Custom Built Audio Note
by Response Audio

Finished products that are fully tested and come with 5 year warranty.

Disclaimer: The Audio Note Custom products found throughout this website are enhanced versions of the Audio Note Kit division that were designed for those wanting the absolute potential these product have to offer from a company that also offers full service and 5 year warranty. They are also not to be confused with or compared to Audio Note UK finished products who's proprietary designs make them a world class product.

The finished products found on this site have been brought back for those who cannot quite swing our full dual mono designs with external power supply. Other than that, you are getting every last bit of attention to detail we have to offer.

Let the Audio Note sound bring Soul back into your music! At Response Audio, we have always strived to bring you great value for the dollar, and our customers over the years have confirmed this. We've tried over the years many different entry-level tube products, only to end up with service problems and poor quality control.

Enter our Audio Note Custom. Our Audio Note Custom products are enhanced, custom built versions of those offered by Audio Note Kits and very near that which you would expect from Audio Note manufactured products in terms of build quality but at a price point that is attractive to those on more of a real world budget. Forget entry level.... with our Audio Note Custom we can now bring you high end audio at reasonable price.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Audio Note music reproduction. Response Audio is now proud to offer you these wonderful products as a custom built, fully assembled and tested product that also come with a full warranty. We have taken these products to what we feel is their absolute fullest potential but without the external dual mono power supply as found in our Ultimate L3 Preamp and DAC 3.1 TC Reference MBX. Our Audio Note Custom pieces were voiced to produce a slightly different presentation from what you may be accustomed to from stock units. Our goal with these units was to offer more articulation and detail along with upper end air and extension without sacrificing the body, soul and emotion Audio Note is known for. Another aspect of our Audio Note Custom pieces is that we have worked very hard on the layout and grounding scheme of these products to produce the quietest background and lowest noise floor. The Audio Note Custom products are dead quiet.

As with all of our custom Response Audio exclusive products, the Audio Note Customs are built to the same standards and use only the most highly regarded internal components. In this series, the standard coupling capacitors used are SoniCap Platinum Teflon. Polypropylene film power supply capacitors, Panasonic ES and ELNA Cerfafine electrolytics, Caddock, Mills and Dale 1% Metal Film and 1% wirewound resistors and much more finish things off. Countless evaluations and listening sessions have been devoted to the signature sound of these products.

All Audio Note custom built products purchased from Response Audio are authorized through Audio Note Kits and come with a full 5 year parts and labor warranty. Please keep in mind that this page is dedicated to only fully assembled and tested products. Purchasing a Response Audio custom built version assures you a long, invested interest in your musical enjoyment.

All Audio Note Custom products must be paid up front and in full before assembly can begin. Turnaround times will depend on our current work load and the level of which you want the product(s) built. Additional options can add to the build time of these products. For all international orders, please contact us for territorial restrictions.

 

Shown above is a picture of our in house demo DAC 2.1x Deluxe Custom with a 3/4" solid Cherry face and our signature Blue LED. See below for a picture of a DAC 2.1 Deluxe Custom furnished with a 3/4" Black Walnut face plate.

 Polypropylene Power Supply

Standard on all Audio Note Custom products on this page is the use of only polypropylene capacitors for the main filter capacitors in the power supply. In a nutshell, these are high quality, low ESR capacitors made of Polypropylene Film and designed for tube audio components. Using these high quality film capacitors as main PS filter capacitors brings forth a much smoother presentation without any of that 'electrolytic sound'.

The results from using polypropylene capacitors in the power supply are stunning. You will realize a much smoother presentation with transparency and resolution only a high quality film capacitor can provide.

 

The Audio Note Custom L3 will have you melting in your listening chair and in awe wondering where all that information you never heard before in your favorite recordings came from.

The Audio Note Custom L3 utilizes a choke de-coupled 5687 analog circuit. The output transformers connects directly to the power supply B+. The B+ from the power supply connects to the decoupling choke and this feeds the HT (High Tension) voltage on the 5687 line board.  A high quality film capacitor is used for the shunt location.

The Audio Note Custom L3 linestage is a transformer coupled output linestage comprised of a  custom built version of the M2 power supply. A 6X5 tube is used for tube rectification and the ECL82 for regulation.

The main power supply filter capacitors are high grade Metallized polypropylene film capacitors for a smooth, transparent presentation. VH audio V-Cap Teflon capacitors are found throughout the power supply as well. Dale RN and CW resistors are used as well as Elna Silmik capacitors.

The 5687 line board is comprised of VH Audio V-Cap Teflon capacitors in the main coupling positions., Dale RN and CW resistors, Elna Silmik cathode bypass capacitors and silver wiring are also used throughout the circuitry.

The output transformers are 33:1 step down transformers. In unbalanced mode (RCA) there is an overall maximum gain of about 8:1. In True Balanced mode, using the XLR outputs, we have a gain of 16x.

Using such a transformer output stage has many advantages both sonically and for matching purposes. It's low impedance output means that it will match with virtually any power amplifier - valve or transistor - making it a highly versatile linestage

High quality ELMA switches are used for input selection and high quality silver plated PTFE signal wire is used for signal input wiring. Output XLR duties are handled by high quality connectors.

 

 

 

Full Function Remote Control Now Available - Contact us for details.

Main Features:

• Transformer coupled output

• Polypropylene film power supply filter capacitors
  SoniCap Platinum Teflon coupling capacitors

• V-Cap Teflon available as an upgrade option

• Highest quality Mills, Caddock, Dale/Vishay resistors used throughout.

• High quality silver plate input signal wire

• ELMA source selector switch

• Gold Point Custom stepped attenuator

• NOS 6X5 rectifier tube

• Up to 5 line level inputs ( 3 sets standard)

• Silver RCA input/output jacks

• Balanced and/or single ended output

• 2 sets of single ended line outputs standard

• One set of XLR Balanced outputs (optional)
   

 Specifications:

• Tube compliment: 2 pieces 5687 -linestage
  1x  6X5 for tube rectification and the 1x  ECL82 for regulation.

• Input impedance - 100K ohms

• Output impedance - 10 ohms

• Output noise: <0.08mV

• Input sensitivity: 126mV for 1V output

• Gain 8:1 single ended / 16x Balanced

• Labor:  12 hours + testing.

• Warranty: 5 years parts and labor / 90 days on vacuum tubes

Prices starting at
Single ended output $3,795

Balanced output       $3,999
 

 

full details coming soon