Impressions of audiogd master pre-power combo

[firearm12]

Not always.

I would expect them to be happy to see their flagship speaker Z4 in a home setting.

Regards

Actually it happened during my amplifier hunt when I sent them emails.

 

[anuragjoshi]

Guys, I have the audiogd combo (master 1 preamp + master 3 power amp) running with my quad z4 speakers for more than 15 days now. Audiogd DACs are ever more popular than their amps and I don't know if anyone else here on this forum carries an Audiogd amp. i will try to put my thought on this pre-power combo.

Before this amp and speaker I had been happily using using Naim nait xs2 + Dali mentor menuet + Audiogd dac 19 for more than 3 yrs. I was more than satisfied with the performance of this system and the synergy. Fast amplifier + small speaker = musically engaging experience but it also used to get low on bass sometimes. After having some very good experience with quad S2 speakers I decided to get the big z4 in my small room and a tussle began. Naim nait xs2 is 70watt amp which was never sufficient for these high grade speakers, the bass got bloated, treble out of out of way, voices harsh, never could listen for more than 20 minutes before everything became dull. First I thought it was small room problems, got some bass traps, diffusion panels. They helped but couldn't satisfy. I also got tried raised the speakers on a platform from wooden floor but that also did not help much. It was sure that I needed a new amp. Upgrading from naim xs2 was not an easy task, this is a really good amp, and I thought I needed a lot of budget to really get an upgrade. Audiogd amps are actually not very popular but having used two of their products I decided to plunge on a blind buy, their master 3 amp looking delicious at 250watts at 8ohm and 500watts at 4ohm. Exchanged few emails with Kingwa and DHL delivered the hefty master 1 pre (16kg) and master 3 power (38kg) on my doorstep in exact 8 days.

The packing was nothing fancy but certainly safe for these heavy beasts, amps were wrapped with very thick foam sheet all around with only a space engraved in the sheet to tuck in cables. The size was enormous (looked small in pics) but in looks department they certainly fell short, two black boxes they looked like. The build quality looked really incredible with thick aluminium sheets used for chassis. The remote was just an aluminium brick and can certainly be classified as a deadly weapon in hands. I could easily kill someone with just one blow. They also provided spare bare PCB for remote just in case the original pcb malfunctioned.

After struggling with unboxing and placing them into position due to heavy size, it was time for first impressions. Now this is Chinese stuff and though I trust kingwa, I did not wanted to take any chance on my speakers and so decided to attach a spare full range car speakers first just to check it doesn't blow anything. It played and played very well. Then I connected my quad z4 and it sounded 'different'.

First impressions:- I am an generally an orthodox kind of person who don't like changes ( kind of like I change a bulb and then say older one was better). With this new amplifier, all sound was little thin and my speakers had lost all soundstage, they sounded like small speakers. After about a week and experimenting with speaker positions, ic and speaker cables, all gaps began to fill up and it started sounding like it should.

Overall experience: I have been listening to it everyday for 5-6 hours and all I can say is that it has come out really well with my speakers. Preamp and poweramp both have very clean and precise sound signature, no coloration apart from on bass side where it's a little warm rounded off I think. It's so clean and transparent that I can hear any changes in my system easily now, be it spdif cable or even type of battery changes in allo digione signature. Even locally usb stored music is really different now from nas stored music. Shows shortcomings of my allo digione signature. Cable changes are really behaving as equaliser now, it can easily sound bright and dull depending on what cable I choose. Transparency is the strength of this amplifier. It tears apart midrange and presents in a very analogue manner with so much focus on voices and clarity. It can be classified as analytical but presents music in such a way that no frequency is overemphasized, everything is subtle and delicate. It's a rare combination of analytical and musical to me. Johny cash 'Hurt' it's one of my fav tracks but I have never heard the guitar strings so distinguishable in this song and the end part of this song, the dynamics went so big that it made me smile. His baritone voice hanging in air was a pleasure to listen to. Guns n roses 'patience' , it felt like goose bumps when the whistle starts in the begining of the song. The emotional vocals clearly all over the place when the song starts. I never heard this kind of clarity and musicality together. Al Stewart's 'year of the cat' is one track which always felt congested to me but this time I could hear every guitar piece distinguished from other and the bass also filled the room which was never the case earlier. The song had all the energy it should and the texture of the saxophone in the end was so pure. This combo has huge power reserves and headroom, I could never think these speakers could sound this good, it drives them effortlessly. Even with old bollywood recordings, vocals have been a delight to listen to. They really get detached from everything else in a good way. instrument decays are wonderful and precise which really lets to feel texture of instruments. Sounds detach from speakers which is pretty good. The more I listen to it, more good I find. All in all it has mated well with my speakers. It's amazing what lots of power can do to speakers. It's just 15days, so I am expecting it to get better with time. It may not be the best amplifier there but for the price they offer, it's much more than its worth I think. It has been a nice upgrade for me overall.

