We make no secret of our love for all things Audio Note. Contrary to popular belief, they are actually far more affordable than many are led to believe, with integrated amplifiers starting at around £2000, and loudspeakers in the same ball park. However, recently we have been fortunate enough to be involved in several very high-end Audio Note system installations. Most notably, we installed this system in the exclusive area of Knightsbridge – which required a completely bespoke approach to the installation, akin to something of a white glove affair!
Starting things off
Our customer took the opportunity to visit us here in Old Harlow, to spend a long day auditioning and investigating various aspects of the system he wanted to put together. Having a choice of different demo rooms, and one exclusively dedicated to Audio Note helps a great deal, as customers are left on their own to relax and enjoy the process whilst the busyness of the shop carries on in another building. We are of course on hand to bring fresh coffee supplies and change system components around!
Fast forward to the installation
It was November by the time all the Audio Note components had been built (everything at this level is hand made in the UK facility down near Brighton) and it was time for installation. Graeme, Ben and I travelled into London with the system comprising an M6 Line Pre Amplifier with Kassai Mono Power Amps, the AN-E SPe HE loudspeakers and full ISIS cable loom. This is just the start of the process for the customer, in fact the start of a new journey… he got in touch with us in the late summer to explain he had owned Audio Note in the past and had regretted moving away from it when his circumstances had changed around 5 years ago.
It’s always a challenge when someone’s audible memory is so vivid and their passion so obvious even from the initial conversation! However, the system we were able to demonstrate bought back all of the joy and emotion the customer was yearning for – thankfully a resounding success all round.
One of the biggest challenges in the installation process was getting the 190kg StillNovi rack up into the customers basement listening room. Thankfully a lift was available and without it I doubt this rack would have been an option – which would have been a great shame, as everyone agreed on how stunning it looked….especially under the Peter Lik artwork “Tree of Zen”.
The Vertere DG-1S with Sabre pack and the trusty Degritter record cleaning machine were the perfect platform for the customer to get back into vinyl and build his collection, we have no doubt he’ll be moving up the analogue ladder soon as the system is so rewarding and addictive. We understand it’s used every single day without fail, and so should a system like this.
Whilst waiting for the taxi service to arrive and remove the boxes and packaging (yes if ever you need waste removal in town, we heartedly recommend “Rubbish Taxi” who will come and take away all your….rubbish!) we were able to reflect on how much we enjoyed installing this system, albeit slightly challenging with the StillNovi rack (190KG in it’s crate). The results were excellent both sonically and aesthetically.
Ready to hear more...
