A&K AK500N + Devialet - Printable Version +- Devialet Chat (https://devialetchat.com) +-- Forum: Devialet Chat (https://devialetchat.com/Forum-Devialet-Chat) +--- Forum: Streaming (https://devialetchat.com/Forum-Streaming) +--- Thread: A&K AK500N + Devialet (/Thread-A-K-AK500N-Devialet) |
RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - GuillaumeB - 22-Feb-2015 Great post Confused. Guillaume RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - bmichels - 22-Feb-2015 Thank you very very much Confused. You succeded in your mission.... I will look at the Aria Mini A&K AK500N + Devialet - amabrok - 22-Feb-2015 (22-Feb-2015, 11:26)Confused Wrote:(21-Feb-2015, 11:05)bmichels Wrote:Thanks to the power of my iPhone 6 plus I did manage to pick up details of my "mission" whilst having a quick coffee in the bar at lunchtime. The Astell & Kern display area was in a large open area of the show together with many other exhibitors. This was quite a noisy area and they were running the AK500 through some teeny tiny desktop speakers, although you could hear it, it was absolutely impossible to make any judgment of sound quality. However, they also had a large display of their portable players, with a large range of Audeze headphones. Now I am not a headphone expert, but coincidentally I was visiting the show with someone who is looking to upgrade headphones and was keen to try more or less everything that was available for a listen at the show. I joined in and listened to a lot of headphones yesterday! I think the best I listened to for the money was the Audeze EL-8, which was being demoed with the SK-240, a superb combination. Now the AK500 does have headphone sockets for the traditional 1/4" Jack the smaller 3.5mm jack sizes. Does it sound different to the AK240, well not really. Maybe if you had a long time to do very careful listening in a quieter environment you might be able to discern something. However, the sales guy did inform me that the AK500 and AK240 share identical output circuitry, which is perhaps a little disappointing. Although as I said, the AK240 with the Audeze was one of best portable / headphone combination I heard in the day. Miles better than say the Acoustic Research / Sennheiser combo, but is this down to the cans or the player?(21-Feb-2015, 08:11)Confused Wrote: Anyway, I am off to the Bristol Sound and Vision show today, A&K are on the exhibitor's list with the AK500, I will certainly take a look. Thanks for starting the thread, I may have missed this one at the show otherwise! Thanks Confused for sharing It is kind of surprising to know that built quality is not to notch. A&K had excellently built portable players and I was not existing anything less for the 500N. To your point,this has to deliver absolutely superb sound quality to earn a place in a hifi system Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - Confused - 22-Feb-2015 Yes, I was a little surprised by the thing considering it was a £9k product. For example, the volume control dial on the side felt very cheap. Compare this with the Devialet remote! It was almost like it was from a different company when you consider the portable products. RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - bmichels - 22-Feb-2015 (22-Feb-2015, 14:35)Confused Wrote: Yes, I was a little surprised by the thing considering it was a £9k product. For example, the volume control dial on the side felt very cheap. Compare this with the Devialet remote! It was almost like it was from a different company when you consider the portable products. I believe it was a prototype ? Indeed, the AK500 is supposed to be made out of a big Aluminium block, and weight 11 kg !! This one was may be a plastic pre-version ?! see here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u5q2wsmxt8 "A large block of aluminum undergoes a variety of manufacturing steps." "A 5-axis machining process is used to create the unique front fascia of the AK500N. The AK500N's fascia simply cannot be created with an ordinary machining process. The aluminum block is rotated at different angles and carefully milled to create a complex design in a truly unique process." RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - Confused - 22-Feb-2015 (22-Feb-2015, 14:56)bmichels Wrote:That would explain a lot! Strange the sales guy at the show didn't mention this. Perhaps I looked so wise and sounded so knowledgeable he assumed I knew this already!(22-Feb-2015, 14:35)Confused Wrote: Yes, I was a little surprised by the thing considering it was a £9k product. For example, the volume control dial on the side felt very cheap. Compare this with the Devialet remote! It was almost like it was from a different company when you consider the portable products. RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - bmichels - 22-Feb-2015 (22-Feb-2015, 15:04)Confused Wrote:(22-Feb-2015, 14:56)bmichels Wrote:That would explain a lot! Strange the sales guy at the show didn't mention this. Perhaps I looked so wise and sounded so knowledgeable he assumed I knew this already!(22-Feb-2015, 14:35)Confused Wrote: Yes, I was a little surprised by the thing considering it was a £9k product. For example, the volume control dial on the side felt very cheap. Compare this with the Devialet remote! It was almost like it was from a different company when you consider the portable products. Is it the same very knowledgeable sales guy who told you that " ...the AK500 and AK240 share identical output circuitry," ? RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - Confused - 22-Feb-2015 It was the same guy, yes! RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - bmichels - 22-Feb-2015 (22-Feb-2015, 15:24)Confused Wrote: It was the same guy, yes! so there is hopes ... Indeed, this review from an Australian Blog seems to like it VERY much ! RE: A&K AK500N + Devialet - Confused - 22-Feb-2015 One thing I forgot to mention - Qubuz integration is already in place. |