Btw, I never was an Audio Note owner. I had in my system for almost a month the Ongaku ( over 100K. ) because the M´+exico distributor of this and other audio items was a close friend of mine as were other audio México dealers whom marketed: AR, C-J, Manley, Air Tigth and other very well regarded tube electronics.
I can say for sure that I know very well tube electronics " restrictions/limitations " that can't honor what MUSIC deserves.
To understand what MUSIC deserves we have to take in count two things:
how and which kind of sounds we have in a live music performance. Example in a concert music hall exist no adjectives used and touted by tube lovers as: softness, non agresive, non annoying, full soundstage and the like.
You can have that kind of quality sound if you are seated at 50 m. from the stage source, but this is not MUSIC. When we are seated at a few m. the MUSIC has a natural agresiveness, power, definition, precision and rigthness. Sometimes stridency.
Any piano player knows this and try to listen a trumpet player at normal levels seated at say 2-3 m. and you will undrstand what I mean.
the other thing is that what we have in the LP recordings was captured/pick-up for microphones even nearer to the source as we can't do it in a hall, sometimes very near field as in almost all the Three Blind Mice Recordings.
Only top well designed SS electronics can gives us the " reality " tubes only can gives you what you are accustom to that has nothing to do with that live MUSIC characteristics.
R.
I can say for sure that I know very well tube electronics " restrictions/limitations " that can't honor what MUSIC deserves.
To understand what MUSIC deserves we have to take in count two things:
how and which kind of sounds we have in a live music performance. Example in a concert music hall exist no adjectives used and touted by tube lovers as: softness, non agresive, non annoying, full soundstage and the like.
You can have that kind of quality sound if you are seated at 50 m. from the stage source, but this is not MUSIC. When we are seated at a few m. the MUSIC has a natural agresiveness, power, definition, precision and rigthness. Sometimes stridency.
Any piano player knows this and try to listen a trumpet player at normal levels seated at say 2-3 m. and you will undrstand what I mean.
the other thing is that what we have in the LP recordings was captured/pick-up for microphones even nearer to the source as we can't do it in a hall, sometimes very near field as in almost all the Three Blind Mice Recordings.
Only top well designed SS electronics can gives us the " reality " tubes only can gives you what you are accustom to that has nothing to do with that live MUSIC characteristics.
R.