This particular video is the first I’ve viewed on your channel. I appreciate your approach. Google/CZcams suggested this because I have been reading up on and considering purchasing the R7-HE Mk3 next year; I guess maybe Google has been spying on me even though I don’t use Google for searches! In any event, two things come to mind: 1. I totally agree on having tubes in the preamp/input section. Last year I purchased the Lab12 Pre 1 and it is *spectacular*, especially for the money. With my budget it wasn’t cheap, but value? Oh yes. It also is dead quiet and any hum I might hear from the listening position is NOT from the Lab 12. One reason I bought it (other than Herb’s review in Stereophile) is the amount of gain it has. My amp is the DECware SE84UFO. While it’s 2.3 wpc can drive my Triangle 40th Anniversary Comêtes in my small room, orchestral pieces and other loud passages suffered a bit. The Lab 12 with the Zen amp volume set at the **1:00** o’clock position is perfect. If I were to *ever* consider replacing the DECware, the coming Lab12 monoblocks would be a strong contender on any list. Tubes + tubes? Oh yes! Mind you I’m not driving a 5-way crossover! 2. The mid-range hardness you notice actually might not be either of the two possibilities that have been mentioned. You have diffusion on the front wall. I’m not a trained acoustic engineer but I’m not sure that’s the best location for diffusors. I don’t see any low frequency absorption in the room, though you may have some hidden or behind the listening position. I mention this because low frequency room modes can affect not only bass rendition, but the harmonics that are excited could be affecting the midrange. Also, some foam absorption to deal with 125Hz up might help. I’m just spitballing here, but maybe something to think about. I would swap preamps with you just for the fun of trying out if I didn’t live across the continent. Cheers
I have not heard the Lab 12 gear. I've seen it and I think it is pretty stuff (much prettier than the Audio GD gear). I also own a Decware that I use in my office system. It is a fabulous amp when you pair them with the correct speakers, but I mainly use it as a headphone amp driving Audeze LCD-X's. As far as room acoustics go, I'm following the advice of Siegfried Linkwitz, the designer of the open baffle speakers I use, in which he calls for diffusion, not absorbtion on the front wall. Also, open baffle bass tends to not excite room modes the way a traditional bass reflex or sealed box does. Linkwitz wanted a speaker that could live in a domestic living room without all sorts of room treatment to sound it's best. See my review of these speakers where I talk more about how they work and my system profile video for a tour of the entire room. They interact with the room in a very different way and I think I will have a hard time moving away from them in this room. We'll see. Cheers and thanks for watching.
I have not read that review. I did not notice the hardness with my Blue Circle at all. Like I said, it could be that more forward presentation of the Audio GD maybe exciting some breakup modes in the upper midrange.
Like your review, I have the Audio GD Master 1 tube balanced version without the HE. Further I have a Master 3 poweramp 2019 version, the one with 4 transformers in the amp and a Gustard R26 DAC. All filtered with dedicated Blacknoise powerblocks, for pre-amp and poweramps. I have had many high-end systems, this one is the best. All of my cables are topnotch. I have to disagree on a few things. My speakers are not so familiar. It are Acoustic-lab Stella Opus. A German high-end speaker enginered in Switzerland. The music in my room is projected behind the speakers, no emphasis on the mid-band what so ever. Maybe its the DAC you're using. Very very neutral sounding and very musical sounding. Also have a Master 1 solid state, also very good sounding, not as musical and 3D as the the balanced version. Late at night, with dimmed lights listening to big Orchestral works. You are there, big soundstage. Separation of the instruments are top notch. Note I have done a lot, special dedicated power grid for the audio rig. Grounding re-done, EMI/ RFI supression by Akiko from the Netherlands.Under my Audio GD gear all Solid-Tech Feets of Silence. This are one of the best feets you get get I think.I am a believer in de-coupeling your gear, not absorbing. Absorbing will absorb some sounds too. It lowers the noise floor a lot. And I can tell, I have tried a lot of them. Speaker cables off the floor, avoiding ground loops All you can do, I have done it. Only thing I can do better is the room acoustics, but it's a living room. And my wife is not a fan of the looks. Quality for the money is the best you can get. Great review, thanks spread the word. Audio GD makes great gear. Special note her for the WIIM Pro streamer here, very very good device. A must buy, the hype is true. For the money, the best you can buy. It thrashed my CD player, the Audio GD 7FV, okay it may sound some more natural, organic. But soundstage /separation of instruments 3D it's losing it completely to the WIIM Pro, a 185 euro streamer, and that's remarkable!
Unfortunately, many people will disregard Audio GD because they don't have the name recognition or bling of the big brands. But I agree, they make great sounding gear. I would love to experiment with good footers at some point. I actually use a WIIM Pro streamer for a separate system that feeds an outside deck. It's a casual listening setup so I can't comment on it's sound quality very much, only that it's functioned without a hiccup as a Roon endpoint for me. Thanks for watching!
I also love my Audio GD stack. ive owner AGD gear for over 2 years now and i still do not have a need to replace it. i paired my stack with Hulgich Duke (Australia) speakers as this was recommended by the speaker manufacturer at the time. the only girm i have is with my mono locks (older Master 2H) which has a very light hum only heard about an inch away.
I'm also the owner of the Audio gd A1 power amplifier and I agree it sounds fantastic. Which preamp do you have? I have the audio gd Master 1 connected through access cables.
This particular video is the first I’ve viewed on your channel. I appreciate your approach.
Google/CZcams suggested this because I have been reading up on and considering purchasing the R7-HE Mk3 next year; I guess maybe Google has been spying on me even though I don’t use Google for searches!
