Ian Iveson wrote:
"Patrick Turner" wrote
...stuff about Audio Note, below...
The Audio Note UK story is possibly quite interesting. A few points
to qualify Patrick's typically bitter and twisted comments.
Total BULL**** from a pomme ****wit!!!
You really like spreading lies when its YOU who is the bitter twisted
hot air bag.
You have top posted over my post to avoid having to reply accurately
within the context.
Kondo no longer uses the Audio Note name.
I only reported what I had read in Hi-Fi News.
I thought they were very kind to Qvortrop who didn't deserve it and that
the
211 amp described in august 2005 issue was nowhere near the quality of
the japanese master.
Audio Note in the UK produce a full range of valve amps, and have
recently hived off the Audio Note UK kit and component business.
Continuing its own tradition, Audio Note in the UK offer several
"levels" of quality. The top level includes all silver wiring,
including interstage and output transformer windings, and 50 or 55%
nickel OPT core.
http://www.audionote.co.uk/
AFAIK the core is a nickel alloy. If you can thread your way through
to the current kit and component suppliers I imagine there are some
details. Or look on the Lundahl site, or even that of the waffly
Magnaquest. Or search under "nickel iron" core. Any kind of finding
out would do, really. Could save embarrassment.
I only quoted what I read in Hi-Fi News.
A customer of mine was mightily UNIMPRESSED by the
bull**** in the magazine, which he brought to me for a look.
I never buy Hi-Fi News ( or Stereophile ) et all.
You have been keen to point out my error, which was Hi-Fi world's error
if there was indeed any error.
It seemed like the amp pictured in Hi-Fi World had much plainer gear
used in its construction
compared to the original and much more expensive japanese version.
But YOU have not bothered to look to finding out any real facts about
the issue.
And BTW, I was certainly not obliged to suss out what Magnequest
or Lundahl used in their cores.
Get off your lazy BUTT Ian, and do something useful.
I just build amps.
Patrick Turner.
cheers, Ian
But then we have to consider the case of Hiroyasu Kondo.
I doubt he's ever been known for eating kiosk food up high
mountains
but it does seem he founded Audio Note in Japan in 1976
when he must have been quite a cool smart young dude.
He cobbled together the SET 211 Ongaku amplifier which costs an
extraordinary
amount, as much a Mercedes Benz, or a few villas in Argentina...
Anyway, I am not here to argue the cost, but he uses at least
several pounds of
silver per channel
as winding wire in the trannies, then he uses 50% nickel in the
OPTs.
I assume the 50% is in the form of alternately placed laminations.
One could do worse than follow his practices.
In my case with the little 2A3 amp I was advised by a cash
strapped hi-fi
fanatic
for whom I made the amps to use Hammond OPTs, so no silver or
nickel.
But the OPTs are rated for 25 watts, or 10Vrms into 4 ohms,
the 2A3 could only mannage to pump 4 watts into 4 ohms, ie, 4Vrms,
so the tranny is working with a small fraction of DC in the core,
and a
small fraction of the AC across the winding, so I guess this helps
suppress the
bad things that
do occur when audio is pumped through a transformer.
Mind you, such bad things are piddlingly small considerations
in any well designed amp.
But in the case of the 2A3, there isn't much horribility in the
iron to complain
about,
even though its is Hammond iron, which is a cheap option for any
diyer.
So how much better is the sound of a 1/2 watt from Mr Kondo's amp
compared to
something anyone here might cobble together?
I leave that for you guys to find out.
Meanwhile, one Peter Qvortrop has registered the names of Audio
Note in
several countries without the consent or permission of Mr Kondo.
Qvortrop has had an article about his 211 SET amps in the august
2005 issue,
and unfortunately, I am not very impressed.
There is no silver or nickel in the OPTs, yet the price will be
35,000 pounds
for the stereo amp.
I raise my hat to these guys, why, with such high prices there's a
chance
we might do ok trying to sell the same performance for 3,500
pounds.