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.