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AudioGD: an inquiry

post #1 of 15
9/18/10 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 

while looking for a new amp and a dac, i came across audiogd through this forum. the reviews of them are very encouraging. but it's intriguing since it's the first chinese audio company which i've found that doesn't offer any tube gears in its lineup. is the ACSS technology they're promoting really that musical enough to not make me reget putting a tube in my chain somewhere? do their gears have that liveliness that i've only been able to experience with tubes in my limited exposure to this hobby? 

 

also, for the owners of audiogd gears, does your unit give off any chemical smell that is typical of chinese products? i'm talking about transformer varnish odor, paint odor from using substandard thermal paint on the chassis, and flux odor ect. above examples are some of the troubles that i've ran into in my dealings with chinese audio goods. (yes, some... and only the beginning of it " class="bbcode_smiley" height="" src="http://files.head-fi.org/images/smilies//frown.gif" title=":(" width="" />) I promised myself to go with rohs certified products from then on, but this audiogd with it's darth vadar appeal has got me rolling the dice once more.... thx for your answers, gents. 

 

 

 

 


Edited by curiousmuffin - 9/18/10 at 10:52am
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post #2 of 15
9/18/10 at 12:10pm

Natural is really the only term I find that describes the AGD "sound". It's not fun or warm or cold or any of those descriptions as they imply color. Would I like a little bass boost occasionally with my Phoenix amp, sure but I am guessing I would tire of it. One can always find color or a certain signature with headphones.

There is an odor when unpacking the gear but I don't smell anything after setup and a day or two of use. As much as I like the gear he sells, I equally like the way he responds to potential and current customers, and the way he does business in general- very upfront and honest. The only real drawback I can see is that they are 1/2 way around the globe and shipping costs are high to China (but shipping is covered the first year if the gear has a problem).

Fan-boy out.

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post #3 of 15
9/18/10 at 12:23pm

I bought an Audio-GD DAC-19MK3 in July 2009 and from the day I first plugged into the mains power to this day, I never experienced any of the "smells" you refer to...the actual DAC was run for 100 hours by Audio-GD before being dispatched to me and has performed faultlessly since then...

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post #4 of 15
9/18/10 at 12:50pm

I think the smell could have been then the packaging possibly- in any case it is minor at worst.

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post #5 of 15
9/18/10 at 12:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3320070 View Post

I think the smell could have been then the packaging possibly- in any case it is minor at worst.


Yes, the only smell is from the plastic wrap he uses in the packaging.  The gear I've owned does not smell.

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post #6 of 15
9/18/10 at 2:14pm

 

Quote:
is the ACSS technology they're promoting really that musical enough to not make me reget putting a tube in my chain somewhere? do their gears have that liveliness that i've only been able to experience with tubes in my limited exposure to this hobby?

 

If others disagree with me feel free to say so. Imo, audio-gd aims at faithfulness to recording with acss, but their lower end gear do tend to have a little pleasant feeling due to less microdetail accuracy. The higher up their acss price tier the more faithful to recording it gets, revealing more soundstaging and detail. Higher end neutral gear can express much more varied emotions than just "musicality" or "liveliness", but that depends on the musicians' and recording engineers' original intent. Not every musician wants to sweep you off your feet with music, some music is actually pretty emo.

 

For example, if you have a recording that exemplifies the emotion of "liveliness" and you play it on a properly set up hi-fi neutral chain, it can be as lively as gear colored to be lively. But if you're looking to add liveliness and musicality in every recording you listen to, you may not want to get audio-gd's higher tier acss gear. But if you're looking for faithfulness to recording quality and musicians' original intent, even if the musicians are being emo, you may prefer higher tier acss.

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post #7 of 15
9/18/10 at 6:35pm

Perfect example of this faithful recording haloxt refers to is the Luka Bloom live album "Amsterdam" - like you are there with the full AGD system and good speakers (I don't say this lightly- even my wife had a jaw-drop moment). This was a full ACSS system at the tme.

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post #8 of 15
9/18/10 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 

once again, these are words of encouragement pushing me toward audiogd gears even further. right now, i'm looking at cia-400, and a NFB dac in the near future once i recharge my piggy bank, and determined that tube is no longer relevant to my need.

 

but really? no smell at all?! this is also intriguing because every other chinese company that i've dealt with always have funky paint shop smell on their stuff. the transformer varnish smell could be faint enough not to affect the aroma of the room, but that wouldn't mean that it's not there. Has anyone actually cracked open their audiogd while it's still warm and put their nose up against the transformer? if it smells anything other than nothing, then it is off gassing.

 

please have a look at this website- http://www.tukipie.net/audio/synopsis_of_AMPLIFIER.htm

it's where i got the interest for sansui au-@907, the one amp that i'm weighting cia-400 against. the vintage sansui can be had for about $200 less than the cia-400. i'm guessing that i can expect a world class resolution and transparency from ACSS technology. but please, does anyone have any input on any of the amps in my link against your audiogd amp? that way i could have an indirect comparison between 400 vs 907, no matter how vague.

 

 

Just got done talking to the gentleman at audiogd over the phone- he says yes, there is a transformer smell for up to several months. this is a big no no for me... sigh, another great hifi bargain shunted because of my excessive (and the chinese' lack of) concern for the environmental health.


Edited by curiousmuffin - 9/18/10 at 11:09pm
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post #9 of 15
9/19/10 at 5:46am

Good luck with your odor free quest I guess

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post #10 of 15
9/19/10 at 6:27am



 

Quote:

 

 

Just got done talking to the gentleman at audiogd over the phone- he says yes, there is a transformer smell for up to several months. this is a big no no for me... sigh, another great hifi bargain shunted because of my excessive (and the chinese' lack of) concern for the environmental health.


I don't think this "gentleman" is me. But today (Sunday) our office only me is a gentleman and a technician on duty. Maybe that was a lady?

The transformers can't flow out any smell unless it near burn die.
 


Edited by audio-gd - 9/19/10 at 6:33am
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post #11 of 15
9/19/10 at 7:11am

Never any smell from my Roc.

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post #12 of 15
9/19/10 at 9:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim3320070 View Post

Good luck with your odor free quest I guess

 

shouldn't be that hard if i can find a chinese company with rohs tag on their products, but yes, that is the hard part.
 

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post #13 of 15
9/19/10 at 9:48am

 

Originally Posted by curiousmuffin View Post

 

i'm talking about transformer varnish odor, paint odor from using substandard thermal paint on the chassis, and flux odor ect.


hah, the Corda Arietta I briefly owned smelled like burned caps...unbearable.

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post #14 of 15
9/20/10 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by curiousmuffin View Post



 

shouldn't be that hard if i can find a chinese company with rohs tag on their products, but yes, that is the hard part.
 


Well, I guess be prepared to pay the premium. I have about 100 lbs of AGD gear within 4' of my vital organs for about 10 hours a day. I seem fine (wife might disagree).

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post #15 of 15
9/20/10 at 3:45pm

I am pretty sure that it isn't too hard for them to order a roll of RoHS stickers to put on their equipment.  I don't think stickers are that expensive that it should command a high price premium.

 

If you are looking for something without the hazardous materials and the stickers though, that might be an issue.  Also, many RoHS compliant electronics that I come across do have a slight smell when warm if you stick your face in it.  That doesn't necessarily mean its hazardous to your health.

 

As for my Audio-GD gear, it doesn't have any real smell coming from it and its pretty fresh out of the box.

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