind" because the Audio Note amplifier was a large hulking box with no exposed tubes and I listened to that amplifier and thought it was big Krell-like SS behemoth - after my listening session with excellent deep bass and tight as a drum snappy bass crystal extended treble without being bright and a gorgeous vocal band I ask what a lot of people would ask - how much power does that sucker put out - he said 8 - "Wow" I said "800 Watts" - "no - 8. 8 watts."

That's how I first began giving some tube amps more tries - I had tried some PP tube amps in the 30-50 watt range and never much cared for them (Jolida and Antique Sound Labs mainly because those were the amps I could afford).

Over the years what I noticed was that whenever I was using Bryston Preamp and Power amps with ATC or PMC or Bryston etc speakers is that I was needing to put the volume "up" to make things out clearer and the bass often took on a washed out quality - To compensate for a lack of low level detail - I would always be compensating with the volume. Flipping over, in the same room, to something like the AN Meishu or OTO amps and AN speakers - I could hear everything several dB lower and without needing to turn up the volume. Voices didn't "warble" - the treble didn't possess the "hash" I was getting from the store's SS amplifiers. There were no audible hisss or hums at the listening position on digital (some on vinyl but that is there on the SS systems too).

One of the things I appreciated about that dealer was that they carried all kinds of gear - their theory being it is not their job to tell people what they should buy. You come in and listen - and if you like Bryston, Rotel, Anthem, Classe, Meridian, NAD, Arcam, Sim Audio, Cambridge Audio, Marantz, ARC, NAIM, McIntosh, Audio Note, Octave, Antique Sound Labs, Linn, Wyatech Labs, B&W, JBL, Cerwin Vega, Tannoy, Dynaudio, Dali, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber, Reference 3a, KEF, Paradigm, DeVore, Quad, Magnepan, Finale - well they carried ALL OF THEM. The owner of the shop often brought in all kinds of brands beyond these if people were requesting them.

I like this approach - when they brought in Magnepan I asked one of the salesmen, Don, and he said "Yeah this is the second time we've carried Magnepan over the years - the worst speakers we've ever carried." Why carry something you hate? People like them.

Plus it takes all the pressure off the sales staff - they don't need to "push" or be assholes and tell customers "Boy you own crap - here buy what I sell it's much better" - nope all they did was listen - you want to try McIntosh and B&W because you read about it in Stereophile - right this way.

As The owner said - more than 90% of the people who walked in the door were presold via reviews and forums and some measurements they saw. So they carried those products. They don't have to do any work - most people don't trust dealers (I mean they're salesmen after all) so I get why most customers basically use the dealer as an order taker and to be there for customer support (when the world had that).

I get the "if it measures better, it will sound better" school of thought. I was in that school - but it just hasn't panned out when I do the listening. The AN system sounds "clearer" than the Bryston/PMC, Bricasti/ATC, Benchmark/Genelec set-ups when I have tried them - those systems sound brighter but that seems to me to be what passes for "accuracy" = The music is fuller and richer on the AN systems - the vocals are better defined the bass is full-bodied. As one reviewer described it - the pro system is like looking at a spectacular view through the "cleanest windows on the planet" - the AN System was like being outside on the deck experiencing that view firsthand - breathing in the air - and also breathing in some pollution that you don't breath in with the pro systems. I take the warts and all being on the deck experience that view over looking through the glass any day.

Again - a subjective response obviously but again it's an AN speaker thread and I am offering what most people who like this sound feel about the system.

I look back at some of the reviews over the years and I often think of this one as, yes, an almost religious experience (not being religious I can't say) but this is sort of it in audio. Holy Overthetop raving, Batman!

