Overall, I definitely prefer great tubes to great transistors. I am familiar with many different brands, but not familiar with AN. I am currently running the Dartzeel amp and pre-amp combo. I have owned some state of the art stuff like Tenor, but the Dart is downright Scary because its sounds soooooooo real. I have heard nothing like this combo in the way it brings music to life right before your very eyes. To top it off, these are transistor units which really combines the best of both worlds and then some.
What sounds more musical than audionote equipment
My entire system is now from audionote. For the first time I do not need to worry about the technical aspects of hifi listening. But what other equipment out there can beat or match this musicality. An often misused term, by musicality I basically mean the ability to understand how the musicians interact with one another to create a whole piece. Intimately related with this and all go hand in hand is the rhythm, timing and pace must beon par in order to recreate the piece the musicians wanted. It is only then that you can get the full emotional impact of a piece of music,that feeling that makes your feet tap and your mind entranced. JUST AS THE MUSICICANS INTENDED. The musicians did not set out to provide a hifi spectacular they are driven by emotion and no matter what piece you listen to you should be able to pick this up to a greater or lesser extent.