Gold Note IS - 1000 integrated amp

@transience - do you still have the goldnote integrated . how does it compare it to the ayre ex-8
can you share some comparisons and your observations
anyone else knows if primare i35 is in this league?
also if someone can chime in on simaudio moon 340ix

@transience  - in john darko's review it is stated that goldnote has a fan which turns on higher volumes. is that true?can you let us know if ithat is bothersome or ok?

@harry26 apologies, as I just saw your query. per above, whereas the Ayre specialized in a kind of cooler, grainless perspective (which I enjoyed), with an emphasis on the upper octaves, and is dead silent; the gold note is not as quicksilver pure, but counters with a more tactile, insistent, and physical presence: midband saturation, natural warmth, speed, and emphatic bass (which can be tuned by adjusting the damping factor settings). also, the Ayre's volume pot has a slight channel imbalance at lower volumes; whereas the gold note does not and has a balance function. it is altogether the more versatile amp (especially considering the very refined phono stage). I'm impressed.
as for the fans: I could only tell they were on when I was within a foot or so of the unit to change a record (after playing at the highest preamp gain) and now that I no longer have a turntable and gold note has emended the firmware, the fans are at variable speed rather than on/off so should be dead silent in even the quietest room in the near field. I have heard properly functioning class d smps units make significantly more noise than the fans of the gold note.

Instead of starting another thread thought I’d bump this one with same thoughts. Any new experiences with the IS-1000?

@transience you still enjoying yours or move to something else?