CHANGING FROM AUDIO RESEARCH TO AUDIO NOTE SYSTEM 

@ghasley

pick up the phone and call Mr. Devore. Tell him what you heard when you first heard his speakers, tell him about your room and your desires for placement. I have seen photos where John built front ported O96’s for a customer. Heck, that may be all you need to get the sound you are after is to have a pair of O96’s built that way

This is an excellent suggestion! Front ported O-96 speakers that will quite likely work with corner placement as @pfmaudio needs for his room. Get the Jadis 300b amplifiers to drive them and keep the ARC REF 5SE preamplifier. I can imagine this combination sounding splendid. Other combinations recommended here are also terrific options.

@ghasley

Your comments on this thread are very informative and interesting. Hi pfmaudio, Jadis amplifiers are beautiful looking and sounding. I’m sure they worked magic with their 300b implementation. I have zero doubt that the ARC REF 150 SE and Wilson pairing is very nice. But Jadis300b/O-96 I believe would be "special "😊👍

Charles

That’s a big change.  I’d be sure about it somehow before committing fully.  Can you keep the old stuff until the new stuff passes the grade?

The AN E's are a copy of the Snell Type E. I have a pair. I don't believe the hype that the AN E's are so great! Certainly not worth the high price! I'll take the 096's any day of the week! 

Just my opinion I've heard 096's, in a Shindo system, not in my own room. They sounded great but I prefer my AN-J's a real sleeper in the AN lineup.

@OP,  I like the rec by Mr. Bourne above.  How possible is it for you to keep two systems or have options open so you can go back and forth?  That may be something you aren't interested though.