The pedestrian appearance of the Audio Note loudspeakers are well calculated. The front baffle dimensions and depth of the cabinet are an integral part of the wave launch support and controlled defraction characteristics pioneered by Peter Snell in the 1970's. Smaller, narrow baffles, like those found in most of today's "fashion victim" designs currently masquerading as quality loudspeakers achieve nothing other than to compromise mid-range frequency and tonal colourations.
Speakers with narrow baffles demonstrate a characteristic nasality and thinness in the critical vocal region with unrealistic/unnatural image placement. This is due to peaky response and loss of low level information. Spatial effects become distinctly "hi-fi" and not faithful to real musical presentation.
Hi-fi and music are not the same and many designers fall prey to the "cannons and fireworks" of special effects. Audio Note design loudspeakers to imitate real musical instruments. Every aspect of cabinet, drivers and crossover are carefully matched in much the same manner that a violin maker crafts a fine musical instrument.
All our loudspeaker models are two-way, stand mounted and are designed for real room conditions, rather than the more commonly used anachoic close field conditions.
You will therefore find that our loudspeakers are capable of serious in-room bass performance, without creating the boom and room resonance normally encountered with wideband loudspeakers.
Regardless of model, each of our loudspeaker pairs are very closely matched, to within 0.2 dB of each other over the full bandwidth, this is done under dynamic conditions using a unique method of testing developed by ourselves. Each speaker's crossover is adjusted to as closely as possible resemble a "master" speaker's curve.
The AX range as designed as a general purpose small loudspeakers, and will work well with almost any amplifier. Heavy loudspeaker stands should be used. We offer the same stands as are used for the AN-K model speakers. We offer the same finishes as AZ range, packed as 1 pair per box with front grills.
Finish: Black Ash; White Ash; Walnut; Cherry.
The The AN-K is a bookshelf-sized loudspeaker capable of a bandwidth from 50 Hz to 20 Hz (-6 dB) with an efficiency of around 90 dB/m.
Careful pair matching, first by drive unit selection, secondly by pairing drive units with suitable characteristics to each other, and then finally by individually adjusting each speaker's curve, under dynamic conditions to a master curve.
The AN-K cabinet is made from materials that compliment the workings of the chosen drive units, where we, instead of trying to damp the resonances in the cabinet, place them in frequency bands where they aid and enhance the drive unit's work. This novel and quite difficult method helps to ensure maximum efficiency and dynamic behaviour.
Dimensions: (Height, Width, Depth) 470 x 275 x 190mm (18.5" x 10.8" x 7.5").
The AN-J models offer higher sensitivity and better bass performance, combined with a more dynamic presentation than the AN-K, in an enclosure that is about three times the volume.
The AN-J is a ported enclosure with an efficiency better than 93 dB/m and bass that goes down to 25 Hz at -6 dB. The AN-J is capable of reproducing the scale and intensity of most well-recorded music very realistically.
Like all our other loudspeakers, the AN-J undergoes the same painstaking driver selection and matching process, which ensures the closest tolerances within a pair in the entire audio industry.
Dimensions: (Height, Width, Depth) 585 x 330 x 235mm (23" x 13" x 9.25").
The AN-E must be the most efficient wide band speaker of moderate size on the market, with an effective bandwidth from 18 Hz to 23 kHz at -6 dB, efficiency better than 95 dB/m and a dynamic headroom above 108 dB. The extremely high efficiency is retained well over the bandwidth, and makes the AN-E very suited to the high quality, low-power triode amplifiers that will form the future of music reproduction, once our obsession with power and specifications is generally recognized as folly.
The AN-E is a two-way, ported enclosure, with a carefully designed cabinet which is shaped to enhance and aid driver dispersion on one hand, and bass output on the other. The cabinet is lightly braced and little internal damping is used. The cabinet is designed in such a way that it augments and supports the drivers in their task, not unlike the box of a guitar. The drivers are selected and paired before they are matched to the crossover in the same process as the AN-K and AN-J.
Dimensions: (Height, Width, Depth) 790 x 360 x 270mm (31" x 14" x 10.5").
