Audio Note/Audio note kits - are they related?

[MallyMad]

The Audio Note amps etc (although totally beyond my means) look like they are superb. Are the Audio Note kits anywhere near the same thing? There's a huge price difference which sort of answers the question but I'm not sure.

And are products like the Kegon really worth the money?

I realise its all relative but when does the price/performance balance start and end? Ie does a £60000 amp sound 60000 times better than a £1000 amp?

Yet again I realise its relative but I'm keen to hear opinions.

 

[AmDismal]

The component quality can be dramatically different - the built stuff uses matched components, the ones they can't match get shoved into the kits. Plus as you spend money there's loads of silver, really nice silver transformers, all sorts of nice capacitors and the like. That said, their pricing policy does seem somewhat random.

In terms of value, you can get a T-amp for £40 that sounds bloody good, and all improvements from there are pretty marginal. However, those subtle improvements are what high fidelity is all about IMO - I don't want 'good enough', I want 'really fucking great'. That does usually cost money, although there is stuff cheaper than a Kegon (much as I would love one!) that falls into the band for me.

 

[JVS]

does a £60000 amp sound 60000 times better than a £1000 amp?

No, it sounds 60 times better!

 

[MallyMad]

Doh! :doh: Long night shift. I'm not going to edit that post so everyone gets a laugh.

The law of diminishing returns is what I was trying to remember.

 

[Valvebloke]

Just out of curiosity, how do you quantify 'better' ? How would you know if a new amp was 3 times better than your current one or 4 times better, or 8.17326 times better (let alone 60 times better) ? I'm guessing the simple answer is that you're either prepared to pay £60k for it or you're not .

VB

 

[rockmeister]

According to Peter Q, what Adam says above is about right. For the AN stuff sold as made, you pay extra for the care they take with component matching.

If you read carefully through the list of contents of made and kit stuff however, I anyway can't see that much difference and certainly NOT enough to justify the price. Then again of course, I doubt you'll get much customer after care with a kit, wheras part of the cost of the made stuff is there to cover the maker if things go wrong.

As an example, the wam, in general, loves AN E speakers, and at various times, both home made and AN made versionbs of these have been on show. I have NEVER heard a single comment from anyone saying that the sound of the kits was in any way worse...praise yes, criticisms, no. Looks ofc might be an issue for some makers, but?

I'd build the kit if you can. At the very least you'll have a fantastic amp for a lot less money.

 

[Petrat]

I recall Dom building some AN kit power amps.

There's a thread somewhere in the archives.

 

[mongeddavid]

I believe the AN KIT DACs are based on a similar design to the UK ones provided by one of the designers of the UK AN DAcs however they are not identical at least that is what I have been led to believe.

 

[AmDismal]

I recall Dom building some AN kit power amps. There's a thread somewhere in the archives.

Yeah, he thought they sounded shit. He was so ashamed of them he couldn't bring himself to sell them on here, so bunged them on eBay! And knowing Dom, they would have been built well...

 

[meninblack]

I think the kit DACs are based on older designs than the current factory ones.

 

[Guest]

I have an AN kit DAC but its been upgraded about four times including silver caps, lots of black gates, super hib output transformers and then upgraded core material, latest Dac board and psu, and, the top IV transformers, to roughly 4.1x factory spec.

It was the equal of a 4.1 I tried it against and notably better than the 2.1x signature. Not sure whether its a cost effective route though compared to getting the factory one you want second hand. Luckily for me the original builder took the biggest hit.

I heard the L6 kit monoblock el34 power amps too (not Don's), very underwhelming with my Tannoys. But some of the other amp and preamp kits have quite a following.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[Jazid]

AN kits are a separate company based in Canada. They both use common design criteria, and there are shared components, but for instance the AN kit transformers are not AN, they are built by a company in USA (or Canada) and whilst sharing similar specs and being pretty impressive lumps of iron, are not physically identical to UK ones. Otherwise as AmDismal says above. AN kits do various component upgrade packs using progressively more like AN UK quality components FWIW. Its a good service in truth, and Brian is responsive to emails and questions so there is good after sales in this respect at least!

 

[Guest]

I had heard some very good audio note kit amps in the past, so when they made a new amp that had enough power for my amps, I jumped at the chance.

When I first used them I was actually pretty chuffed with them. Reason I was happy was that I had used the wrong amps with my speakers ever since I got them.

I then heard an amp that worked with my speakers and realised the kit amps just didn't work.

I sold them on eBay for a very large loss.

 

[reformed audiophile]

I've had the Meishu and Kit 1, both really good, and this driving Totem Model Ones (in a small room). I've never seen a used Kit 1 for sale, and for good reason I think. I also like the Oto and could happily live with this.

 

[MallyMad]

Quite an interesting set of responses. What about other kits? What ARE the good ones? It's not on the cards just now but they do look like you get good value. I think that later down the line that I would either buy one and have it professionally built or I would try and track down a good homemade job from a recommended hobbyist. I really like the idea of the individuality of something like that. Suppose it's just a case of finding the right one at the right price.

 

[russ abbott - royds broth]

The wad stuff i have heard i've really liked.

 

[Tel]

http://www.bottlehead.com/

 

[tyman]

Don't think the Canadian outfit perform QC on their kit and the parts doesnt fits. Built one and will never buy their kits again. I will rather buy the transformers direct from UK and build it from scratch.

dont trust any of the reviews on their website.

 

[The Beat]

Don't think the Canadian outfit perform QC on their kit and the parts doesnt fits. Built one and will never buy their kits again. I will rather buy the transformers direct from UK and build it from scratch.dont trust any of the reviews on their website.

What kit did you build?

I sent an email with a query on the L3 Phono on 08/04/16 and haven't yet had a reply.