"I listened to one of Todd Garfinkle's M•A recordings, Sheila Jordon and Harve Swartz's "You Don't Know What Love Is." Wow.../.... the AN system gave me all of that—the room, the bass, and the woman, most of all the woman.../... My intellect tells me that there's no way a 25Wpc amplifier can control that, even on 95dB speakers, but the Audio Notes handled those passages better than any other system I'd heard at CES .../... Next came Nina Simone's "Little Girl Blue" and I was practically in tears. Everything just sounded so right. I had goosebumps .../... Forget best sound of show, for sheer emotional delivery, timbral clarity, dynamic agility, and, yes, the highest fidelity, the Audio Note system may have been the best hi-fi I have ever heard .../... After the Audio Note demo. the rest was noise, so I quit on a winner. Not many people who come to Vegas can say that." Ongaku Means Ecstasy

 

[DanielT]

There are at least 2 factors going with these discussions - the technical merits and the subjective listening (the perceptual listening).

I have heard pretty much everything in the last 35+ years when it comes to stuff sold to pros and home users. I started in the objective realm mainly focused on speakers and amplifiers that were well known in recording studios - and I brought it home to try. My first exposure to a SET amplifier was "pseudo blind" because the Audio Note amplifier was a large hulking box with no exposed tubes and I listened to that amplifier and thought it was big Krell-like SS behemoth - after my listening session with excellent deep bass and tight as a drum snappy bass crystal extended treble without being bright and a gorgeous vocal band I ask what a lot of people would ask - how much power does that sucker put out - he said 8 - "Wow" I said "800 Watts" - "no - 8. 8 watts."

That's how I first began giving some tube amps more tries - I had tried some PP tube amps in the 30-50 watt range and never much cared for them (Jolida and Antique Sound Labs mainly because those were the amps I could afford).

Over the years what I noticed was that whenever I was using Bryston Preamp and Power amps with ATC or PMC or Bryston etc speakers is that I was needing to put the volume "up" to make things out clearer and the bass often took on a washed out quality - To compensate for a lack of low level detail - I would always be compensating with the volume. Flipping over, in the same room, to something like the AN Meishu or OTO amps and AN speakers - I could hear everything several dB lower and without needing to turn up the volume. Voices didn't "warble" - the treble didn't possess the "hash" I was getting from the store's SS amplifiers. There were no audible hisss or hums at the listening position on digital (some on vinyl but that is there on the SS systems too).

One of the things I appreciated about that dealer was that they carried all kinds of gear - their theory being it is not their job to tell people what they should buy. You come in and listen - and if you like Bryston, Rotel, Anthem, Classe, Meridian, NAD, Arcam, Sim Audio, Cambridge Audio, Marantz, ARC, NAIM, McIntosh, Audio Note, Octave, Antique Sound Labs, Linn, Wyatech Labs, B&W, JBL, Cerwin Vega, Tannoy, Dynaudio, Dali, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber, Reference 3a, KEF, Paradigm, DeVore, Quad, Magnepan, Finale - well they carried ALL OF THEM. The owner of the shop often brought in all kinds of brands beyond these if people were requesting them.

I like this approach - when they brought in Magnepan I asked one of the salesmen, Don, and he said "Yeah this is the second time we've carried Magnepan over the years - the worst speakers we've ever carried." Why carry something you hate? People like them.

Plus it takes all the pressure off the sales staff - they don't need to "push" or be assholes and tell customers "Boy you own crap - here buy what I sell it's much better" - nope all they did was listen - you want to try McIntosh and B&W because you read about it in Stereophile - right this way.

As The owner said - more than 90% of the people who walked in the door were presold via reviews and forums and some measurements they saw. So they carried those products. They don't have to do any work - most people don't trust dealers (I mean they're salesmen after all) so I get why most customers basically use the dealer as an order taker and to be there for customer support (when the world had that).

I get the "if it measures better, it will sound better" school of thought. I was in that school - but it just hasn't panned out when I do the listening. The AN system sounds "clearer" than the Bryston/PMC, Bricasti/ATC, Benchmark/Genelec set-ups when I have tried them - those systems sound brighter but that seems to me to be what passes for "accuracy" = The music is fuller and richer on the AN systems - the vocals are better defined the bass is full-bodied. As one reviewer described it - the pro system is like looking at a spectacular view through the "cleanest windows on the planet" - the AN System was like being outside on the deck experiencing that view firsthand - breathing in the air - and also breathing in some pollution that you don't breath in with the pro systems. I take the warts and all being on the deck experience that view over looking through the glass any day.

