![]() ![]() This would, however, involve a substantial underestimation of the capabilities of the Kegon Balanced monoblock amplifiers by Audio Note UK. ![]() Therefore, I fully can recommend this Kit to anyone who wants to build a bullet-proof 300b-SET amp with best sonic results, but hasn't the time or skills to select circuits, parts and so on like DIY-professionals.Many will approach this review with an expectation that these amps will, of necessity, sound like a classic 300B single-ended triode design, in other words, will present with a harmonically rich midrange and upper bass but suffer from serious flaws at the frequency extremes. It just worked reliably and without troubles. More important: The Kit One never had any kind of hum or other nasty effects, one could be afraid of with DIY-gear. Really, no big problem at all, exchange was found easily, and no other part suffered from this defect. In 15 years of intensive operation, the amp had only a few valve-changes, and one solid state rectifier broke down 5 years ago. Perhaps also, because I soldered in some cerafine caps and a Noble-pot, as recommended from AN as a tweak. I recently bought some silver cables (unfortunately could not afford AN-cables), and wow, the Amp is still not at its limits. My AN-J speakers of same age are surely a perfect match, but also my former focal-aria 5 speakers sounded fine driven only from the kit's 2x8 Watt. Sources with limited clarity in midrange can be a problem. ![]() Of course, like any good amp, the Kit One likes good speakers, cables and sources. I tried other amps (transistor and also a Chinese 211-SET) some times, but always returned to the Kit One, due to its sense for a complete and seamless presentation, even if the more powerful amps made some short-term-impression here and there. So, even older rock-records with limited dynamics are a pleasure to listen to, you just accept and enjoy the recording as it is. In case of "average" recordings, you will certainly notify that, but the Kit One does its best not to point out weaknesses, it still allows a coherent musical event. Modern recordings come with all their 3D-effects, in micro or macro scale, you can easily get the idea of the musicians and sound engineers. This amp does not want to impress with bombing bass or fizzy treble, except the music demands it. There is an exceptionally clear midrange, airy and with tonal beauty. acoustic pieces with voices and/or low instrumentation are transferred with a big piece of emotion. It seems the Kit 1 supports the strengths of the music played by creating just the right and suitable atmosphere. The sound quality of this amp can be described best with "involving". Nowadays, AN-Kits are supported from USA, and looking at their web side, the overall appearance improved. ![]() My amp still has the "military green" chassis, not the brightest one ever seen, but I like it. Part quality, instructions and so on was simply a pleasure to work with, so no problem for anyone with some handcraft skills. The price still was reasonable for a kit, but with regards of sound quality, I never was disappointed. In these days, the AN-products really won every comparison test we made with different equipment, so I was hoping to get this sonic quality as DIY-bargain. I had to get into the 300b-single ended hype, wanted to save some money, and appreciated the AN-concept to offer parts and kits beside their growing range of finished products of various levels. It was about 1996, when I built this amp, the first version, coming from AN-UK, which was just establishing as "hard-line" tube audio company. I own a Kit One for about 15 years, and I think it deserves a view words. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |