CHANGING FROM AUDIO RESEARCH TO AUDIO NOTE SYSTEM 

@pfmaudio 

I’ve been down both roads. Ref5se/Ref75se/Wilson Audio Sasha 2/all transparent wire; Audio Note Tonmeister Meishu Silver (w/Audio Note 4300 tubes)/AN-e spe he/all Audio note wire.

They both have their pros and cons and I provide the following input only to assist, I have no vested interest and encourage you to hear the Audio Note gear in a familiar environment so that you can make the best decision for you.

Audio Research/Wilson thoughts: the pairing is hard to go wrong with. Alot of sonic strengths, some weaknesses and a few observations. no offense intended but I would rather have Sabrinas/Sabrina 2’s than Sophia 3’s. I never fell for the Sophias. The Sabrina is Just a more balanced, nuanced speaker. The ref150 isnt as sweet or musical as the ref75se either in my opinion. Hard to fault ARC/Wilson combo but it isnt as juicy or wet sounding as Audio Note. With that said, it strikes a nice balance between tubes and solid state. Goldilocks….

Audio Note thoughts: The Tonmeister/Audio Note An-e spe he is a fine sounding combo in the right room. Your room is fair sized at around 16 ft by 20 ft. IF your room and the audio note speakers couple correctly, it has tremendous potential. It will run out of volume on the Tonmeister if you listen at loud volumes and I found the AN-e spe he to be less efficient/sensitive that their stated specifications. I also found that this sytem can sound pretty good in almost any room but to get the best out of it requires more fussing with placement and toe in than you may think. Every move enhances one area(bass) and might adversely affect imaging and vice versa.   And this may be controversial but the Tonmeister (I owned it twice) isn’t as amazing as many would have you believe. I owned a Meishu tonmeister silver with stock 300b’s and another with the audio note 4300’s and I just didnt get it. I thought my initial Tonmeister wasnt very magical, I rdered another with the 4300’s and just couldnt see what the big deal was. It was nice, sounded on occasion special but in general…I couldnt recommend it to anyone looking for set magic. It doesnt sound that set to me. After my second Tonmeister silver purchase, I wish I had order the OTO se silver signature because I had an OTO se signature that was amazing. I wanted more of that magic and in my opinion the Tonmeister was a step backward. My 2 cents.

The Arc and Audio Note based systems can be exceptional but now for the real news: I found BOTH the Arc and the Audio Note systems were better with Devore O96’s. The O96’s were more beautiful sounding than the Wilsons to my ears on my Arc/Wilson setup and the dynamics and the colors were amazing and vivid. I found the O96’s more versatile and complete sounding than the An-e speakers on my Tonmeister system. YMMV. The thing about Audio Note speakers that is both a blessing and a curse: corner placement. Not only can they be placed in corners, you MUST place them in corners or the tonal balance is midfi to my ears. Others will tell you to not be afraid of pulling the e’s out into the room. Thats your call but they lose alot in my estimation. You are out of luck if you dont like the severe toe in required to get any imaging out of them.

I love each of the brands you are considering or have mentioned, they each have alot going for them in the appropriate system/room. I have moved on to other gear but I still own and enjoy Decore speakers in one system and Audio Note an-k spx se super K’s in another system. I may still order that OTO SE Silver Signature as I deeply appreciate the el84 tube strengths and that amp is likelt the pinnacle amp for that tube. Best wishes with your decision.

@ghasley ,

thanks a lot for your great information and opinion. 
I believe it will be very important to listen to a similar system in my room. It is a living room and not a dedicated listening room. That is also an advantage on the side of the AN, which are less room imposing. The Wilson need to be at leat 1 m inside the room. Corner placement won’t be a problem. In fact it is desirable. I am afraid it can bet a little boomy, but only listening. As I have solid brick walls, I think it will be an advantage. 
 

I am satisfied with my system, which has Transparent cables all around  I got hooked with SET’s listening to the O/96 with JADIS 300B monoblocks  Great sound indeed, but the O96 won’t fit my room, because I need corner placement. The problem with SET’s is that it can be adictive!  Listening to the system in my AN dealer the system sounded great! But it had room treatments and it is a must to try and have a listen on my own environment  

Another concern is the power . I listened to a A N E Lexus 94db with a P2, with 8 watts and it seemed ok. But I also must listen in my room. 
 

Another question I have is the use of silver versions  I opted (in my mind) for the AN-E/SPe HE because it is level 3 and the Lexus are level 2. I didn’t hear them. I also got a quote for the P3 silver but don’t know if there is a great advantage and if 5hose options don’t make me choose a more expensive cable on the V series, instead of copper cable. 
 

your comments helped a lot. Thanks!

@ghasley : good review of two different systems! I think the OP should just sell the Wilson's and get the Devore 096's. Keep the ARC gear and get an Audio Note SE amp for alternate listening. No need for an AN preamp!

I think member jasonbourne52 is  on to something and I agree.  I would try the Devore speakers and if you like them with your current ARC electronics, you just saved a boatload of money.  If still in doubt, try the AN electronics.  I just don’t see how those AN speakers are so expensive seeing as they are based on the Snell speakers which were not that expensive in the first place. I just don’t see how you can get real good bass out of speakers with an 8 inch woofer, no matter how far they are stuffed into the corners. 

@pfmaudio

Since corner placement is of primary concern, AN-E’s are worth a try. In addition, the signature versions of Audio Note electronics are the sweet spot in the line up. I would take for example a silver signature level 3 over a base version level 4. You dont have to run silver interconnects or speaker cable but you can always upgrade to those later if you want to squeeze out more performance. The E-Spe’s are wired with silver wire but have copper voicecoils so you dont need to go crazy with silver ic’s and speaker cable unless you want to eek out the last 1-2% of performance. In my opinion, the 8wpc from a 300b set is barely enough for the spe he’s depending on your listening preferences. I listen at low levels but like dynamic snap when called upon. YMMV.

I also concur with @jasonbourne52 ​​​​@stereo5 that you havent heard how good your ARC gear can sound yet. Far from it. Frankly, your 5se preamp is so good you will have to spend $$$$$ to better it within Audio Note. You might even consider hanging on to your 5se if funds allow. Its a special preamp that will be in high demand for many years to come on the preowned market and maintain its value. And good luck finding another one if you change your mind and want it back.

Any of us who have taken a deep dive down the Audio Note rabbit hole will attest that its great gear, it does what it does very well but if you are buying new, it depreciates far more initially than you may think. A big haircut awaits if you want to reverse course. A really cool option for you might be for you to demo a ref80s amp with the audio note E’s. Then you could sell your ref150 and buy the ref80s. The ref80s has a triode mode and I would be very curious how that system would perform with the AN-E’s. If you are demoing the e’s and they don’t quite float your boat, you could reverse course and pick up a pair of Sabrinas...they are a bit more placement agnostic than the Sophias IMO. I have a friend who has Vandersteen Quattros(I dont recall the version naming conventions) with a similar ARC setup and given the adjustable bass on those speakers, he has them very close to the walls/corners with fine results.

Good luck and as always seems to be the case, be careful when your setup is predetermined by domestic/decor priorities. You will have a wide sweetspot with the E’s in your room but that sweetspot won’t be as sweet as you might think. They sound pretty good no matter where you happen to sit but all of that toe in that is required, I repeat required, for the Audio Notes will compromise your presentation in other areas. With the E’s in my systems and rooms, I found myself feeling that they don’t suck musically and are a terrific speaker for a normal domestic setting. Just please don’t slip into the trap that some of us slip into when we think we are going to have dedicated listening room performance in a non-dedicated listening room. That won’t happen.