I lived for a couple of years with an upgraded Nuprime ST-10 as my primary amp and wanted to try something else. There are quite a few things that the Nuprime got right, including tonality, bass, musicality, quietness and solid built. The highs however seem a little restrained and transparency can be a little lacking. These slight deficiencies were not glaring and can easily be forgotten given the amp other strong attributes. I had my sight on some Bruno Putzeys’ Purifi based amp and placed an order with March Audio for the P451 Mono-Block Power Amplifier. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver in the time frame promised and didn’t find it necessary to advise the customers of additional delays, so I cancelled my order. I came across the Audion in some online magazine reviews. Reviewers who are excited about the Purifi modules usually concede that it’s not in the same class as the Audion. That got my curiosity piqued.
I got in touch with Mike Powell, an Audiogon resident and ordered a pair in chrome. Technical data about the amp can be found here so I won’t repeat them. At first I was a little weary about the LED. I am not a big fan of flashy LEDs, which is the reason I got the glass of my SR PowerCell 12 UEF SE covered to mask the light show. But the LEDs in the Audion tubes are in good taste, discreet and classy. I could say that the Audion is perfect but then again, the amp is sandwiched between my speakers and preamp and can only be perfect in that particular context. In MY setup the Audion is perfect. Between my Audience 1+1 v3s and the preamp section of my Marantz AV8802, the Audion disappear completely. I only hear my Marantz NA11S1 Reference DAC and my Melco server.
It can be said that the Audion is not really an audiophile amp and is boring. Let me explain. Audiophiles usually like gears they can tweak and “improve”. At first listen, these monos give you the impression that everything is there already. The highs are extended and the lows dig deep into the abyss. The mids are as sweet and articulate as tube’s. If it is in the music, you will hear it. The term “straight wire with gain” comes to mind when you listen to this amp. It is totally quiet, and transparent. Improving the Audion is tantamount to killing a ghost. It comes with audio grade power cord and components optimized for audio use. Since I had a Synergistic Research Orange fuse, I acquired an additional one and tried it in the monos. That seemed to boost the transparency a bit, but frankly, one could live with the original fuse without wanting.
I spend more time in front of my system than behind it and the AGD Audion takes me closer to my ideal setup, a place where I will not be thinking about upgrade but only musical enjoyment. As it stands, for now only the AVR might have to cede its place to a better one (Trinnov?) in the foreseeable future. As an aside, I should mention that customer service is first rate when it comes to AGD. I have talked to Mike on the phone countless times and have always had my questions and needs taken care of. Alberto Guerra, the designer/engineer behind the Audion is in a class by himself when it comes to communication and customer care. I have exchanged numerous emails and phone calls with him. All I can say is piacevole signore, well done.
