I personally have never seen a Gold Note product at an audio show, and I doubt anyone who habitually remains stateside has seen one either. Making their US debut at Axpona with a famously European style and reputation, Gold Note gives us a distinctly Italian music listening experience. Another completely one branded system at the show, this unique powerhouse system will rock your Marcoliani’s off.

The Story

Gold Note was taken on by Toska Audio about one year ago. Already a well known brand in Europe when Peter Mulligan of Toska fell in love with their intelligent phono pre-amp. The phono-pre impressed him so much, it began a full adoption of the Gold Note product line-up. Along with their entry into the US market, Toska began promotion of the line with Gold Note’s first participation in an American show. Tommaso Dolfi (Marketing Manager of Gold Note) was on hand for the Axpona show, and was enthusiastically showcasing the Gold Note philosophy of design with American customers.

Gold Note is a full line high-elegance audio component manufacturer, from phono cartridges to speakers and everything in between, Gold Note doesn’t just build components, they build system synergy. Along with their growth into the American market, Gold Note has seen their growing business in markets all around the globe. With that growth comes new and better production facilities and ultimately new and better products. The phono preamplifier was of particular note to me as its on-the-fly one-push knob (and display screen) dials through preset RIAA curves for all the major record labels — availability of updated and new RIAA curves are coming to future models, but also will be available for existing phono preamp models to be updated through downloading by the end user.

The Sound

This year’s Axpona has for me been the year of the one branded system. In most cases I’ve known what most of the brands started out building component wise, but have now found themselves expanding into. Throughout the years many electronics companies have gone into loudspeakers without the new forray proving to become as popular as what they are known for. I won’t name any names, but you can probably take your own guesses and likely be spot on.

What’s unique here is I don’t know the history of GOLD NOTE and for the life of me I can’t discern one product category that stands out above the rest. The speaker looks, feel, and sound like they come from a serious speaker builder. The turntable looks as if it’s at the end of decades of evolution. Surely these designs can’t be more recent ventures or afterthoughts. The phono-preamp in all its flexibility and ingenious technology deftly changes its character like it were a chameleon product born out of the recording industry itself.

The System

GOLD NOTE
P-1000 Preamplifier – $6,295 USD
PA-1175 Stereo Amplifier – $7,600 USD
DS-1000 DAC/Streamer – $6,295 USD
PH-10 Phono Pre – $1,600 USD
PSU-10 Power Supply $1,100 USD
Mediterraneo Turntable with B-5.1 ToneArm – $7,495 USD
Donatello Gold M/C Cartridge – $1,200 USD
Galileo Solid Walnut Stand – $1,500 per section USD / ($7,500 USD as shown)

GOLD NOTE LOUDSPEAKERS
XT7 Loudspeakers – $16,995 pr USD