2/1/2024 0 Comments Audionote kitFurther, I also factored in buying a few parts on my own from HiFi collective. Because of stories like yours, I was well-prepared for the fact that there would be some back and forth. You have to know what you're looking for and doing. Even knowing what was coming, I ended up frustrated a few times, but only because I forgot that I'd budgeted 3 months to build all of this (will likely finish in 2). There are some bad stories out there that I read before buying, but a quick call with Brian (and a couple bottles of wine) got me fully committedĬlick to expand.I very much understand where you're coming from. In any case, ANK is an amazing company for DIY gear. Took me a while to settle on speakers, but I think I'm going to go with the Pure Audio Project Quint 15s. Up next, I'm building the ANK Pre-Amp, ANK Phono Stage, and ANK 300B CCore Monoblocks (super pumped about those). I have to say it sounds fantastic even though I'm clearly under driving things. I'm currently running these things through an Elekit 9600R amp into some Statement II speakers I built (88db sensitivity with 9.6w.p.c, lol). Was a learning experience is going slowly. I usually rush through non-woodworking things in my life, but I took a ton of time to trim wires to length, shrink wrap everything, position the components the right way, top and bottom solder everything. Going to use 2 of those in the pre.sweet stuff.Īs far as the build goes (I'm more of a woodworker than EE), slow is good. The SE 274B Aqua rectifier tube is amazing. Upgraded all the tubes to Sophia Electric Aqua (except the JJ ECC99). I don't subscribe to all of the hype and silver hookup/signal wire is probably silly if you have copper trace PCBs, but why not. There's a shortage of AN UK 470 uf caps right now, so I'll get those added later, but everything else is the best I could find (afford) - AN tant resistors, AN-V signal wire, silver hookup wire, AN silver RCAs. I asked Brian to max out every component he could think of and I pitched in the best parts I had. Very well labeled, dozens of high-res images of how things are supposed to go together, super easy for both visual and non-visual people, alike. Other than a couple small hiccups, the kit is a dream. For the couple parts I was missing that I didn't have sitting around, he next-day mailed them out. Brian (ANK owner) is on top of everything and responds at all hours of the night 7 days a week. A couple mounting holes that were a few mm in the wrong spot that needed to be drilled out, no biggy as long as you have confidence in how these things come together. First off, the ultra small bad bits - there were a few components that were missing/wrong. Not a peep of sound/hum/anything even cranked all the way up. My favorite feature is that it's also midnight black. Fleetwood Mac feels like it's in the room. Lots of examples, but it's just such a fuller and richer sound. For example, at the beginning of Charlie Puth's "We Don't Talk Anymore" there's this droplet sound that seems a little flat on the DC-1, but has a ton of body and reverb with the ANK DAC. There's just more detail that I can hear, switching back and forth between the two. Just upgraded from my Emotiva DC-1 (which I loved and was an unmitigated bargain), and this is much better. I wouldn't recommend this as a first project, but if you've ever built an amp or done any soldering, you'd be fine. The kit was solid, the manual was easy to follow. I have to say that this was a really great project.
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