Audio Note AN-J - Manual (Page 6)

Congratulations on your purchase of the Audio Note (UK) AN-J loudspeakers. We
hope and expect them to give you many years of musical enjoyment and trouble-free
listening.
The majority of the high-end audio marketplace is occupied by ill-conceived low-
efficiency loudspeaker systems. These designs usually consist of several less-than-
ideally-matched drivers and a very complex crossover, crammed into a cabinet that
exhibits the tonal and textural qualities of reinforced concrete. Their designers are
blinded by the dogmatic quest for high sound pressure levels and flat response.
But what of the other factors which are essential for emotionally involving music
reproduction? What about coherence, full natural micro - as well as macro -
dynamics, inner detail?
What about LIFE?
What about EMOTION?
Sorry, theyʼre just not part of the “High Performance Audio” design brief. And Music
suffers for it.
The design of the AN-J Loudspeaker, by contrast, follows an altogether different
philosophy. It calls for a cabinet that complements the chosen drive units, rather than
fighting against them. Instead of trying to kill the resonances, we tailor the cabinet to
place them in frequency bands where they aid and enhance the operation of the
drive units, culminating in a loudspeaker system that makes the most of the
preceding amplifierʼs output.
The material choice for the cabinet is an area where a great deal of research and
development has taken place. Over the years, we have tried many different materials
and combinations, a time consuming endeavourer culminating in the current design,
which utilizes the highest quality Russian Birch ply for the entire cabinet. Bracing and
internal damping is kept to a minimum and strategically applied to help, not hinder
the drivers.
The ported cabinet has been designed to be placed close to room boundaries, where
the bass performance is augmented significantly by the additional reinforcement
offered by the nearby walls. In this position, it will outperform any similarly sized
speaker regardless of origin, thanks in part to the shallow cabinet / wide baffle shape
which gives the drivers the best possible operating conditions, allowing them to
perform as if they are mounted in a virtual wall. This provides the most undisturbed
sound field with the widest and most even dispersion possible from a real world
cabinet shape.
The crossover is simple, essentially first order, hardwired and incorporates air-cored
chokes and selected bipolar and polypropylene capacitors (either copper foil or silver
foil, depending on model.) The internal cabling consists of either 99.99% pure copper
or 99.99% pure silver Audio Note (UK) wire, depending on the exact model. (See
specifications.)
AN-J LOUDSPEAKERS