What sounds more musical than audionote equipment

The showcase line at our local dealer is Audio Note. I've heard it numerous times, both there as well as at the homes of friends. My understanding is that Peter Qvortrup--the president of AN--has the largest private LP collection in the world. Whether that's true or not, his love for music definitely comes through in the sonics of his gear.

Away from the subject of musicality, I like the AN approach to upgrades. Starting just above the basic model of any particular component, their DACs, monoblocks, preamps & speakers can be taken through as many as 7 levels of upgrades using the same chassis. Excellent business model, in my opinion.

My only question is how does a company that sells an IC at $2800/meter not put any credence into the variability of power cords? Oh well, fair enough to let the customer decide.

evita makes a good point. of all the AN amps out there, my favorites were always the oto se and the e40 that they made with rogers uk. for the money spent, with superb phono sections, you can't beat these for world class reproduction of all genres of music with a pretty wide selection of loudspeakers.

i have been in the music industry for 30 years and this hobby for more than that and (i love my audio note components), but components good, bad, or ugly...are just that. like i said in my first post, there are lots of brands which trigger a euphoric, emotional response and longterm loyalty from consumers. unlike flavor-of-the-month brands they tend to favor style over fashion, and most design product that benefits from the synergy of an entire system. to dismiss mac, and other seminal lines as 'not being as musical' just tells me you've got alot the learn about hi fi. 'getting off' on music, live or recorded happens everyday for folks all over the world with or without an AN system or any other hi end product. No one purhases 'the soul' of great music, they only purchase components that give give them a worthwhile way to spend precious free time listening. If you are under 30, get ready to spend lots more over your lifetime. until you figure out that this hobby is equal parts listening to music-pride of ownership-and just plain collecting, you are never going to have any fun. Until you have at least one room in your house where you fall over lps, cd's 45's etc stacked to the ceiling, you are an absolute begineer.

Jaybo,

From one 30 year plus hobbyist to another, that was very well said and perhaps sums up best just what draws us all here.

Mike.

Jaybo, you are right up to a point. I will probably now come across as arrogant with this post but it is the only way to make my point.

There is absolutely no doubt that very few components give the musicality i have described in my opening statement. I have been a hifi buying fan for over 25 years and have purchased very high end products over this period of time. Indeed it has taken this amount of time for me to actually realize that musicality was what I had been looking for all this time and why i was constantly changing my components with dissatisfaction. The idea of musicality was almost like the secret truth that no one talked about. More often than not it was the technical issues of the hifi sound that me and my friends were interested in. we all new that Naim in the uk made a big deal about musicality but still never took this on board. If it has took me this look to finally fully appreciate what it is that allows pure emotioinal pleasure to be conjured up due to the music itself then i would imagine that most of the hifi community who have less years under their belts than me have also not reached that stage of appreciation. Yes there will be those who will stubbonly hold onto the same manufacturer, or those that are just plainly interested in the technical aspects of the sound rather than the music itself, each to his own, but I am certain the majority are probably on the same long road that i took.

Please feel free to openly criticise these statements, I have got msany years of experience and evidence behind me so it will be near impossible to shake this belief off of me.