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Audio Note Speaker Kits
High efficiency speaker kits designed especially for single ended triode amplifiers
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"AudioNote has spent far more time looking at the efficiency/speaker load issues in relationship to the low power SE triode amplifiers than anyone else, and I believe that our solutions are both original and effective, unfortunately nature is as cruel as she is kind, when it comes to efficiency, bandwidth, size and price, so we have to accept the inevitable compromises that she gracefully enforces."
Peter Qvortrup
As you may well be aware Audio Note UK manufactures an entire range of high end finished products for audiophiles all over the world. They also manufacture the Speaker Kits - These are set up at the Audio Note UK factory and packaged and sold by Audio Note dealers through out the world. AudioNote Kits manufactures and sells the Kit products through out the world and we also re-sell the speaker kits in North America only. The speaker kits come with a complete set of drivers, tweeters, crossover, bass port, hardware and drawings that would allow someone to buy the wood and build their own cabinets to the Audio Note specifications (although we can also pre-built supply cabinets - see below).
We now sell all current versions of the Kit 02 and 03 including hemp woofer and Black Gate variants (note: All Kit 03's now come standard with hemp cone woofers). These can be seen below:
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Built, tested and calibrated crossover with matched COPPER COIL drivers, drawings, description, port tube. |
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Same as Speaker Kit 02 but with hemp coned woofer. |
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Built, tested and calibrated crossover with matched silver voice coil tweeter and new 98dB efficient hemp cone woofer also with silver voice coil. Includes AN-E cabinet drawings and port tube. |
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Built, tested and calibrated crossover with matched silver voice coil AlNiCo magnet tweeter and AlNiCo hemp cone woofer (also silver voice coil) with AN-E cabinet drawings and port tube. The ultimate speaker kit!! |
The Speaker Kit 02, and it variants, are based around 94 dB efficient copper coil drivers.
The Speaker Kit 03, and it variants, are based around the new 98 dB efficient silver coil drivers. All Kit 03's now come standard with hemp cone woofers!
AudioNote Kits builds a cabinet set that can be purchased with a speaker kit if required. This is hand made from 13ply Russian Birch Plywood.
The cabinets are sanded and you can leave as is or apply a lacquer
either clear or stained and we can provide instructions
Showing the woofer, tweeter and crossover that have all been matched at the AudioNote factory
(Not shown and included with the kit is wadding for each cabinet, bass port, blue tak and all necessary hardware)
Your complete speaker kit could be together within an hour of receiving your kit!
...I put them together just yesterday; they have about 20 hours of playing time, including break-in. It may seem silly to post a review after such a short period of listening, but I do have 12+ solid hours listening, and at this point I know what I like and am able to form judgments quickly. I also believe in the value of early impressions...
...[The kits are very easy to assemble. Especially since I also purchased the solid-birch cabinets from A-N Kits which, at $800, seem a steal to me, as they were perfectly made & finished.]...
The crossover seems to be absolutely, completely seamless. It is undetectable. The speaker is as coherent as any single-driver speaker (or planar) and sounds like a point-source with one voice.
The tonal balance is as perfect as I have heard. They are not bright, dark, tipped-up, recessed or anything else: they just 'sound like music' (to use the phrase that's become a cliche some love to hate).
They are astoundingly dynamic for a non-horn-loaded speaker. Actually, I think this is mostly because they are a horn-loaded speaker: the corners are their horns. This is the way they were designed to be used and the way I'm using them. I think the live cabinet also accounts for the excellent dynamics...
| Paul Folbrecht |
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...The first time I plugged in the speakers, I was presented with a completely different sound to my 15-inch Tannoy dual concentric speakers. I immediately noticed totally different treble qualities - it was now less horn-like and much wider ranging. Much more detail could now also be heard overall. The sound was lighter and more 'airy'.
One of the best things that can happen to you when you first hear a new piece of kit is that you hear something that you have never heard before on a very familiar recording. Well, that is exactly the thing that happened on the very first track I played. I suspect this is due to the fine integration between the woofer and tweeter and also shows up a 'gap' in Tannoys' frequency response - something I had been told about being a shortcoming of dual concentric/integrated speakers.
They have vastly exceeded my expectations and I so wish that I had made this upgrade to my system a long time ago.
They also seem to have a kind of sparkle to them that doesn't just apply to the upper ranges. This makes acoustic tracks, especially, delightful as it brings out the natural vibration of the individual instruments. Perhaps some of this sparkle comes from the resonant features of the cabinets themselves? I am not sure but something nice, and out of the ordinary, is definitely happening.
I simply can't fault them as they totally outshine my old Tannoys and have brought a sense of musicality to my system that I have only heard a few times in the past at Hi-Fi shows. I recommend these speakers very highly indeed...
| Paul Brookes - UK |
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