Back before I retired, I worked for the USA's Office of Science, the largest funding organization for fundamental science in the USA (about $6.6 billion for FY2019).
I was stationed at one of the ten Office of Science national laboratories, was employed as a physical scientist (my doctorate is in analytical chemistry), and my daily duties consisted of program administration, program management & review activities, and project management & review activities.
The Office of Science was an amazing organization to work for, and their research programs - with their affiliated scientists - have garnered an impressive 114 Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, and medicine, the last time I checked.
That's pretty impressive, and it tells you that the Office of Science knows how to manage their research programs to achieve important scientific results to the benefit of mankind.
First-of-its-kind imaging Time-Of-Propagation counter (iTOP) being installed into the Belle II detector.
The three-story tall Belle II detector.
Was one of those Nobel Prizes mine?
No, but I do like to think I played a very small role as a Federal Project Director for the US Belle II Project in enabling future Nobel Prizes in the area of B meson particle physics at the KEK accelerator facility in Tsukuba, Japan, for which our project team received an award from the Secretary of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry giving us an award for the Belle II detector project at KEK in Japan.
Why do I mention this topic of research & development and national laboratories in a post about Audio Note UK?
Audio Note UK lab space.
Well, because when I was touring the Audio Note UK facility, the labs within the facility, and meeting with senior technical staff, I felt right at home, and it reminded me for all the world of the national laboratory research environment which I am intimately familiar with, resplendent with excited staff working on leading-edge technical projects with state-of-art equipment that holds great promise for advancing the audio arts.
Audio Note UK lab space.
Audio Note UK lab space.
I would particularly like to thank Darko Greguras (Design and R&D Engineer, Technical Manager) and Andy Grove (Senior Engineer, Research, Product Conception, Design, Management, Technical & Creative Writing, Strategy & Marketing), for taking valuable time away from their busy daily activities to talk with me, tell me about their interests, to show me around Audio Note UK, and for taking me out to lunch to the classic Fountain Inn - you guys are awesome!
The classic Fountain Inn
Darko Greguras of Audio Note UK.
Darko Greguras is passionate about music, audio, and research into the audio arts, and I really enjoyed talking with him and hearing about his ideas and all he does at Audio Note UK - an amazing guy!
Vacuum pressure impregnation machine.
Transformers before impregnation ...
Transformers after impregnation.
On a daily basis Darko is involved in production and management at Audio Note UK, working with staff (Lesley, Phil, Coxy and Rob) related to production, making setup decisions about vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) machine setup (photos above, parts substitution, printed circuit board (PCB) design, modification of existing designs to accomodate new parts, sourcing new parts for production, prototyping, and cutting boards on the CNC machining tools for use in design.
Not your typical printed circuit boards. Note the CNC'd panzerholz wood bases and the many custom Audio Note UK components affixed to the boards.
Darko also works through test procedures with Audio Note UK engineers, for the testing and tolerances of PCBs, and assists James in service and communications with customers and distributors.
Darko works with Tadas, Girius and Tomas (the last two are techs at the Lithuanian factory) on new products, and managing all things related to the new TT Three turntable power supplies.
Prototype TT Three turntable in Peter's home listening room.
Darko also works with Dan Bosak on bill of materials and product documentation, and in his design work, Darko is involved in the new TT Three turntables (the Super and 0.5 Reference), the new Meishu Tonmeister power amplifiers, low capacitance cables, DACs, CD transports, and the Type C loudspeakers.
Darko works on the voicing of the new products, through fine adjustments, and listening to various component parts and combinations of components parts, reporting on the results to Peter and Andy.
Darko also supports Audio Note UK shows, setting up show systems, quality assurance, and visits customers to aid them in setting up their systems, as well as corresponding with distributors and dealers.
Darko has a beautiful AMG Mercedes that he took me for a ride in, and his interests also extend to restoring older Mercedes engine control units (ECUs) and modules, troubleshooting (mostly early onboard diagnostics systems (OBD), and collecting information about this subject.
Audio Note UK valves.
NOS valves.
Darko also supports the sales of Audio Note components and valves, NOS valves, and finished products.
Now let me introduce you to Audio Note UK Senior Engineer, Andy Grove (photo below). Andy is heavily involved in research, product conception, design, and management at Audio Note UK.
Andy Grove, Audio Note UK Senior Engineer.
Andy engages in research on a daily basis, some of which is immediately required, like running down a circuit reliability issue, or problem solving to do with production, research work related to new products like the low-impedance regulators for the Darko DAC, and the ongoing task of continual product improvement.
One thing a lot of people don't know - or at least I didn't - is that Audio Note UK is involved in a lot of research and product development activities outside of their normal enthusiast audio sector, which is what most of us are at least in part familiar with.
