Additional Thoughts
There's a lot in play in this review of the Meishu integrated amplifier.
The primary focus is, of course, the outstanding high-fidelity sound quality and musicality the Meishu is capable of - it is breathtakingly good!
Then there is the important aspect of this review that in addition to the "Level Three" Meishu, there was the context of an almost full Audio Note (UK) suite of "Level Three" components, including the "Level Three" CD 4.1x Red Book CD player as a digital source component, and the "Level Three" Io I MC phono cartridge, the "Level Three" AN-V silver interconnects, as well as a couple of "Level Four" components, the AN-S4 step-up transformer and AN-SPe silver speaker cables.
If you really want to hear what the "Level Three" Meishu is truly capable of, you'll want to hear it with the components that Audio Note (UK) intends it to be partnered with, which is other Audio Note (UK) "Level Three"—or above—components.
Let me give you a brief example of the synergy that comes with this unified approach.
Usually in my reviews I use Duelund DCA16GA tinned-copper speaker cables, which are the 'Swiss Army Knife' of speaker cables, and as a reviewer I can count on them to provide me with excellent performance across a broad swath of audio components.
However, when I substituted the "Level Four" AN-SPe silver speaker cables, which are a recommended match for the Meishu, the performance improved rather dramatically.
Bass went from a little fuzzy, boomy, and loose with the Duelund DCA16GA, to being tight, articulate, and tonally correct with the AN-SPe silver speaker cables.
Audio Note (UK) components' performance are designed to be at their best in an all Audio Note (UK) system, and if you substitute non-Audio Note (UK) components you run the risk of compromising performance, as I found out with speaker cables.
Actually, that makes it really easy for an audio enthusiast, as once you've selected a particular Audio Note (UK) "Level" component to base your system on, all you have to do is select other Audio Note (UK) components at the same "Level" (or above), and you are done.
With this approach there's no hit and miss voicing effort on the audio enthusiast's part, as you know your Audio Note (UK) system is going to perform at its optimum with no fiddling around with voicing - it's all done for you by Audio Note (UK).
You can just buy an audio system and be done, with no audio component merry-go-round juggling of components required to get everything working together optimally.
As an audio reviewer, I'm in an almost constant loop of audio component juggling to get voicing sorted out for optimum system performance.
However, with the Audio Note (UK) system approach, all I had to do was connect the Audio Note (UK) components together, let them accumulate their recommended run-in time, and everything ended up being optimally voiced.
All that was left for me to do was pick out some music—any music—to play, and I knew that it would be at its highest fidelity and musical best, for any given recording, without any additional screwing around on my part—which was a totally liberating experience!
In my next Positive Feedback feature review, I'll be telling you about a full Audio Note (UK) system, source to loudspeakers, so stay tuned for more on this topic of system synergy.
Summary and Conclusions
The Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B integrated amplifier is one of the finest amplification components I've ever had the pleasure to listen to, and it is indeed the Mighty Master of Tone that its name implies.
The Meishu possesses a beautifully natural tonal balance, rich harmonics, exceptional resolution and transparency, sweet and extended high-frequencies, a holographically vivid SET midrange, articulate and extended low-frequencies, and superb dynamic response.
Not only did the Meishu deliver impressive high-fidelity performance from the best of magnetic era recordings that audiophiles cherish, it was equally capable at delivering astonishingly musically engaging performances that were full of life and emotional impact from recordings from any recording era, of any fidelity.
These exceptional performance traits make the Meishu the perfect integrated amplifier to base an audio system on for audiophiles and music lovers wanting to explore the breadth of our entire historic recorded music canon without limitations.
Whether I was listening to the Meishu in my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers based audio-visual system, or with my Tannoy Westminster Royal Special Edition loudspeakers based music system, the level of performance of the Meishu was truly impressive.
Ultra high-fidelity sound quality, extraordinary musicality, beautiful in its design simplicity, superb in its build quality, the Meishu has it all.
While the price is not inexpensive at $19,300 USD, the level of performance delivered by the Meishu is at such a lofty level, I consider it to offer exceptional value to audio enthusiasts even at its spendy price.
In terms of its design, the new Meishu is an Audio Note (UK) "Level Three" integrated amplifier, with a pure Class A, zero negative feedback, directly-heated, single-ended-triode output stage, with valve rectification, state-of-art transformers, "Silver" level component parts upgrades, and a zero-feedback, single-ended, CR passive RIAA phono stage.
With a three-stage transformer-coupled signal flow similar to that found in the Ongaku integrated amplifier, plus Andy's newly designed ultra-performance transformers, and the "Silver" component upgrades, I think it is perfectly reasonable to think of the Meishu as an Ongaku inspired 'Special Edition' 300B integrated amplifier, and at a price point that is much more accessible for audio enthusiasts than the 211 valve based models.
I must say I am extremely impressed with my Audio Note (UK) "Level Three" listening experience. The Audio Note (UK) complement of Io I MC phono cartridge and AN-S4 step-up transformer as an analog source, the CD 4.1x Red Book CD player as a digital source, the AN-V silver interconnects and AN-SPe silver speaker cables, in combination with the Meishu achieves a level of performance that will be a revelation as to what is possible in high-fidelity audio performance for most listeners.
I would like to thank Peter Qvortrup for providing all of these Audio Note (UK) "Level Three" components for me to listen to and tell you about here at Positive Feedback.
I would like to thank Andy Grove and Darko Greguras for providing their insights about the design of the Meishu 300B integrated amplifier.
If you haven't yet heard the new Meishu, I recommend you stop by your local Audio Note (UK) dealer and give one a listen, I think you'll be as impressed as I am.
Very, very, highly recommended!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
Audio Note (UK) Contact Information
