With regard to the drivers mentioned, as with all AN-K models, it is a 20-centimeter bass-midrange driver and a 19-millimeter dome tweeter. The woofer has a stiff paper cone and is hung up quite hard, the rather small dome however, consists of an impregnated silk fabric. The woofers of the AN-J and AN-E can also be ordered with a hemp fiber membrane. Audio-Note boss Peter Qvortrup and chief developer Andy Grove take the position that all “fancy” membrane materials can shine in some areas – regardless of whether they are metrological or sonic – but always have a negative side, their “own distinctive sound signature”. It is more important that “the sound and characteristics of a single chassis match those of its partner, so that when an instrument is played by both chassis (which is almost always the case), the upper range does not sound separate from the lower range and the other way round. This made us good, To choose old-fashioned paper for the bass cone and impregnated silk for the dome tweeter. These materials, if they are properly matched to one another, seamlessly connect the low and high frequencies, ”says Audio Note boss Qvortrup. The 19 millimeter dome tweeter of the Audio Note AN-K / SPe
”Incidentally, only minimal bracing and as little damping as possible are used inside the housing. The housing is therefore more part of the sound tuning than with many other manufacturers. The loudspeaker is also designed in such a way that it can (or should) be set up close to the wall, where the bass performance benefits from the additional amplification. And the unusual basic shape with the rather wide baffle would offer the drivers the operating conditions of an installation in a virtual wall. This will make for the widest and most even Radiation behavior that is possible with a housing, according to Qvortrup. The basic structure of the loudspeakers is identical. As with all models of the AN-K design (except for the AN-K / D, which are made of plywood and MDF), the housing of the Audio Note AN-K / SPe is made of a special Russian birch plywood. According to company boss Peter Qvortrup, “a lot of research and development has taken place in this area. Over the years we have tried many different materials and combinations – a time-consuming endeavor that culminated in the current design. The basic structure of the Audio Note AN-K / SPe Our Audio Note AN-K / SPe play in level 3 and, with their real wood veneer available in 20 versions, look no different from their siblings AN-K / LX (4,550 euros) and AN-K / SPX SE (13,978 euros). In the test model, the Audio Note AN-SPE speaker cable, which is also available solo (2 x 3 meters in single-wiring version costs 4,458 euros), is used for the internal cabling, while the smaller AN-K / LX uses the Audio Note AN-Lexus LX (2 x 3 meters for 1,233 euros). The Audio Note AN-K / SPx SE runs the pure silver cable AN-SPx internally (10,959 euros for the 3-meter single wiring set), uses silver coils in the crossover and comes in a high-gloss housing. Like all Audio Note models, the AN-K / SPe are two-way speakers Now there are several “expansion stages” within each design group or housing type, which decide on the classification in the respective level. The spread is different: All designs start with a budget variant on level 1, which bears the suffix D. The AN-K hierarchy then extends to level 4, AN-J to level 5 and AN-E to level 6. This is where things get a little complicated, but stay tuned. In addition to the entry-level models AZ and AX, Audio Note only builds three basic speaker designs: the aforementioned AN-K and the larger AN-J and AN-E. These three designs differ from each other in terms of their housing, but are all two-way loudspeakers. Here you cannot avoid a six-figure sum for a chain that is ready to play – this can also be in the higher range, depending on the design of the loudspeakers and the cabling. Now, however, raise the curtain for the cute, compact “bookshelf speakers” Audio Note AN-K / SPe (5,249 euros – if you are familiar with the price structure of the British and are now wondering: The corona pandemic and Brexit recently led to a price increase across the entire range guided). In order to better classify this model, first of all a brief overview of the hierarchy of the British, which is expressed in “levels”. It starts with level 0 – here the typical audio note virtues are to be offered at an affordable mezzanine price. The penthouse in the six-storey apartment building marks level 5. The Audio Note AN-K / SPe are available in 20 different veneer designs, our test copy is dressed in “Birch Burl”
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