Audio Note UK Jinro - Any Good

[MRubey]

ANUK is on my list of consideration for my next upgrade. In the US every dealer I’ve spoken with has offered a nice discount off msrp. I do intend to replace everything except speakers. My Nenuphar are 6ohms, the same as AN.
Also if you do your homework there is a dealer here in the US that is based in a sales tax free state. Put those two together and it makes expensive kit much more reasonable.

 

[Richard Austen]

You really cannot make out what a 211 valve sounds like by listening to the Jinro in stock form alone. I preferred the KR 88 integrated to the Jinro with Psvane 211 on the AN-E speakers.

That said, Psvane < KR < GE < RCA << Amperiex, and United and WE 242c are supposed to be near the Amperex.

The upswing on any 211 amp if you can rebias it and take it to Amperex is quite high.

I now have 3 data points, myself included, who prefer the Kondo Gakuon mk2 (300b) marginally to the Kagura (211) on the emotional side, though the Kagura is great too.

Generally a 300b amp should sound better than a 845/211 provided both are well made, and the speaker does not require the higher drive factor of the bigger amp, which is often required. It is also seldom the tube alone. I have compared 3 GM70s, and all 3 sound totally different, I liked only one. And any of these triode amps/preamps you should roll tubes to understand it properly

The other thing is these companies use their own reference speakers so they are designing with their speakers in mind - they may or may not work well with other kinds of speakers - if you take what AN UK says for example their amplifiers are "mirror imaged" to the speaker which I take to me the frequency and dynamic envelope of that speaker in terms of impedance matching and the like.

There seem to be too many variables once we start adding in different tubes. There are people who absolutely love the 45 tube and nothing else will do - ditto the 2a3 which seems to have more love than 300B - I suspect the reason many dump on the 300B is that there are many more of them out there and many more middling sounding ones.

The Jinro/Meishu Tonmeister or P3 Tonmeister is a choice - I don't necessarily feel like one is superior to the other - my dealer and I agree though that Jinro sounds a lot better with an M6. Others vehemently disagree. Preferences abound. I'd happily live with a Kagura II - oh no what a pity to have to settle for that lol

 

[saturdayboy]

You really cannot make out what a 211 valve sounds like by listening to the Jinro in stock form alone. I preferred the KR 88 integrated to the Jinro with Psvane 211 on the AN-E speakers.

That said, Psvane < KR < GE < RCA << Amperiex, and United and WE 242c are supposed to be near the Amperex.

The upswing on any 211 amp if you can rebias it and take it to Amperex is quite high.

I now have 3 data points, myself included, who prefer the Kondo Gakuon mk2 (300b) marginally to the Kagura (211) on the emotional side, though the Kagura is great too.

Generally a 300b amp should sound better than a 845/211 provided both are well made, and the speaker does not require the higher drive factor of the bigger amp, which is often required. It is also seldom the tube alone. I have compared 3 GM70s, and all 3 sound totally different, I liked only one. And any of these triode amps/preamps you should roll tubes to understand it properly

Not sure I agree with the statement that generally 300B amp should sound better than 211. I’ve had a couple of amps of both of those tubes, and I would describe the differences as apples and oranges.

 

[sensitivemonk]

Well, the Jinro/Tomei/Ongaku are all great amps - and the Meishu Tonmeister and P3 Tonmeister may be the best 300B amps around - certainly the best I have heard. But they only come with stock readily available tubes. Many other smaller boutique brands that only sell a handful of amplifiers a year will often sell with top-of-the-shelf sounding NOS tubes that cost a lot to replace. So often the comparisons are not exactly equal - AN with their $300 300b from China VS amp B with their $4000 a pair WE tubes is not apples to apples.

You might think this is simple is the Jinro better than the Meishu but the Jinro is around triple the price and has no phono stage or truly active preamp on board (it can be used as a power amp and the volume control as a secondary attenuator (like the P3 Tonmeister). The Meishu as a modified M2 preamp stage on board which makes it separates in one box).

