Some questions about Audionote speakers/OTO/Kingko

mcanaday

Active Member
Calling RGA and other AKers who know Audionote-

I’m starting to plan for a new system for a 12 by 15 living room. As corner placement is the best option, I’m thinking Audionote. I’m wondering if the Kingko KA-101 amplifier would work well with Audionote speakers, and specifically how it compares to the OTO or OTO signature? (Also how much heat do these amplifiers give off?)
I’m also wondering which Audionote speaker would work best for this application? The speakers in the corners would be about 10 feet apart and aiming diagonally at listening position/sweet spot which is approximately 11.5 feet away. The ceilings are about 10 feet high and there is a large glass window on one side of the room (unfortunately.)
Would I be better off with AN K/Spe; An K/ Spx SE; AN J/LX or ANJ/Spe?
Finally, should I go with an Audionote IC/cable, even if I end up with Kingko amplifier rather than OTO?
Thanks for any guidance! Margot
 
Starting with the speaker I would go with the AN J/Spe - the best of the four options.

The Kingko KA 101 has a few tricks up its sleeve and the biggest one is that it can later be used as a power amp. I am currently using the $11,000 AN M3 Phono Balanced MKiii preamp with the $800 Kingko. (albeit have spent $300 on King's recommended upgrade tubes). I run AN Spe speaker cables and AN V silver interconnects with the KingKo.

As an integrated I prefer the OTO to the Kingko but it's not as one sided as you would hope given the price difference. I think you could get a pretty good preamp for the price difference and said good preamp with Kingko could take be better than the OTO.

Then there is the ANKits where for a fee they will build the kit for you. When you factor in their offerings and prices - things become more interesting.

But if it is about dollars - I would rather have the J with the Kingko over the K with OTO.

The Kingko allows upgrading - 3 years later buy a preamp - 3 years later buy a power amp like the Empress ($5k) and use the Kingko as a headphone amp or amp in the second room. Which was my plan. The Kingko has been good enough that I am in no rush to get the Empress and it may allow me to wait quite awhile longer and save for one of the upper end monoblocks like the mighty Onkoru/II monoblocks (45 watts SET) or Neiro - 2a3.

What the Kingko allows is for me to be patient. I don't feel the need to rush. My LM CD player is acting up yet again so I am feeling the need to dump it and find a good transport mechanism. But there isn't much out there these days - Basically now you buy a machine that has the Philips Pro 2 M or LF mechanism and everything else is basically all the same - $6-15 mechanisms (Pro 2 is $500) And there is nothing in between! But this is another issue.

If you are thinking as these as your last amp and you don't intend to upgrade - the OTO Sig SE Phono. Has a wonderful phono stage (same for original OTO). Also note there is a SORO and Soro Sig. It's around the same price of the OTO and note that plenty of people like the SORO better. It's been selling 25 years for a reason too.

This is what has me drooling for a bit - I doubt I will be able to afford them - I could it just doesn't make sense in the $35k range. Still ... I could hit that lotto one day.
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Thanks, RGA. This is really, really helpful, and I am glad you think the AN J /Spe would work in a room this size.

The OTO sounds pretty great. One final question: would you recommend rolling the tubes (if so, with what?) or staying with stock tubes?

Thanks! Margot
 
I found the stock tubes to be good. I tried Mullard on the output but the stock tubes I preferred - My belief is you have to like the tube amp first in stock form - then you can fiddle for yourself. Fortunately the tubes are about as cheap as they come in an EL84 based amp - AND - they last the longest. I think AN expects 8000-10000 hours from the output tubes.

Having just bought the DAC 0.1X they expect a whopping 100,000 hours from the tube and they recommend leaving it on 24/7 (11+ years). PS if you don't have a DAC this one at $1,450 new list so probably $800-$900 second hand is worth looking at.
 
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