CES 2011 – Audio Note
Our setup this year. More photos forthcoming.
The Audio Note CDT-Five transport, Fifth Element DAC and Fifth Force power supply were running into the Audio Note Ongaku integrated amplifier. Much more about this digital in previous posts and expect a whole lot more in future posts.
It is hard for me to talk about these in the context of this room because of all the previous systems I have now heard this digital in. For example, we had a shootout between this and the (older version of the approximately $22K) Audio Note DAC 4 Balanced and CDT-3 transport. This pair of ours has over the last several years has beat all tubed digital solutions we have heard and is especially talented in the area of Harmonically Rich Musicality with Resolution category. But the CDT-5 and Fifth Element made it sound like it was producing clumsy, tonally naive square waves [seriously, it was embarrassing]. The amount of resolution this level 5 digital puts out is so phenomenal that it doesn’t sound like resolution at all anymore. What this means in terms of harmonic wealth and first-love-like involvement all follows from this resolution [I think. At least right now I think this.].
Was all this evident in the room at the Flamingo? Kind of. But it didn’t whack you upside the head [although some of the visitors to our room would disagree :-)]. Maybe it shouldn’t whack a person upside the head. Maybe it should just grow on you over the hours and days of listening until you are spoiled for the rest of your natural life [like us. We are SO screwed]. As an exhibitor, however… I *do* indeed want the system to forcibly insert itself into each visitor’s pantheon of best moments in their life. And every person who does not leave shaking their heads and bumping into walls is something we take personally 😉
The Audio Note TT2 Deluxe turntable with newer, better, good looking plinth. Also a new, very nice sounding and substantial Audio Note tonearm that is a drop in replacement for the standard Rega RB250 and RB300 tonearms.
The Martin Grennall from Audio Note is DJ’ing for the room from his eclectic CD collection which Tom is holding on his lap. John Geisen, Audio Note dealer in Florida, is giving us a big smile up front. Dave Cope of Audio Note is referring to his laptop, and Andy Whittle of Audio Note is smiling at us from the corner seat.
Hi Mike,
The phrase “made it sound like it was producing clumsy, tonally naive square waves” is an excellent one. Chief Design Engineer Andy Grove has observed, (deep paraphrasing alert!), that no electronics truly pass a square wave, which is pretty much what all digital gear up to now has been trying to do in passing a digital signal from transport to DAC. By using a tube buffer and RF transformer at the transport output and the DAC input, the CDT Five/Fifth Element pairing treat the digital signal in an analog manner, and as you’ve heard, it’s radically successful.
No, the Audio Note system didn’t “whack people upside the head”, nor is it supposed to. Time and time again, year after year, show-goers and reviewers alike describe Audio Note’s sound as seductive, inviting, natural, very hard to get up and walk away from. This is the antithesis of the arm-waving, shouting, “Hey, hey! Look at what I’m doing” approach that the vast majority of high end systems employ, which grabs the unwary listener by the ears and captivates them for the few minutes they listen. There’s a big clue therein as to why audiophiles so very frequently sell off gear they were absolutely smitten with just a month or two before.
Audio Note is in it for the long haul. Spotlighting a particular attribute at the expense of overall balance in a musical listening experience is not for them.
(For the record, in your photo I was adding captions to the 50+ pictures I had already posted in the ANswers Forum show report earlier in the show.)
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thanks.
Did Neli tell you that we seem to have absconded with your Nelson Mass CD? [we have one. Now we have 2].
I must be doing something wrong, because much of the time AN whacks me upside the head and I subsequently crash into walls several times… 😉
I think I’ll save this for a future post, and will compare shows to test-driving fine cars. Because like anyone knows who has test-driven and bought a nice car, there are definite stages of appreciation – but without the first stage of appreciation, one does not end up buying the car.
Take care,
-Mike
Oh, and the link to Dave’s report is here:
DRCope CES 2011 Show Report