CAS 2010

Take Note

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jul 31, 2010

When I entered the Audio Note UK room, someone was in the midst of auditioning a CD of exotic Chinese instruments. The strings sounded beautiful, the highs lovely. On solo piano, the system had a very quiet, enticingly crystalline purity. Soprano Elly Ameling's voice sounded equally beautiful, the voice clear and radiant, even though her piano accompaniment was strangely bloated and over-emphasized. That was no doubt due to room problems that other exhibitors tried to tame with ASC Tube Traps.

Auditioned were the Audio Note CD4.1 x ($9500), Jinro 211 SE integrated amplifier ($21,175), and E/Lexus Signature loudspeaker ($15,500/pair). The latter is a two-way rear-ported baby with a claimed 98dB sensitivity.

COMMENTS
Stephen Scharf's picture
Submitted by Stephen Scharf (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 11:18am

I have mixed feelings about this room. I heard some stuff that really didin't work for me, but the Decca CD of George Solti and the Chicago Symphonies rendition of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique was impressive. But I have a hard time rationalizing spending $15K on two drivers mounted in a box that looks like it was built in someone's garage when I could spend $5K less and get those luscious Quads from Tim's wonderful room at Tone of Audio.

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 10:30pm

A major example of different strokes for different folks. Literally one minute after I met Stephen by the elevators in the Hilton, and he told me his mixed reaction to the Audio Note UK set-up, I encountered a female audiophile from Berkeley who told me that she thought Audio Note UK had the best sound at the show. Then again, she may have chosen different music for her audition.

Thomas's picture
Submitted by Thomas (not verified) on August 6, 2010 - 1:37am

These speakers did nothing for me . Oh dont get me wrong when i played small scale recordings it sounded pretty good but when i threw on anything with decent to high dynamic range it went down the toilet, they lost all of there focus and purity.

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