Wishes: preamp could have been a little more colourful as it can sound dry with some recordings. Remote could have been clearly more aesthetic than dreadful.

How much did you pay for the pre-amp combo including customs?

 

[Kannan]

@firearm12 Beautiful setup. Since I don;t see a TV, I presume it i a dedicated 2-channel rig.
Just a small suggestion.
Is it possible to move the wide showcase holding the gadgets elsewhere and instead use a mult-level rack that occupies minimum width and more height for the gadgets.
This could create a more uniform breathing space behind the speakers.

 

[firearm12]

@firearm12 Beautiful setup. Since I don;t see a TV, I presume it i a dedicated 2-channel rig.
Just a small suggestion.
Is it possible to move the wide showcase holding the gadgets elsewhere and instead use a mult-level rack that occupies minimum width and more height for the gadgets.
This could create a more uniform breathing space behind the speakers.

Thanks for suggestion, it's difficult to move it elsewhere because of space issues unless it is taken out from house. Though I tried to test once by removing it earlier with Naim but found the sound to go more on bass and it didn't suit me since it's already a small room and I didnt wanted more bass. I will try once again now with the new amp, I think situation should change now as these drive the speakers better.

 

[Kumar101]

Nice System, I like Audio-gd too it's top notch gear!

 

[firearm12]

Some changes made( thanks @mpw for suggesting)

- made 3 diy power cords (dac, pre and poweramp) out of inexpensive IEC c13 plugs bought from amazon.in and 4sq mm cable and anchor 3pin plugs.

- I replaced the internal wiring inside the wall socket (it was originally using 1.5sqmm thin cables) with 4sq mm Havells cable and connected it to 16A socket which inturn was directly connected to an MCB on distribution board using 4sqmm cable .


Result is nothing short of extraordinary. Thanks speakers are really on a song now with solid centre image and an effortless drive, like a real hifi system should sound. I never thought power can make so much of a difference. It has made more of a difference than any interconnect or speaker cable change has done ever. All the things that were missing earlier are in place now after all these cable changes, bass is tight, mids and treble open and airy than ever. Voices are rock solid and effortless. Thanks to @mpw for suggesting the cable changes. I think it will take it even one step up if I use some branded power cords or a good conditioner.

Anyone struggling with their system(even those who are not might be surprised by the result) should check the thickness of cables inside the wall sockets and try this inexpensive changes, it surely does wonders.

 

[skdas]

Nice to hear your observation .
Is it Havells 4mm 3 Core cable or you made your won from Havells 4mm single core ?

 

[firearm12]

Nice to hear your observation .
Is it Havells 4mm 3 Core cable or you made your won from Havells 4mm single core ?

I used Havells round 4mm 3core cable

 

[audiocrazy]

nice set up bro.
lovely speakers.

 

[newlash09]

Wow ...firearm12

Your setup looks really lovely. I especially like the cheery red finish of the Quad Z4's. It's a Shame that most folks in India don't know quad's heritage. Their ESL 57 was one legendary speaker. And they still make some of the best tube amps in today's time

 

[soundbuff]

At the end of the day power matters!
Buying Chinese is a mental block for us here. However, Audio GD has a great rep and I am glad you took the plunge. I too was looking at their top integrated when I bought my Xindak A600E.
It will just get better, and you can eventually drive any speaker I am sure.

 

[firearm12]

At the end of the day power matters!
Buying Chinese is a mental block for us here. However, Audio GD has a great rep and I am glad you took the plunge. I too was looking at their top integrated when I bought my Xindak A600E.
It will just get better, and you can eventually drive any speaker I am sure.

Thanks, I too considered xindak as they were having dealer here in india, I sent email but never got reply. I have an audiogd dac that I liked very much, so based on that I decided to go for their amp. Also wanted to taste the acss connection from the dac to amp.

