2. amps-preamps
  3. 175049-95151

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.   

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milpai's avatar
milpai
2,368 posts
 

Congratulations @twoleftears, on the new amp. Great first impressions. Looking forward to read about your thoughts once the amps have settled. I know you were in two thoughts about GaN vs Purifi. Glad that you made up your mind. What about the volume position on the Backert? You had to bump it up or down?

jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

@twoleftears

enjoy! alberto’s agd amps are real deal destination amps (i felt my audion monos were a good value at their price for what they deliver, now the one box tempo unit gets the cost entry down to ~5k... wow!!!)

unless one wants overt tubey goodness (and all the pro/cons that path brings), it is really really hard to find anything wanting about the incredible music these lovely amps make..

ricevs
1,543 posts
 

I would not buy this amp without directly comparing to the Atmasphere GaN amp....basically, the same price and the Atmasphere's are mono blocks.  Mono amps always sound better than stereo amps.  I am sure you could arrange to have both at the same time and decide between the two.   If manufacturers or dealers will not allow home trial's......this is not good.  I always sold my finished amps with a 30 day in house trial......no one ever sent one back.

lancelock
1,093 posts
 

 I’m enjoying the the AGD Audion’s now. If someone has the new Atmosphere GaN amps and are within a reasonable distance from (Maryland) I could bring the AGD’s over for a shoot-out. They are very lightweight and easy to transport.

benzman's avatar
benzman
406 posts
 

I had a couple of Tempos ( bridged) for a couple of weeks in my system. Definitely sound good but a little soft in my system. Didn’t seem to have the grunt of my Odyssey monoblocks. 
these would be awesome amps mated with a high efficiency speaker or taking care of the mid-hi in a bi-amped system. 
if purchasing stay away from OCD Mike Powell. Alberto yanked his dealer status and it took him 10 weeks to get me back 9k on the amps as he said he spent my money. He is a real POS.  

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