Some of these may or will be relevant in the immediate future, for example, a special solder developed with unique properties (I saw the solder and its impressive and unlike anything I've ever encountered - Jeff), materials research for use in transformers, pro audio circuitry development, development of computer technology products, music production software, etc.
Outside pro-audio and high-tech computer companies consult with Audio Note UK to develop high-quality and good sounding computer cards for gaming, for example, and Andy showed me an example of a card he was developing while I was visiting.
That's a really good sign that the greater electronics industry outside of the enthusiast audio sector has recognized Audio Note UK's design expertise across various fields like transformer design, pro-audio circuitry, computer technology, music production software, and it helps keep Audio Note UK at the forefront of audio technology development, and is probably not something that the typical enthusiast Audio Note UK customer is aware of.
Andy also follows up on research ideas which may or may not ever become an Audio Note UK product, such as high power pro-audio amplifier technology, DSD, etc., and Andy says it is important for Audio Note UK to know about emerging technology even if they don't decide to adapt it for use in a commercial Audio Note UK product.
From a product conception standpoint for Audio Note UK, Andy is involved in developing component lines, such as the Seiryu capacitors, and a proposed transformer line for Shenzhen, and Andy involved in product line development for products such as the such as Legend stereo amplifier (more info coming soon), M10 Legend (more info coming soon), Ultra (more info coming soon), and a new Pro Audio Line (more info coming soon).
Andy is also looking at extended video graphics adapter cards (EVGA), and "Whatever else comes along," all built to the exacting standards of Audio Note UK.
Andy is also involved daily in design activities, like those for specialty transformers, like the Trans-226 for the Tonmeister, as well as countless others.
Andy also in involved in product design for the Legend (more info coming), and assists Darko with new products like the Tonmeister, and the TT Three turntables designs.
As you would expect, Andy is also involved in management at Audio Note UK as a Senior Engineer, doing day-to-day grass-roots level management, such as working with Matt, Darko, Igor, Neil, Coxy, Mike, etc., to accomplish their research and production project goals.
Andy also contributes to technical writing for magazines, specialty articles, and contributes creative writing as well.
Andy is involved in strategy and marketing for Audio Note UK, working "with Peter, Martin, and the guys at EVGA, etc.", as well as overseeing audio production, providing technical support, and sales and customer liaison of ultra high-end equipment.
Custom ultra high-end amplifier.
Speaking of ultra high-end equipment, while I was visiting, Andy was working on a custom ultra high-end amplifier for a customer with a rare & exotic vacuum tube collection.
The custom parts quality that goes into the Audio Note UK products in nothing short of breathtaking, and you might note the use of CNC'd Panzerholz wood for key applications such as tube sockets and circuit boards.
The materials, parts quality, and execution of these ultra high-end products is astonishing, and little does the customer know what sort of exotica is lurking inside the chassis - I was extremely impressed!
Andy says, "Also, I'm the author of embarrassing videos on YouTube," and I might also add that Andy is a guitar player - yeah!
Andy Grove of Audio Note UK.
As Peter and I were careening across the countryside to the Cotswolds in his big Mercedes to deliver just such an exotic amplifier to a customer, I asked Peter, "Where do you find such amazing staff like Andy and Darko, that are so talented, imaginative, knowledgable, and excited about what they do?"
Andy and Darko are at least the equals of the cutting-edge national lab scientists I rubbed shoulders with on a daily basis, and I know for a fact that it is not easy to come by such talented and visionary individuals.
Peter told me, "I actually don't find them, they end up finding me." So what happens is their particular research interests, passions, and knowledge eventually leads them to the doors of Audio Note UK, and the relationship develops from there.
I told Peter he was a lucky man to be able to surround himself with such talented, knowledgable, and visionary people, as you just don't see this kind of talent in many audio companies.
One of the things that really impressed me about the R&D occurring at Audio Note UK is that it follows the same sort of processes as does research at a cutting-edge national laboratory in the USA.
For example, national laboratories' research centers around three central pillars of science that work together to make breakthrough discoveries: the combination of theory, computational methods, and experimental trials produce dramatic advances in scientific research, which is exactly the same methodology that they do at Audio Note UK to advance the audio arts.
I find that approach to be very impressive indeed to advancing the state of the audio arts, and in my next post about Audio Note UK, I'm going to drill down to an even deeper level and tell you about some of their materials research to advance audio, the development of custom components, and the like.
It was a true pleasure to meet with the talented staff at Audio Note UK, and in particular I want to thank Darko and Andy for taking time out of their extremely busy schedules to talk with me and tell me about their duties and research interests - you guys are amazing!
As always, thanks for stopping by to visit me here at Jeff's Place, and may the tone be with you!
