What makes a good resistor?

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We at Audio Note (UK) have always been passionate about component quality, and our continuing use of the finest sounding Tantalum resistors for our higher level products is testament to this passion. We have gone to great lengths to ensure a continuing supply of these wonderful, tone-full components, even to extent of convincing the manufacturer to continue production, purely to supply our requirements.

 

Our current ranges cover 1/2 Watt, 1 Watt and 2 Watt varieties, all of which are available in a wide selection of values (please refer to our price list). Unfortunately some Ohmic values are just impossible to produce, but we are committed to continually expanding this range, so keep an eye open for future developments.

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New, Non-Magnetic 2 Watt Silver Tantalum range.

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This, the ultimate range, is essentially the same as the non-magnetic tantalum resistors, but instead of a high copper content brass end cap, with copper lead out wires, we use a solid silver end cap with 1.2mm pure silver lead out wires.

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To be able to have these manufactured, we had to have a special annealable silver material developed by a metallurgist, so we could control the hardness and make the "grip" of the cups sufficient to not come loose from the resistor body when bending the lead out wires. The first production runs of the material varied so much, in hardness, that the reject rate of the cups was over 80%, but after several times reprocessing, the reject rate finally came down to 15-20%, so production could commence. 

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The first samples were tested using them as the I/V load in a DAC5 Signature. It was immediately apparent that their sound is something quite special. Even compared to our incredible Non-Magnetic Tantalum range, the difference these Silver resistors make is so great that they may change the sonic landscape overall, allowing a level of transparency and micro dynamics that we can safely claim that this really is the ultimate audio resistor, bar none. 

 

We are working on extending this range to include 1 and 1/2 watt, so keep an eye and ear open for further developments.

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Non-Magnetic Tantalums.

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Starting in late June 2012 we introduced a new range of 2 watt Tantalum resistors, the 1/2 Watt and 1 Watt followed in late September 2014. They are similar to the old Shinkoh resistors in that they are non-magnetic, and use a high copper content brass end cap rather than the slightly magnetic iron/nickel end caps found in our standard range of Tantalum resistors. Lead out wires are our usual high quality, tinned OFC copper. 

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So how does the lack of magnetic material affect the sound?

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Those who are familiar with the long discontinued Shinkoh resistors will recall their extremely transparent, layered, subtle and elegant sound characteristics. With our new range of 2 Watt non-magnetic Tantalum resistors, we have managed to surpass the performance of these revered but unavailable components. The new non-magnetic AN (UK) Tantalums provide increased texture, a darker background and a greater sense of immediacy when compared with the Shinkohs.

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