AGD Gran Vivace & Adante deep dive

[VerdantAudio]

So, after a little less than a year of working with AGD, I finally have in their flagship Gran Vivace monos and Adante preamp. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard with the Tempos and the Alto preamp. Items that rarely come back once loaned out. Given the excellence of these two relatively modestly priced items (Tempo is 100w into 8 ohms and $5500, Alto is a full preamp with phono for $5K), I wasn't sure, other than power and aesthetics one was gaining by stepping up in terms of amps and the obvious question with the Adante is the DAC worth $7500.

I intend to take a very systematic approach to this over the next two weeks or so in terms of the comparison but this evening, sat down and decided to compare the Gran Vivace to the Temp. If they weren't from the same company, I wouldn't bother. I am going to preface this by saying, I firmly believe the Tempo can go toe-to-toe with any Class A or AB amps I sell at twice the price.

I started with the Gran Vivace's and switched to the Tempo. I will not do that again. The Gran Vivace's are noticeably better. Not just louder but there are improved dynamics, bigger staging. The added power obviously delivers more control over the speakers, etc... It took about 5 or 6 songs for the effect to wear off.

The question then is, how will they compare to the other amps I have on hand. I have my Canor Virtus M1s which are a $30K pair of KT150 based monos. The Art Audio Opus 4s which are a $17K pair of KT88/KT120 based monos. Fair compares for these $18.5K monos. They will be expected to drive my Wison Benesch Discovery 3Zeros and my Vivid Kaya 45s so long as they are still here (they are up for sale). For this inital amp compare, I am going to have them all be attached to my Canor Hyperion P1 preamp with the Playback MPD-6 DAC and Antipodes Oladra server. It will then be interesting to see if the Adante pairing creates a 1 + 1 = 3 kind of effect where the performance is greater than sum of the parts. I definitely get this from my Canor gear. I am excited to test this with another manufacturers statement gear.

If you guys have anything you explicitly want me to test (songs, combos, cables, etc...) and I am able to do it please ask and I will be happy to.

 

[VerdantAudio]

I have been spending more and more time on this comparison and it is fascinating exercise in equipment matching. Certainly, I don't need to tell anyone here that matching is critical but it has been an interesting reminder.

On the Wilson Benesch Discovery 3s, you have no crossover on the midrange and a very simple crossover on the tweeter and isobaric bass driver pair. This speaker works well with tube amps, despite healthy power suggestions seems to thrive with modest power (45-55w in a mid-size room) and a huge dose of power doesn't lead to the positive impact you get with some other noteworthy brands.

The kaya 45s are a miserable load with a published min impedance of 2.8 ohms. They have a complex crossover and to put it kindly, sound flabby with tubes in general and do like a healthy dose of power. Low wattage amps are not their friend. A 45w to 55w triode with no feedback sounds bad.

So, the obvious outcome of this is that the AGDs sound better on Vivid and the Canor's sound better on WBs but with the Canor's adjustments, we were able to make this a closer comparison than I initially expected. The Canor's offer the ability to switch between triode and ultralinear and you can add 6dB of negative feedback. When you make those tweaks, the power doubles to 110w and the damping factor goes up giving you a better match for the Vivids making them a better fit though still not my first choice.

Listening to the two on Duke Elington and John Coltrane's In a Sentimental Mood - On WB - Gran Vivace is clean and clear with tight presentation of the bass and good air around instruments. Compared to the Canor, the soundstage is shallower and there is less...sweetness, presence, whatever word you want to use for the intangible once gets from tubes. On Vivid - this is reversed. The GVs sound much deeper. There is a certain level of harmonics that comes through that is what makes Vivid great. Bass is crisp and refined and the image sounds incredible. The Canors sounded similar but with poorer control over the bass. Switching to Ultralinear loses a little of the magic and although they sounded very good, were clearly outclassed by the AGDs.

The story is the same on other tracks. Be Still My Beating Heart from Sting sounds massive with both amps on both speakers but depth is compromised on WB relatively speaking. The opposite is again the case on the Vivids with depth superior with AGDs rather than Canors. Other things that show up like noise floor, instrument decay, etc... are similar. Liberty....same. Neither delivers a hint of sibilance. Great control and natural presentation of the instruments. Differential depth based on the amp speaker matching. Duende, is the same. Berg is the exception in that on the Berg piece, separation is stunning with both and I don't feel I noticed even the slightest difference in staging size which the separation of instruments may have been better on both speakers with AGD.

If you are looking for monos in the $20K to $30K range, these things really need to be on your list. When you also consider that they run cool, you get an in-home trial and the modular nature or the GaN output stage he has designed allows for future upgrades, it is very interesting product.

 

[Rumpole]

So, after a little less than a year of working with AGD, I finally have in their flagship Gran Vivace monos and Adante preamp. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I heard with the Tempos and the Alto preamp. Items that rarely come back once loaned out. Given the excellence of these two relatively modestly priced items (Tempo is 100w into 8 ohms and $5500, Alto is a full preamp with phono for $5K), I wasn't sure, other than power and aesthetics one was gaining by stepping up in terms of amps and the obvious question with the Adante is the DAC worth $7500.

I'm thinking now might finally be the time to try a Class D amp, and the AGD amps look very compelling. I would also need a preamp. Wondering if you have any more thoughts on the Adante DAC and streamer vs the Alto and separate DAC and streamer?

AGD also has two new, higher power monoblocks: the AGD DUET rated 300W at 4 ohms and the SOLO rated at 550W at 4 ohms. I have not seen any reviews of these yet.

 

[VerdantAudio]

@Rumpole Regarding preamp, whether the Andante is right for you very much depends on your taste and how you intend to get a signal to it.

The Andante sounds a lot like the MPD-6 from Playback designs. Playback has a very musical and engaging sound but it is not the most dynamic or energetic sound. The Andante is very much like this. It is brilliant and fun to listen to. If your taste runs more to a bigger, more dynamic sounds like Rockna or Aries Cerat, then the Alto with an external DAC will be more to your taste.

You will note that the MPD-6 is more expensive than the Andante. The Andante is really good for the price and is more competitive in the price tier above. It sounds and behaves like a $15K DAC rather than a $10K DAC. Alberto gives us a little less margin to keep the retails in ideal places so that the prices are as competitive as possible.

Additionally, if you need a Roon Ready endpoint, the Andante is not. Alberto has tried repeatedly to get an exception for the Andante to get them to make it Roon Ready. He even donated a unit. They said they are not willing to make it Roon Ready. It was and could be. There is something out of compliance with their rules and Roon will not make it an exception. If you use JPlay or you have a server that also serves as a player you are all set.

Regarding the new amps, they are using the same architecture, GaN FETs, etc... and are upgradable like other AGD products. Talking to Alberto, and hearing how they were received at the shows where they were demoed, they are what you would expect from AGD. They have the "house" AGD sound which is liquid and tube-like but with superb bottom-end performance. They are priced and performance is in-line with the balance of his offerings.