AGD Duet Monoblocks

@lance348 - I actually own the Gryphon 120. I have it paired with Buchardt S400MKii speakers and a Merason Dac1 MKII. In that system, it's fantastic. Beautiful sounding amp with those other components. 

I also own the AGD Audions which I purchased used. The AGD Audions are now my primary amps in my living room. I have them paired with Dynaudio Heritage Speakers and a Soulnote D2 dac. The synergy is fantastic. 

The grypon 120 amp is a little on the dark side. With the right speakers, it's magical. The AGD Audions are end game amps in my living room. They just do everything well. I can only imagine the Duets are superb. 

I can also attest to Alberto being a gentleman and offering superior service. While I'd purchased my AGD amps used, he kindly and promptly answered my emailed questions. 

AGD is a top notch outfit. 

@hilde45 @campoly  it’s just that those Fosi amps are ’desktop’ amps. If they are used as as main amps, beyond their design, they will crack under load and possibly damage your high-end speakers. Also anything mechanical is not built to last like real ’audiophile’ gear.

@aw-agd 

your comment is appreciated. I’ll make it a point to stop back by at CAF26.

AGD Duet owner here since last summer and they work great with the DeVore Super Nine speakers!  I've owned a number of amps over the years and the Duets have brought out the best in the DeVore's.  First time I have ever used mono blocks (due to space issues, etc.) which have made me a believer in that design. (Okay, and they are the most expensive amps I have ever used. :) 

They are also compact in size, put out plenty of power and have both RCA andXLR inputs. I run my streamer/internet tuner directly into the RCA inputs of the amps, which allows me to bypass my tube based preamp, thereby saving tube life.

The clincher though is that the amps are upgradeable by the owner which will save  time and money. While there are other fine GaNFET amps out there, AGD is the only company I am aware of that offers this feature which is important (to me) since the technology is still relatively young.

@bartsw Thanks for the additional advice about their being desktop amps. Makes sense. I suppose, that I’m impressed in them sounding this good regardless, but your point is important. The fact they *can* sound this good, with the level of cheap construction you’re suggesting, does seem proof of concept of something.

After all, the Fosi V3 with the power supplies and the op amps is about 17x less expensive. Obviously they are built to a price point and may not last 20 years, but if one had to buy another set in 5 years, they would still far cheaper than say the other models.

P.S. I think we'd agree, too that there are plenty of real audiophile amps without protection circuits that will happily kill speakers. I don't know if the Fosi has speaker protection or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do. ASR reviewed them and probably mentions that.