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Review 1 of 3
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I purchased my Audio Note Soro SE brand new during December 2007. It is a superbly built amplfier that looks classy, yet understated. Unlike most other tube amplifiers on the market at the moment, the Soro does not display it's tubes for all to see - everything is concealed within the amplifier's case. For those that don't know, the Soro is a Class A single-ended line only 18 watt per channel integrated amplifier, with 4 inputs & tape loop. The tubes are made up of 1 x ECC82, 2 x 6SL7, 4 x 5881/6L6G. The MM Phono version adds 1 x ECC83 and 1 x 6DJ8.
So overall, connectivity is good - my particular model has 2 CD inputs. I would have liked a preout, but mine doesn't feature one. I guess it doesn't matter, because my 2 REL Strata 5's are hooked up via the speaker terminals anyway. Speaking of which, the terminals are of very good quality as are the controls on the front panel.
Prior to buying the Soro, I was running my Klipsch Belles with a fairly high quality solid state pre/power amplifier. But after some disatisfaction with the sound I was getting with the Belles, I decided to try the Audio Note at home. After the amplifier was allowed to 'bed in' for a day, I did some serious listening. I was rewarded by a rich and involving sound with a soundstage that stretched beyond the speakers. Top to bottom coherency was outstanding and the centre image was locked solid where it should be. But what really floored me was the bass, How can a 'weak and insipid', lightweight tube amplifier out-perform a 150 plus watts per channel solid state monster? Well it did. In fact the Soro drove the Belles with much more control and authority in every aspect. To top it off, the Belles now had that tube transparency and vibrancy that I was missing. More extended listening confirmed the superiority of the Soro. I decided to keep this little beauty and I have since sold my previous amplifier.
I don't think there is any black magic involved here. The Soro is very well designed and uses high quality components and a very simple signal path. My Belles use the latest crossover from Klipsch and they are rated at 103db sensitivity. I suggest very sensitive horn speakers need to be driven with a little subtlety. I now believe more heavy handed amplifiers tend to overdrive some horn designs and make then sound harsh and brittle. This seemed to be the case with my previous setup.
Prior to the Audio Note, I tried a couple of Chinese built models. They looked the part - exposed tubes and solid wood trim. But each was disappointing in different ways with pretty poor build quality over all if you looked past the flashy trim. Regardless of quality control, the overall sound from both was very ordinary and certainly wasn't an improvement on what I already had. I think there is a question mark over the quality of the transformers. I was thinking that it would be no good tube rolling if the basic quality wasn't there in the first place. The lesson to be learnt here is you get what you pay for. The market is flooded with offshore tube designs. I didn't want to get something ordinary and my speakers deserved the best quality I could afford. Yes, the Soro was expensive - but then so were my Belles. Strengths:
Build. Sound quality. Weaknesses:
A little expensive - but you certainly get what you paid for.
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