I am in a similar predicament - I love the sound of the Meishu Tonmeister but I already own the M6 and Empress Silver monoblocks (2a3) level 3. I am currently reviewing the P3 Tonmeister. The Jinro being a 211 sounds better IMO with the M6 feeding in than it does on its own. That's my issue with the Jinro - it sounds better to me with an active preamp so the Jinro is now way more expensive than a Tonmeister AND you need an M3 or M5 or M6 to really get the most out of it. So now you're pushing like 6 times the price of the Meishu.

What you may not know is that Audio Note has just released two new 300B integrated amps above the Meishu - a level 4 Konzertmeister which uses a modified M6 Phono stage (this would be equivalent to the Tomei 211) and a level 5 version Kappelmeister (M8 Phono stage) which would be the 300B equivalent of the Ongaku.

I am considering either a move from my M6/Empress to Konzertmeister or trading my Empress monoblocks for a P3 Konzertmeister. The Empress is great but it is a slight preference for what I perceive to be more warmth and body from the Tonmeister Galahad power supply than the leaner parallel 2a3 sound.

The Jinro 211 is more robust - it is a more powerful amplifier but like all of these tubes - I have found that each of the tube types offers a sound the others don't quite muster. Take the Paladin - this is their 45 - it has a kind of sound that is beguiling - it is relatively affordable in AN land - it is also level 3 but it has that somethin somethin I like more than the other amps they make. But at 2 watts - it is hampered in some ways (umm volume/headroom) but it's also worth a listen. I am trying to get one in to try.

Anyway for the ultimate in AN discussions with plenty of owners and dealers - try here https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/thre...uk-all-things-audio-note-uk-part-two.1144366/

Do you use an attenuator with the m6? The m6 gain is around 12 db

 

[Kingrex]

I was told an 811 can be fantastic. No love from most. Maybe he was referring to a 811 as PP. There are so many good tube amps out there. I have no idea how you select one now. Even listening at a store is only a partial picture.

 

[Richard Austen]

Do you use an attenuator with the m6? The m6 gain is around 12 db

I have not set it up. I believe the dealer sets the Jinro to maximum volume when using their M3 or M6 etc preamps.

If you have more detailed questions I recommend posting on the "Strictly for Audio Note" thread on the Steve Hoffman Audio forum as dealers, owners, Steve Hoffman, and Peter Qvortrup answer questions there.

I have traded my Empress Silver Monoblocks for the P3 Tonmeister, the power amp version of the Meishu Tonmeister. I like the attenuator on the P3 because I can set the dual volume controls on the M6 and then use the P3 to make adjustments.

I really like the sound of the Tonmeister. I never much cared for the previous Meishu. Albeit that was the first amp that got me into AN. The Galahad power supply may be one of the reasons I like the new Meishu more. The Jinro and P3 are both considered level 3 (equal but different) so if you can get away with less power it's worth a try as it is considerably less money.

 

[sensitivemonk]

I have not set it up. I believe the dealer sets the Jinro to maximum volume when using their M3 or M6 etc preamps.

If you have more detailed questions I recommend posting on the "Strictly for Audio Note" thread on the Steve Hoffman Audio forum as dealers, owners, Steve Hoffman, and Peter Qvortrup answer questions there.

I have traded my Empress Silver Monoblocks for the P3 Tonmeister, the power amp version of the Meishu Tonmeister. I like the attenuator on the P3 because I can set the dual volume controls on the M6 and then use the P3 to make adjustments.

I really like the sound of the Tonmeister. I never much cared for the previous Meishu. Albeit that was the first amp that got me into AN. The Galahad power supply may be one of the reasons I like the new Meishu more. The Jinro and P3 are both considered level 3 (equal but different) so if you can get away with less power it's worth a try as it is considerably less money.

Thank you!!