Tom Waters: Do you have a first memory, a first unforgettable musical experience that left an impression?
Peter Smith: There were certain experiences that attracted me to the idea of buying a high-end system. When I was a child, music was always played in the house. There were so many recordings from the 50s and 60s that I really loved… Ella, Louis, Belafonte, Sarah Vaughan, the Platters, etc. I had always intended to one day get a really good system, but having the means to do so took a bit of time.
It was 1992 when I started looking to buy a good system. Through the Audio Note dealer in Melbourne (there were only Japanese Audio Note amplifiers at that time), I was offered the chance to meet Peter Qvortrup. Peter met me and took me to his home (in England). Of course, his gear was all Audio Note (the speakers were Audio Note UK prototypes).
It was the first time I had heard the Audio Note Kassai amplifier. He played me records for about three hours. It was the time of CD, but he vigorously defended vinyl - he greatly disliked CD at that time. Peter said that Audio Note would eventually make a DAC that would be better than any other DAC available, but they were in no rush to do so. I came away from that experience with the realisation of how good high-end sound could be, as well as some ideas of how