Again - a subjective response obviously but again it's an AN speaker thread and I am offering what most people who like this sound feel about the system.

I look back at some of the reviews over the years and I often think of this one as, yes, an almost religious experience (not being religious I can't say) but this is sort of it in audio. Holy Overthetop raving, Batman!

"I listened to one of Todd Garfinkle's M•A recordings, Sheila Jordon and Harve Swartz's "You Don't Know What Love Is." Wow.../.... the AN system gave me all of that—the room, the bass, and the woman, most of all the woman.../... My intellect tells me that there's no way a 25Wpc amplifier can control that, even on 95dB speakers, but the Audio Notes handled those passages better than any other system I'd heard at CES .../... Next came Nina Simone's "Little Girl Blue" and I was practically in tears. Everything just sounded so right. I had goosebumps .../... Forget best sound of show, for sheer emotional delivery, timbral clarity, dynamic agility, and, yes, the highest fidelity, the Audio Note system may have been the best hi-fi I have ever heard .../... After the Audio Note demo. the rest was noise, so I quit on a winner. Not many people who come to Vegas can say that." Ongaku Means Ecstasy

If I get the chance, I will of course listen to an Audio Note solution. At a fair in that case. A bit sad considering how bad the acoustics can often be in such fair listening rooms.

Speaking of power and tube amps. I don't really have anything against tube amps other than I think they are expensive. Apart from the price, a well constructed tube amp of around 10 -15 watts together with tube amp friendly speakers that have at least 93 dB sensitivity AND one or more active subwoofers together with LP-HP filters would work well in my apartment. Which I can't play at too high a volume because I don't want to disturb the neighbors.

By the way, I have helped a person sell his 300B singel end based DIY tube amp because in Sweden you are not allowed to sell DIY tube amps that you have constructed yourself. In connection with that, I tested it together with a few different speakers. That tube amp together with 108 dB sensitive compression drivers for example. Which of course it had no problem powering up. At normal listening volume, I had a lot more power to get out of that tube amp, if I wanted to.


That 300B tube amplifier coupled with 88 dB sensitive speakers. It was ok but I couldn't play at much more than low/normal listening volume. Which is actually ok, or enough for most people who live in an apartment, for the reasons mentioned above.

Edit:
There are those here at ASR that have a combination active subwoofer (then probably class D powered ditto) + tube amp. So not everyone here is a tube amp hater. Hater is a strong word, disliker might be better to say. Other than that, it's just a hobby. We can really like a person, although we don't always agree with his views on HiFi.

R.I.P. :

Farewell my friends. Health is deteriorating - I'm fading out. (Updated - RIP)

I write this with sadness - likely the last post here for this 80 y/o audio hobbyist and music lover - as my beautiful 6CA7/6SN7 YarLand vacuum tube amplifier warms my tiny house. It's been a very good life. I was sick two weeks ago, during which I fell (slowly, gently) twice and it took me...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Rõlnnbacke]

I don't really have anything against tube amps other than I think they are expensive.

Also through power consumption and therefore less ecological, I guess, especially when someone with air conditioning uses one during summer. They could help heat up the room.

 

[Rõlnnbacke]

an almost religious experience

This is very nice, of course, but I find it hard to believe that, with most recordings, an AN system sounds more like what has actually been recorded, the original performance, than a more neutral/'accurate' system. Psychoacoustics? An 'extra large bbc-dip'? Probably it's more complicated.

 

[DanielT]

Also through power consumption and therefore less ecological, I guess, especially when someone with air conditioning uses one during summer. They could help heat up the room.

But on the other hand, they warm up and shine cozy when it's cold and dark.
The few watts that tube amps emit in heat is also, in the context of heating a home, almost negligible.

I stand by what I wrote in #102.
Tube amps as fun DIY. Built by those who are knowledgeable in electronics. I fully understand that.