In any event, two things come to mind:
1. I totally agree on having tubes in the preamp/input section. Last year I purchased the Lab12 Pre 1 and it is *spectacular*, especially for the money. With my budget it wasn’t cheap, but value? Oh yes. It also is dead quiet and any hum I might hear from the listening position is NOT from the Lab 12. One reason I bought it (other than Herb’s review in Stereophile) is the amount of gain it has. My amp is the DECware SE84UFO. While it’s 2.3 wpc can drive my Triangle 40th Anniversary Comêtes in my small room, orchestral pieces and other loud passages suffered a bit. The Lab 12 with the Zen amp volume set at the **1:00** o’clock position is perfect. If I were to *ever* consider replacing the DECware, the coming Lab12 monoblocks would be a strong contender on any list. Tubes + tubes? Oh yes! Mind you I’m not driving a 5-way crossover!
2. The mid-range hardness you notice actually might not be either of the two possibilities that have been mentioned. You have diffusion on the front wall. I’m not a trained acoustic engineer but I’m not sure that’s the best location for diffusors. I don’t see any low frequency absorption in the room, though you may have some hidden or behind the listening position. I mention this because low frequency room modes can affect not only bass rendition, but the harmonics that are excited could be affecting the midrange. Also, some foam absorption to deal with 125Hz up might help. I’m just spitballing here, but maybe something to think about.
I would swap preamps with you just for the fun of trying out if I didn’t live across the continent.
Cheers
I have not heard the Lab 12 gear. I've seen it and I think it is pretty stuff (much prettier than the Audio GD gear). I also own a Decware that I use in my office system. It is a fabulous amp when you pair them with the correct speakers, but I mainly use it as a headphone amp driving Audeze LCD-X's.
As far as room acoustics go, I'm following the advice of Siegfried Linkwitz, the designer of the open baffle speakers I use, in which he calls for diffusion, not absorbtion on the front wall. Also, open baffle bass tends to not excite room modes the way a traditional bass reflex or sealed box does. Linkwitz wanted a speaker that could live in a domestic living room without all sorts of room treatment to sound it's best. See my review of these speakers where I talk more about how they work and my system profile video for a tour of the entire room. They interact with the room in a very different way and I think I will have a hard time moving away from them in this room. We'll see.
Cheers and thanks for watching.
I'm a huge fan of Audio GD. It's almost spartan , but it's so well constructed and the sound is stunning. What manual 😂
In the Absolute Sound review of the Linkwitz, the guy mentioned the hardness in the upper midrange as well. Likely it's the drive
I have not read that review. I did not notice the hardness with my Blue Circle at all. Like I said, it could be that more forward presentation of the Audio GD maybe exciting some breakup modes in the upper midrange.
Like your review, I have the Audio GD Master 1 tube balanced version without the HE. Further I have a Master 3 poweramp 2019 version, the one with 4 transformers in the amp and a Gustard R26 DAC. All filtered with dedicated Blacknoise powerblocks, for pre-amp and poweramps. I have had many high-end systems, this one is the best. All of my cables are topnotch. I have to disagree on a few things. My speakers are not so familiar. It are Acoustic-lab Stella Opus. A German high-end speaker enginered in Switzerland. The music in my room is projected behind the speakers, no emphasis on the mid-band what so ever. Maybe its the DAC you're using. Very very neutral sounding and very musical sounding. Also have a Master 1 solid state, also very good sounding, not as musical and 3D as the the balanced version.
Late at night, with dimmed lights listening to big Orchestral works. You are there, big soundstage. Separation of the instruments are top notch. Note I have done a lot, special dedicated power grid for the audio rig. Grounding re-done, EMI/ RFI supression by Akiko from the Netherlands.Under my Audio GD gear all Solid-Tech Feets of Silence. This are one of the best feets you get get I think.I am a believer in de-coupeling your gear, not absorbing. Absorbing will absorb some sounds too. It lowers the noise floor a lot. And I can tell, I have tried a lot of them. Speaker cables off the floor, avoiding ground loops All you can do, I have done it. Only thing I can do better is the room acoustics, but it's a living room. And my wife is not a fan of the looks.
Quality for the money is the best you can get. Great review, thanks spread the word. Audio GD makes great gear.
Special note her for the WIIM Pro streamer here, very very good device. A must buy, the hype is true. For the money, the best you can buy. It thrashed my CD player, the Audio GD 7FV, okay it may sound some more natural, organic. But soundstage /separation of instruments 3D it's losing it completely to the WIIM Pro, a 185 euro streamer, and that's remarkable!
Unfortunately, many people will disregard Audio GD because they don't have the name recognition or bling of the big brands. But I agree, they make great sounding gear. I would love to experiment with good footers at some point. I actually use a WIIM Pro streamer for a separate system that feeds an outside deck. It's a casual listening setup so I can't comment on it's sound quality very much, only that it's functioned without a hiccup as a Roon endpoint for me.
Thanks for watching!
I also love my Audio GD stack. ive owner AGD gear for over 2 years now and i still do not have a need to replace it. i paired my stack with Hulgich Duke (Australia) speakers as this was recommended by the speaker manufacturer at the time.
the only girm i have is with my mono locks (older Master 2H) which has a very light hum only heard about an inch away.
I have the A-1 amplifier 124 W/8 Ohms its ugly. But sound fantastic with my Burchardt S400 speakers. Only Moon Audio 5K integrated Amp.
I'm also the owner of the Audio gd A1 power amplifier and I agree it sounds fantastic. Which preamp do you have? I have the audio gd Master 1 connected through access cables.