I owned a P2SE for almost ten years and miss it, honestly. I sold it to upgrade to an Audio Note Conqueror; mistake..very noisy amplifier when used with high efficiency speakers. The Soro SE is a great piece; you'd have to move up to the Meishu for a LOT more money to better it and you only get half the power so speaker selection becomes more critical and difficult.
At used prices of 1200 to 1500 they are a veritable best buy. |
I do not know about the ASL but I love my Soro SE and yes it has the best bass I have ever heard in my system beating 2 different solid state Plinius amps. I am so convinced that I bought Audio Note speakers to match it. Also, the Audio Note AN-V ICs beat my Audience AU-24 ICs easily with that amp, having no high end edge and more realistic tone in the midrange and bass.
To be perfectly fair, I would give it more than 6 hours, 2 weeks is always best if you can (as you probably know)... |
Well it's been almost twenty four hours since i brought her home from the local audio kennel. Definitely a keeper. Perhaps either Philjolet or C123666 can answer this question, what, or, more simply, how do i use a stepup with the onboard phono stage? I have a shelter 501mkII going through a Phenomenon into the AUX input at the moment. Have you guys used a stepup before? Hell, i guess anybody can jump in on this one. |
Just curious, is the Soro an integrated version of the P2SE, or is it a 6BQ5 amp like the Ono? |
Tonearm cable and ground go into the stepup. A new ic is needed from the phono in to the stepup. Also you will need a ground wire from the preamp to the stepup..any wire will do. Good luck. |
I used my Soro SE Phono with a K&K stepup and it was a very good match. Run it through the phono stage, not the Aux input. Otherwise, you bypass the RIAA eqaulization.
I have run it through the AUX stage with good results using a Microgroove, but only because the gain in that stepup overpowered the phono input. Be careful how you connect the ground wires. I had to float the ground to get rid of a nasty hum. Also, make sure the the ic fron the stepup to the Soro is shielded.
I've said it many times here that I think the Soro is one of the great values in audio, for what it goes for used. Even at retail, I think it is hard to beat.
Phil,
What AN speakers did you buy? Update your system page, damnit!!!!
Joe |
Joe
I am building them right now - so hold your horses...
For now I still have the Trentes which sound terrific.
They are the Kit 2 which will equal the Model E, the only upgrade from the bottom model is Lexus wire on the inside. I am thinking in about 2 weeks they will be done. I look forward to putting the Kit 2's in the corner and with their increased effeciency giving my Soro a break as it runs hot, which is the only thing I do not like about it.
I do apologise for not keeping my system page up to date with the AN wire and will do so now. For that I offer my most sincere, humble and heartfelt apology... |
Thanks Phil!
I just posted on another thread about the AN/E kits. Speakers are probably next for me, and Albert Porter has introduced a contender to the AN kit. I was thinking about the kit 3, but the GR's look good too. But as you know, I like my Audio Note!
Maybe I'll try to keep my system page updated too.
Joe |
Thanks guys,
I'm going to pay for the soro today, hopefully with a little trade in to boot. I'm looking at the Bent Mu stepup, looks like it would be the the most versatile. Why would I need a new Phono cable? Looks to me like the Mu's could be placed close enough together to accept my cardas cable.
And yes the Soro is an integrated p2SE. |
The Audio Note speakers sound particularly good with the Audio Note amplifiers; there is synergy with their products. The local audio note guy has a reference Audio Note/Levinson system feeding a pair of top of the line type E Audio Note speakers. Ongaku/M7 preamp for phono section, Levinson reference cd transport, audio note dac 5, mostly vintage kondo interconnects/speaker wire. Best I've ever heard anywhere.
If you do acquire Audio Note speakers ensure you try them in the traditional floor position as opposed to the corner/wall placement recommended by Audio Note. The bit of bass presence you give up is more than made up by the overall tighter sound in my experience. Also, I prefer the type J speaker; seems to be more overall balanced but it is not as efficient at 93db as the type E which gets up to 98db efficiency with the external crossovers.
An excellent choice for a step up device is a traditional transformer; K/K is one choice as another poster suggested. Audio Note offers a very complete line of transformers from the 500 level up to the truly obscene level. Be careful buying vintage trannies like Dynavector and Fidelity Research; most have had their wires changed out and some not done professionally. I got screwed on a Dynavector tranny from an
Audiogon seller. Buy these things new or only from a trusted source. Stay away from active step up devices; the last thing you need is another active gain stage. Use the transformer.
And, get some good tubes for the Soro! Make sure the capacitors are upgraded to the best possible; find out if your shop has any Black Gates they will sell. You will probably want to upgrade the coupling capacitors. The speakers binding posts are plastic and can strip easily; upgrading to the Audio Note silver all metal posts is a big improvement and will easily accomodate 4mm spades. |
I think this piece is a little newer as it has all the inputs on the back, also it has already been upgraded to the metal binding posts. Thanks for your input, really. But i must admit I'm still a little confused. Does the K&k step up offer any cartridge loading, in ohms, or is it left up to the soro to sort it out? Also what would be considered an active step up, or how is that determined? Sorry if i sound dumb but this really is rather new to me.
Oh and Happy New Year! |
The newer units will also have silver toggle switches on the rear that allow you to select feedback or no feedback (easy choice) |