So far so good, no shortage of power and it's just very transparent and clean, I can hear almost any little change in my system now. Every day has been a learning for me, all the things that I earlier thought to be myths are happening now.

 

[heliumflight]

Some changes made( thanks @mpw for suggesting)

- made 3 diy power cords (dac, pre and poweramp) out of inexpensive IEC c13 plugs bought from amazon.in and 4sq mm cable and anchor 3pin plugs.

- I replaced the internal wiring inside the wall socket (it was originally using 1.5sqmm thin cables) with 4sq mm Havells cable and connected it to 16A socket which inturn was directly connected to an MCB on distribution board using 4sqmm cable .


Result is nothing short of extraordinary. Thanks speakers are really on a song now with solid centre image and an effortless drive, like a real hifi system should sound. I never thought power can make so much of a difference. It has made more of a difference than any interconnect or speaker cable change has done ever. All the things that were missing earlier are in place now after all these cable changes, bass is tight, mids and treble open and airy than ever. Voices are rock solid and effortless. Thanks to @mpw for suggesting the cable changes. I think it will take it even one step up if I use some branded power cords or a good conditioner.

Anyone struggling with their system(even those who are not might be surprised by the result) should check the thickness of cables inside the wall sockets and try this inexpensive changes, it surely does wonders.

I got the same result when I introduced ASI liveline power cable.


HiFi Rig: ASI Liveline Power cable + Cambridge Audio Cxn + Quad 405 MK2 + ASI Liveline Reference Interconnects + Piega Classic 3.0

 

[firearm12]

I got the same result when I introduced ASI liveline power cable.


HiFi Rig: ASI Liveline Power cable + Cambridge Audio Cxn + Quad 405 MK2 + ASI Liveline Reference Interconnects + Piega Classic 3.0

I guess that if I had that power cable, system would be at a different level.

 

[firearm12]

Another revelation today. The allo digione signature that I have been using, I have realised it was too much sensitive to vibrations, I tried to use foam, isolation pods and all of it helped. Finally I have settled on hanging it in air using four threads tied on it's four egdes. Believe it or not, it's now on a different level now, so relaxed and without any treble grain whatever was showing up previously. Treble and separation has improved tremendously. Anyone allo digione (or any source and dac) should definitely try to isolate it, results will be fantastic.

 

[Prasantam]

Guys, I have the audiogd combo (master 1 preamp + master 3 power amp) running with my quad z4 speakers for more than 15 days now. Audiogd DACs are ever more popular than their amps and I don't know if anyone else here on this forum carries an Audiogd amp. i will try to put my thought on this pre-power combo.

Before this amp and speaker I had been happily using using Naim nait xs2 + Dali mentor menuet + Audiogd dac 19 for more than 3 yrs. I was more than satisfied with the performance of this system and the synergy. Fast amplifier + small speaker = musically engaging experience but it also used to get low on bass sometimes. After having some very good experience with quad S2 speakers I decided to get the big z4 in my small room and a tussle began. Naim nait xs2 is 70watt amp which was never sufficient for these high grade speakers, the bass got bloated, treble out of out of way, voices harsh, never could listen for more than 20 minutes before everything became dull. First I thought it was small room problems, got some bass traps, diffusion panels. They helped but couldn't satisfy. I also got tried raised the speakers on a platform from wooden floor but that also did not help much. It was sure that I needed a new amp. Upgrading from naim xs2 was not an easy task, this is a really good amp, and I thought I needed a lot of budget to really get an upgrade. Audiogd amps are actually not very popular but having used two of their products I decided to plunge on a blind buy, their master 3 amp looking delicious at 250watts at 8ohm and 500watts at 4ohm. Exchanged few emails with Kingwa and DHL delivered the hefty master 1 pre (16kg) and master 3 power (38kg) on my doorstep in exact 8 days.

The packing was nothing fancy but certainly safe for these heavy beasts, amps were wrapped with very thick foam sheet all around with only a space engraved in the sheet to tuck in cables. The size was enormous (looked small in pics) but in looks department they certainly fell short, two black boxes they looked like. The build quality looked really incredible with thick aluminium sheets used for chassis. The remote was just an aluminium brick and can certainly be classified as a deadly weapon in hands. I could easily kill someone with just one blow. They also provided spare bare PCB for remote just in case the original pcb malfunctioned.

