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.
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.
