That is your opinion on the Audio Note Two. When I heard them, I found the lacking in treble not detailed as I would like. I have heard them in several different setups and always felt the same. I felt the bass also made the speakers a one note wonder. It sounded relatively tubby and not deep.
I have heard others in the Audio Note line also (they came to AK Fest). Although beautiful I did not find any of their speakers enticing or exciting at all. I know people who like them and own them as well.
I myself would not recommend Audio Note speakers, but that is me.
I only heard the KEF LS50's in a bad setup in England, when I was there for work. It was in a small shop and not setup well, still they did shine. I would have liked more time with them. Art, I think you do need to quench your curiosity about the LS50. Give them a listen or you will always be wondering.
Well of course it's my opinion - what else would it be? It's also only your opinion that the AN's are not as good.
I heard the Devore Fidelity 3xL which is too pricey for the OP so I try to figure out based on what he already likes what might work at a lower price. The Kef is going to sound like a tin can compared the 3XL which is quite a refined loudspeaker. The problem with the Devore range is that they also make the Orangutan which is far more of an Audio Note J/E sounding loudspeaker (measures similar in appearance and on the bench). The AN K is often linked to sounding like a much better Clesestion SL6.
To me there are showroom speakers and long term speakers. Under show conditions AN doesn't typically wow anyone. Then again neither would Devore. What attracted me to Devore was their NFS (Not For Sale) room at CES and the Orangutan just played music and allowed me to relax from the sheer bombast over the top often rubbish that was coming from the other rooms. AN is typically like that. It does it's own thing and it's not like anything else on the market - and when you do that - you're not going to be liked by everyone. I think there are pretty sizable camps of sound in the audio industry - the big power hi-fi sounding stuff and the older school play it and forget get on with the music sort - the sit forward in the chair listening FOR sonic feats and the sit back and let the music wash over you sort. KEF is not in the same camp that Devore, Audio Note, Harbeth, Trenner and Freidl(albeit based on one model), Von Gaylord, Reference 3a, Acoustic Zen are in.
That's okay - KEF plays in the other arena - The PMC, B&W, MBL, Paradigm, Energy Veritas, JM Labs (Focal), Gallo, YG Acoustics, spectrum.
I like and appreciate both spectrums. I'm a huge speaker slut. But if I can only own one pair of speakers then I personally go for the first group.
Just to point out that my last show coverage at CAS the four best rooms I chose were:
Acoustic Zen
MBL
Von Gaylord
YG Acoustics
My Runner up room was Focal(JM Labs). 3 from the sit forward in the chair camp and 2 from the relax in the chair and drink wine camp.
If I was going to head to the other camp - on the second hand market (granted for a grand more) I'd look at the Focal Micro-Utopia and be done with it. If you can get enough front end on the Micro-Utopia it is not only a stunningly accurate speaker in every hi-fi way imaginable - it also allows one to sit back and drink the wine - the trick is getting the right front end. And unfortunately their current new prices are jaw dropping at $15k for their entry level standmount. Unlike Magico, Focal delivers the goods IMO for the crazy high money.
