Tempo di Gan in the house! First impressions, paired with my Harbeth 40.2s: I can endorse most all of the positive comments so far. What really struck me: bass and bass control. The last two amps I've had in house (both monoblocks) were technically more powerful than the AGD, but the Tempo really impresses. Other thing is definition/resolution. Time to trot out one of those very well-worn audio cliches: put on a live recording of Eva Cassidy, and yes, I did hear for the first time a few details that I'd never heard before. (I usually roll my eyes my I read a reviewer writing that.) Sonically, at least to my taste, it sounds very even-handed. middle of the road, neither markedly warm or cool. Imaging and soundstaging are good. Will follow up when it's had time to settle.
AGD Tempo in the house
It is very interesting to spend time with amps. You go to shows or even go to someone's house and listen to and amp and because it isn't on your gear and in your environment, it sounds good but it is insanely difficult to judge vs other gear.
So AGD is a brand I had been flirting with and finally a customer asked for a demo so I put in my order and a few days later the Tempo arrived. I dropped in into my system and all I can say is WOW. It has all the grunt required to drive my Vivids. Is warm and sweet with an extremely wide sound stage.
Even fresh out of the flight case, (no box here) it didn't sound digital at all. This sounds closer to Class A to me than Class D. I have not heard a different GaN at this point but I am fascinated by this and how good it sounds compared to other Class Ds and even Class ABs.
The other surprising part is this unit is about 1/3 the size of a normal component. I know I am a hair late to the game with GaN but damn, is it ever too late to celebrate a product.
Showing 5 responses by twoleftears
As promised, one-week report on the AGD Tempo. It's either been in standby or fully turned on for the week. By the end of day 2 I noticed a deepening of the already good soundstage, but other than that there hasn't been much change. I'm guessing that this is one product where you don't have to wait 200 hours or 500 hours to hear it at its best. In the previous post I mentioned definition and resolution. Over the week a third term came to me: clarity. The Tempo is a precise instrument. It's the most revealing amplifier I've had in the system, yet at the same time it successfully walks that tightrope of never sounding cold, or harsh, or unwelcoming. It will depend on individuals' benchmarks as to whether they will find it sweet or not; for me, it's really middle of the road. It's a reviewer's cliche, but the amp inserted into the system revealed more about the engineering of recordings than ever before. Well-recorded music sounded great, while--yes--it could also show up shortcomings. I listened to two CDs by an interesting 17C composer, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, and the contrast was striking. On one, the small group of musicians was located well beyond the front wall, and arrayed in an appropriate arc. On the other, the slightly larger group was spread from speaker to speaker, but with little depth. It's been well behaved, entirely silent (except when called upon to produce music) and only getting very slightly warm to the touch. Highly recommended. |
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Is Gallium Nitride "better than" Silicon in Class D Amps ? Jeff Rowland Model 125 vs. AGD Tempo24.2K subscribers Subscribe
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10,433 views Jan 15, 2022 NOTE: I AM A USER AND SELLER OF JEFF ROWLAND AMPS EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS. This video is my personal opinion, and made independent of any MFG. nothing more. JRDG 125 AGD Tempo Male Vocal 1:36 5:39 Jazz Piano 2:36 6:39 Female Vocal 3:36 7:39 Symphony 4:36 8:39 Higher Volume test: Daft Punk 11:23 9:49 Cosmic Hippo 11:39 10:07 Bee Gees 12:02 10:49 What to listen for : Jazz Piano, off the cuff the ride cymbal is audibly darker on the AGD. It would be orange brass, while Rowland would be yellow brass. The cymbal separates away from the piano better with the Rowland. Female Vocal, Her voice separates better away from the piano on the Rowland and you can hear her vocal air more distinctly on the Rowland. Symphony, Which sounds more like actual strings ? (Dont comment if your ass sits at home and never goes to the live symphony, because you have no clue) Daft Punk, Rowland has more snap and cymbal is more open AGD is thicker in the middle Bee Gees, Vocal peels off and away from the cymbals better on Rowland. Here I compare the (GaN) AGD Production Tempo to my reference (Si) Jeff Rowland Design Group Model 125. The Tempo is supposed to be a 125 "crusher" and it SHOULD be for $2,000 MORE. (The Tempo PCB fits the EXACT footprint of the B&O 250 ASX2 ICE Module, which is what the Rowland uses, yet the Rowland has Jeffs signature input section which uses dual custom made Lundahl transformers for input decoupling surrounded by a Class A Analog input section developed over 40 years designing analog audio circuits) Lets see what trumps what. Audio design experience or latest technology. Here are the specs compared. (As published on each MFG’s respective webpages) Rowland MODEL 125 AGD TEMPO Price in USD $3500 $5500 Output Power (Stereo) 125W@ 8Ohm 100W@ 8Ohm Output Power (Bridge-tied Load) 500W@ 8Ohm 400W@ 4Ohm Frequency Response ( -3dB) 5 Hz -130 kHz 5Hz - 80 kHz Input Impedance 40k ohms 40K ohms THD + Noise @ 1kHz 0.008% 0.01% Damping Factor @ 1kHz 500 not published Overall Gain 26 dB not published Weight (weighed on my shipping scale) 10.4 LB 11 LB Overall Dimensions h-w-d 68mm x 348 x 190 95mm x 280 x 180 My opinion is that the Jeff Rowland is not only better looking, sounding and clearly more dynamic, but its $2,000 less expensive. The decision is a no brainer. My feeling is that the Tempo is a failed attempt at greatness while the other amplifiers made by AGD are the real front runners. Use AGD if the $5500 cost is within means and your rig is forward or sharp sounding. This will tame it . Use Rowland to build your high perf High End rig and give it life and punch that grabs your speakers by the Cojones. Take action on this value and contact me to purchase. Go to 11stereo.com to find out what advantages and benefits you receive from being a client of mine. (theres a reason I call you client rather than customer) Enjoy ! Mikey ! |
