Audio Note Fifth Element

The Fifth Element is Audio Note UK’s standard AD1865-based statement DAC, the finest converter the company has produced in its chip-based line and a distinct product from the chipless Fifth Element IZVOR. It runs pure Class A, zero negative feedback, single-ended topology with valve rectification, and uses the 18-bit Analogue Devices AD1865 chip with no oversampling, jitter reduction, noise shaping or re-clocking. An EF800 valve buffers the incoming digital signal — an arrangement Audio Note was first to implement commercially. The output stage is an M9-derived line stage on a 6189 and Telefunken 6463, coupled to a 33:1 silver-wound output transformer on 55% nickel Supa-Perma C-cores. Power comes from a version of the M9’s Galahad supply, housed in the separate Fifth Force PSU (pid 1772).