As with other kits, the customer has total freedom to experiment in wiring, capacitor choices, and tube-rolling to tailor the sound to his liking. The one exception is the digital board, which is supplied fully assembled. As Brian puts it, ANK basically sends out a box of parts, and 50% of the success is ultimately in the customer’s hands. It has seen several variations, though currently production is only focused on an upgraded version known simply as the DAC 2.1 Signature. The $1700 DAC 2.1 kit is considered an entry-level product, but is one of ANK’s longest running products with a significant DIY following. It’s absolutely brilliant that ANK can leverage Audio Note’s engineering and parts development for DIYers, who can thereby approach the AN sound at a lower price point. By 2014, after many regular engineering trips from Canada to the UK and lots of AN part purchases, the kit business was taking on a life of its own, with a full range of products including E元4, EL84, and 300B amplification, phonostages, preamps, and DACs. To avoid confusion, the branding was changed to ANK or ANKits. It was then that Brian Smith approached AN’s president, Peter Qvortrup, with a proposal to keep the kit business going, and the end result was. But while originally the kit business was integrated with AN’s finished-product side, in 2004 it was shut down internally due to the support-heavy requirements and low margins of kits. Yes, this is an Audio Note UK (AN) design. Well, to be more specific, my report is strictly about the sonics of this DAC since I purchased the unit fully assembled. T his is a rare bird in the pages of TAS-a kit report for the intrepid DIYer, who’s in search of an affordable DAC and not afraid of wielding a soldering iron.
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