 

[DSJR]

I had some KEF Cadenzas in the mid/late 80's, Daniel. I thought they were amazing (in comparison to what I had before). The only problem is that they looked really 'scruffy' without the grill. They should make these again, but tidy up the front - probably increase the enclosure height too - they were just a bit too short for floor standing.

You should ask Falcon if they intend to resurrect the high power B200 bass-mid driver (Harbeth had the KEF tooling at the end I gather but no idea if they still have it) and the B139 which could be altered to make it an ABR as in the Cadenza and the more refined and to me endearing 104ab version of the design. There was talk of IMF coming back at one time and prototypes of the B139 bass driver I'm sure were shown.

New IMF but not sure it's ever seen the light of day -

 

[Rõlnnbacke]

But on the other hand, they warm up and shine cozy when it's cold and dark.
The few watts that tube amps emit in heat is also, in the context of heating a home, almost negligible.

I stand by what I wrote in #102.
Tube amps as fun DIY. Built by those who are knowledgeable in electronics. I fully understand that.

Yes I understand that and I understand that

I don't want to disturb the neighbors.

Totally agree and a low output power tube amp probably woudn't consume a ridiculous amount of power.

I read in another forum about people who only use theirs in periods when they wish room-heating.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Can you EQ Genelec /Neumann monitors to sound like Audio Note speakers ?

 

[Mnyb]

Can you EQ a Genelec /Neumann monitors to sound like Audio Note speakers ?

They have to good directivity it won’t be the same.

Speakers interact with rooms trough direct and indirect sound . IE how thye emit sound off axis also matters .

So if you mimic the on axis fr it wont be the same off axis fr and vice versa .

And you cant get the severity of box resonances either ?

EQ remove the box stuffing and glue some lego’s on to the front to make more diffraction ?

A speaker is more than the direct fr response even if it is what matters most .

But you have a hard time making a Genelec or Neumann interact bad enough with the acoustics.

And the jarring directivity difference going from a large midbass and a very wide small tweeter ? Cant be mimicked either .
These monitors have very nice transitions from driver to driver

 

[Rõlnnbacke]

Can you EQ a Genelec /Neumann monitors to sound like Audio Note speakers ?

Maybe EQ cheap speakers with some AN-like Characteristics, like directivity?

They have to good directivity it won’t be the same.

 

[GM3]

Maybe EQ cheap speakers with some AN-like Characteristics, like directivity?

Or use something like https://www.izotope.com/en/products/trash.html or equivalent plugin or VST. Lots of VSTs available for free, so there should be some which simulate worse playback.

Same goes for any of their poorly measuring DACs, tube amps or whatnot, just get a plugin which will make any electronics sound like a worse performing mucho $$$ snake-oil component from snake-oil company like Audio-Note. The utter idiocy of it all is that some proponents of audiofool snake-oil foolery will likely claim that it won't sound as good if you make the sound worse via plugin than you do purchasing poorly measuring gear...

 

[Rõlnnbacke]

I had some KEF Cadenzas in the mid/late 80's, Daniel. I thought they were amazing (in comparison to what I had before). The only problem is that they looked really 'scruffy' without the grill. They should make these again, but tidy up the front - probably increase the enclosure height too - they were just a bit too short for floor standing.

I think they look friendly, like cars from the 60's-early seventees. To be put on a concrete brick.

Or use something like https://www.izotope.com/en/products/trash.html or equivalent plugin or VST. Lots of VSTs available for free, so there should be some which simulate worse playback.

Same goes for any of their poorly measuring DACs, tube amps or whatnot, just get a plugin which will make any electronics sound like a worse performing mucho $$$ snake-oil component from snake-oil company like Audio-Note. The utter idiocy of it all is that some proponents of audiofool snake-oil foolery will likely claim that it won't sound as good if you make the sound worse via plugin than you do purchasing poorly measuring gear...

Or go to a second hand shop: Everything perfectly burned in.

Edit: Did something wrong with the reply button...