New Generation Class D - AGD Audion Mkiii upgrade

BTW - I in no way think of the Audions as having tubes.  I would be fine if the “glass envelopes” were opaque. I don’t really like that they glow with LED’s.  But I am willing to overlook all of that further sound, and the convenience of the upgrade. I will soon receive the version three upgrade, and see what I think.

@Peter_s I think you will be delighted with the Mkiii tubes. Mine sounded great immediately but got even better after a few days. Would be interested to know how you get on with them.

Interesting that non-audiophile visitors often seem to really like the LED’s. I actually like them but, as you say, the convenience of plugging new ones in when an upgrade becomes available is a major plus point.

I am a fan of the glow, also. Of course, the sound is pretty good, also..😁

I have the AGD preamp in my home right now running it on my existing Class A amplifier. All I can say is it's simply superb in almost every way. I could stop right here and be perfectly satisfied but alas I am going to listen to the Audions courtesy of Alberto. 

Mainly writing this in this forum as an endorsement for his non Class D hifi gear. This preamp is incredible and has very little to do with GANS and Class D. This is the real deal hifi gear and company. Take it from a guy who's been on the merry go round for 25+ years. 

Alberto's customer service, as well as the ,Audion mono blocks, is excellent!! 

My recently purchased Audion MK111's took about 50 hours to start really singing.

They are fronted by a well broken-in Primaluna EVO 400 tube pre-amp. This pairing seems to be working very well. Hearing things I had not heard before and having fun again.

I would like to take a moment to add my experience with AGD, The Audion's in particular, and my personal experience with Alberto Guerra, who is AGD's Principal designer/owner.

 In 2022 I purchased a second hand pair of The Audions in the matte grey finish, with the MK II tubes. The speakers that I would be driving them with are the Legacy Audio Aeris, which are rated @95 db at 4 ohms. They have built-in powered subs, so the Audions would thus be only required to power the mids/HF drivers...So I felt confident that the Audion's 170 watts at 4 ohms would power the Aeris adequately, even though prior to the Audion's I was using Legacy's own iV-2 Ultra dual mono amp, rated at 1000 watts per channel x 2 @ 4 ohms.

Once I received the used amps, I contacted Alberto to have the remainder of the amps warranty put into my name. We spoke at length on the phone, and Alberto could not have been more pleasant to deal with.

Upon hooking up the Audion's to my system, I must say I was absolutely stunned at their performance! I have been in the hobby since the mid 70's, I have attended 20 years of Las Vegas CES, and I have had the pleasure of hearing many a satisfying sound system's in that 20 years. Over the last 45 years of owning and building my personal 2 channel rigs, I have had the pleasure of owning speakers of all designs from dynamic, electrostatic, horns, bi-poles, di-poles...and just about every kind or type of amp: Solid state, tube, class A, Class A/B, and class D.

In my opinion, in my system, and to MY EARS...The Audion's provide me with some of the midrange tonality of the best tube amps I've owned: Audiopax Model 88, which powered my Avantgarde Duo Omega's like a dream! The Audion's soundstage/image BETTER than any amp I have owned, and providing me with all the slam and dynamics of the best solid state amps I have owned.

Late in 2023, Alberto contacted me and asked if I would be interested in the new MK III "tube"? After hearing his explanation of the improvements in the new design, I decided to give them a try. Holy Moly! Another home run hit outside the ballpark by AGD! I did not expect to experience the improvements that I heard. It did take awhile for the new "tubes" and the circuitry to "settle-in", but when it did, the smile was a mile wide! It wasn't long after that I was hearing the full impact of the Mk III upgrade, that I contacted Alberto via phone call to tell him just how much I was enjoying the amps/new tubes. For a man who is apparently a "One Man Show" as far as being the company President/Designer/Builder/Shipper, etc. he very freely gives his customer's more than ample personal time via the phone. I told Alberto that these amps were my "Desert Island/take them to my grave/last amps I'll ever want or need"...EXCEPT...In the perfect world, I would LOVE to own the polished versions. And I'll be damned if Alberto didn't have a card up his sleeve to make that happen too!

So here I sit, with the latest Shiny/Beautiful Audion's with MK III tubes, and in my 68 years of owning and building pretty damn nice 2 channel music systems, I can honestly say, that I have NEVER owned such a musically satisfying system...EVER! I firmly believe these amps are one of the very large contributions to that statement. I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone who is curious about the sonic benefits of AGD amps to audition them. Life is short...but these amps will make you want to live for eternity!

(Oh, and for the record, I really like the LED glow of the GAN tube, I think it is part of the physical beauty that matches the audible beauty! Just My 2 cents)

Tim

In agreement on every point.