After struggling with unboxing and placing them into position due to heavy size, it was time for first impressions. Now this is Chinese stuff and though I trust kingwa, I did not wanted to take any chance on my speakers and so decided to attach a spare full range car speakers first just to check it doesn't blow anything. It played and played very well. Then I connected my quad z4 and it sounded 'different'.

First impressions:- I am an generally an orthodox kind of person who don't like changes ( kind of like I change a bulb and then say older one was better). With this new amplifier, all sound was little thin and my speakers had lost all soundstage, they sounded like small speakers. After about a week and experimenting with speaker positions, ic and speaker cables, all gaps began to fill up and it started sounding like it should.

Overall experience: I have been listening to it everyday for 5-6 hours and all I can say is that it has come out really well with my speakers. Preamp and poweramp both have very clean and precise sound signature, no coloration apart from on bass side where it's a little warm rounded off I think. It's so clean and transparent that I can hear any changes in my system easily now, be it spdif cable or even type of battery changes in allo digione signature. Even locally usb stored music is really different now from nas stored music. Shows shortcomings of my allo digione signature. Cable changes are really behaving as equaliser now, it can easily sound bright and dull depending on what cable I choose. Transparency is the strength of this amplifier. It tears apart midrange and presents in a very analogue manner with so much focus on voices and clarity. It can be classified as analytical but presents music in such a way that no frequency is overemphasized, everything is subtle and delicate. It's a rare combination of analytical and musical to me. Johny cash 'Hurt' it's one of my fav tracks but I have never heard the guitar strings so distinguishable in this song and the end part of this song, the dynamics went so big that it made me smile. His baritone voice hanging in air was a pleasure to listen to. Guns n roses 'patience' , it felt like goose bumps when the whistle starts in the begining of the song. The emotional vocals clearly all over the place when the song starts. I never heard this kind of clarity and musicality together. Al Stewart's 'year of the cat' is one track which always felt congested to me but this time I could hear every guitar piece distinguished from other and the bass also filled the room which was never the case earlier. The song had all the energy it should and the texture of the saxophone in the end was so pure. This combo has huge power reserves and headroom, I could never think these speakers could sound this good, it drives them effortlessly. Even with old bollywood recordings, vocals have been a delight to listen to. They really get detached from everything else in a good way. instrument decays are wonderful and precise which really lets to feel texture of instruments. Sounds detach from speakers which is pretty good. The more I listen to it, more good I find. All in all it has mated well with my speakers. It's amazing what lots of power can do to speakers. It's just 15days, so I am expecting it to get better with time. It may not be the best amplifier there but for the price they offer, it's much more than its worth I think. It has been a nice upgrade for me overall.

Wishes: preamp could have been a little more colourful as it can sound dry with some recordings. Remote could have been clearly more aesthetic than dreadful.

Very nice setup.

 

[heliumflight]

I guess that if I had that power cable, system would be at a different level.

Its a surreal experience! Like new blood.

 

[heliumflight]

Another revelation today. The allo digione signature that I have been using, I have realised it was too much sensitive to vibrations, I tried to use foam, isolation pods and all of it helped. Finally I have settled on hanging it in air using four threads tied on it's four egdes. Believe it or not, it's now on a different level now, so relaxed and without any treble grain whatever was showing up previously. Treble and separation has improved tremendously. Anyone allo digione (or any source and dac) should definitely try to isolate it, results will be fantastic.

Can you share a image so that I may try the same experiment? Will it work for amp or Dac too?

 

[firearm12]

Can you share a image so that I may try the same experiment? Will it work for amp or Dac too?

Digione is pretty light weight so it was easy, isolation footers are more appropriate for amps and dacs I think. Whatever I learned, isolation at source is most effective, followed by dac, preamp and amp.

 

[Nikhil]

Congratulations firearm12! Kudos for taking a shot at the AudioGD amps.
So many have inhibitions of Chinese gear. Hopefully this will help dispel some of it.

The fact of the matter is that so many top brands are manufactured in China and Taiwan.
Their electronics infra-structure is huge and has massive scale. Absolutely second to none.
I think more and more people are going to explore gear from the PRC in time.

Such a great story to see your efforts in sorting out your setup.
Our stereo system are like plants - spend time on them and you will be rewarded.

Regards



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