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AGD Audion GaN Class D In The House

During the last decade i have managed to try in my home 95% of the Class D amps offered to the public these include the so called break thru offerings of the last year or two. While there has been progress the class D signature remained and this included what was lacking in class D amplification.

When i heard about AGD i thought here we go again because i had been there and done that so many times with class D but the GaN tech had me intrigued so i bought a pair of the Audion amps, i thought i would give class D one more go.

I received the amps two days ago and have about twelve hours of listening. From the first minute onwards these amps had my full attention. There is no connection between this class D amp and class D i have heard in the pass no connection what so ever. Forget classes A, A/B, D or whatever this is just an excellent sounding amp, it delivers music that belongs at the upper levels of Hi End audio reproduction.

It`s only been a couple of days of listening but i`m so taken back at the quality of sound i just had to share. I will add more the more i listen, good or bad.
rh67
wjt3
204 posts
 

!00% agree with rh67-- have had mine for two years- Gran Vivace Monoblocks

jmr
44 posts
 

Just bumped into this thread a few days back…

Three weeks ago a close friend who is dealer to a few selected products locally call me to invite me to hear his last addition… a class D new amp who just received… Was pretty skeptical being heavily tube biased… but my friend has a lot of miles in audio, and sensibilities that we share so …We heard the AGD Tempo on a pair of marvelous QLN monitors driven by an LTA preamp…The Tempo is the new entry level offering, a stereo version of the Audion monoblocks…We then we took it to my place and hook it to my Gibbons X driven by my Supratek Grange …

After those two sessions I can truly understand and agree with your comments on the AGD line… In my system it clearly outperformed the marvelous First Watt F8, Nelson’s latest iteration on his remarkable boutique line… Have to tell you it got surprisingly close to my beloved Lamm ML2 SET amps… The Lamms were superior in most aspects but the small AGD’s performance was much closer to them than to the F8 which is surprisingly considering it’s dna…

A couple of caveats… we matched the Tempo with a couple of high efficiency speakers. The excellent Dirty Weekend 4 from Zu at 97 eff.and a 92 db model from QLN, specifically design and built for tube matching and it was nice, but  did not had the magic it show with more difficult loads…  We also drove it with his own AGD Alto preamp and it did very nicely, but again, did not had the magic it showed with really good tubes preamps like the Supratek and the LTA… We are waiting for a pair of  Audion monoblocks that should arrive next week to see how much more it adds to the Tempo experience, and which of them is going to take the place of the excellent F8 in my rack…

So, in my experience and opinion these Gan class D amps are in a class by themselves that when properly matched and driven, as is the case with mainly every true high end component, can be a truly end game amplifier with which one can live happily ever after… At least, I know I could …

 

 

 

rh67 OP
307 posts
 

I'm using a Supratek DHT pre with 300b tubes and it's a match made in heaven with my AGD Audions. The Supratek Grange should be a perfect match with the AGD Audions.

jmr
44 posts
 

Well, it certainly was with the Tempo which is a stereo one box version of the Audions. Which as I understand its basic difference is a bit better power supply and having the Gan circuit outside the main body in the glass envelope which probably helps insulating it from the rest of the amp and ps, and also makes it more upgradable…

jceahodges
9 posts
 

Just finding this thread as I’m new to hearing about the AGD. I see a mention of ZU Dirty Weekends above... How good/bad of a match would the Audion’s be with Klipsch Cornwall IV speakers. I currently run a Cary Audio SLI-100 (KT-150 output tubes) and I’m looking for a change - either Class-A (Luxman, Pass, or First Watt) or outstanding Class-D (AGD, obviously). Would likely pair with a tube-based pre-amplifier (to be determined), but open to suggestions. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated - thanks!

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