It is the Marten Design Bird 1 speakers
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10-4; very nice, indeed.
Forgive me, but what makes them so “revealing” – the diamond tweeters?
At first blush they appear to be of a somewhat conventional design.
However, I noted that they are very, very well reviewed.
Are they true four-way speakers?
Cheers.
Hi! Well the Diamond tweeters in this particular model are extremely resolved. Also the Cermic drivers make them very fast, detailed. and nimble. It is a three way construction. Not alot of info to find about them, but this user-review describes them well:
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Sub’d …any updates from Audion owners?
An update, of sorts, for the thread.
I had an issue with one of my Audion amplifiers, which I use in my office system.
Long story, short - I procrastinated for a long time before addressing the issue with AGD.
When I finally contacted Alberto, he was nothing but reasonable and very accommodating in arranging for a look-see and making the necessary repairs to an unresponsive MK II GaNtube.
My amplifiers should be back to me next week, flush with a compliment of the latest GaNTube88MkIII’s.
Alberto/AGD are great to work with.
Regards.
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I am working toward trying a pair of the SOLO amps. Probably later in the spring. Hoping for goon things from them. I certainly do like the upgradability of the designs.
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I am looking forward to hearing what the MKIII “tube” has to offer.
The SOLO doesn’t have the “tube” exposed like the rest of the lineup.
It appears to be on a daughter board though and similar end user upgrades available by changing out the board.
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I would like to “resurrect” this thread with a cut’n’paste of my post over on Audiogon. Alberto is such a great person, and his products are equally as fantastic, I had to put a little ink to vouch for that fact!
"I would like to take a moment to add my experience with AGD, The Audion’s in particular, and my personal experience with Alberto Guerra, who is AGD’s Principal designer/owner.
In 2022 I purchased a second hand pair of The Audions in the matte grey finish, with the MK II tubes. The speakers that I would be driving them with are the Legacy Audio Aeris, which are rated @95 db at 4 ohms. They have built-in powered subs, so the Audions would thus be only required to power the mids/HF drivers…So I felt confident that the Audion’s 170 watts at 4 ohms would power the Aeris adequately, even though prior to the Audion’s I was using Legacy’s own iV-2 Ultra dual mono amp, rated at 1000 watts per channel x 2 @ 4 ohms.
Once I received the used amps, I contacted Alberto to have the remainder of the amps warranty put into my name. We spoke at length on the phone, and Alberto could not have been more pleasant to deal with.
Upon hooking up the Audion’s to my system, I must say I was absolutely stunned at their performance! I have been in the hobby since the mid 70’s, I have attended 20 years of Las Vegas CES, and I have had the pleasure of hearing many a satisfying sound system’s in that 20 years. Over the last 45 years of owning and building my personal 2 channel rigs, I have had the pleasure of owning speakers of all designs from dynamic, electrostatic, horns, bi-poles, di-poles…and just about every kind or type of amp: Solid state, tube, class A, Class A/B, and class D.
In my opinion, in my system, and to MY EARS…The Audion’s provide me with some of the midrange tonality of the best tube amps I’ve owned: Audiopax Model 88, which powered my Avantgarde Duo Omega’s like a dream! The Audion’s soundstage/image BETTER than any amp I have owned, and providing me with all the slam and dynamics of the best solid state amps I have owned.
Late in 2023, Alberto contacted me and asked if I would be interested in the new MK III “tube”? After hearing his explanation of the improvements in the new design, I decided to give them a try. Holy Moly! Another home run hit outside the ballpark by AGD! I did not expect to experience the improvements that I heard. It did take awhile for the new “tubes” and the circuitry to “settle-in”, but when it did, the smile was a mile wide! It wasn’t long after that I was hearing the full impact of the Mk III upgrade, that I contacted Alberto via phone call to tell him just how much I was enjoying the amps/new tubes. For a man who is apparently a “One Man Show” as far as being the company President/Designer/Builder/Shipper, etc. he very freely gives his customer’s more than ample personal time via the phone. I told Alberto that these amps were my “Desert Island/take them to my grave/last amps I’ll ever want or need”…EXCEPT…In the perfect world, I would LOVE to own the polished versions. And I’ll be damned if Alberto didn’t have a card up his sleeve to make that happen too!
So here I sit, with the latest Shiny/Beautiful Audion’s with MK III tubes, and in my 68 years of owning and building pretty damn nice 2 channel music systems, I can honestly say, that I have NEVER owned such a musically satisfying system…EVER! I firmly believe these amps are one of the very large contributions to that statement. I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone who is curious about the sonic benefits of AGD amps to audition them. Life is short…but these amps will make you want to live for eternity!
(Oh, and for the record, I really like the LED glow of the GAN tube, I think it is part of the physical beauty that matches the audible beauty! Just My 2 cents)
Tim
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Congratulations! I purchased a pair of the Gran Vivaces a couple of months ago and likewise I am over the moon with their sound.
Today I upgraded my power cables from Synergistic Atmosphere SX Alive to Atmosphere SX Euphoria High Current cables and got another jump in performance with these amazing amps.
We’re probably about the same “vintage” of audiophile and, like you, these are my end-game amps for sure…
Amen!
I have to believe the Legacy Audio Wavelet has a little bit to do with this.
It’s on my short list of must have upgrades…one day.
Congratulations.
I’ve been reading and watching videos about the AGD Duet Monoblock amp. Do any of you owners of AGD amps know what sound quality differences exist when comparing the Duet to the Audion or the Gran Vivace? Also, has anyone compared the sound of the AGD amps to any of the Hypex Nilai, Purifi, Mola Mola, or Atma-Sphere Class D amps?
Scotte; The Wavelet is a great tool for sure, but even when I was using the iV-2 amp, I could never get the Wavelet to sound anywhere near the way the system is sounding now. Full disclosure: I have SDFB’s on both amps, both speakers, power supply to Wavelet/JK Richards fully modded Direcstream Mk I, and my phono stage…and indeed those mods were jaw-droppers too!
Oh, and Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables and the Audion’s are another Heaven Made Match! I will easily put Mark Schifter and Jeff Smith in the same category as Alberto as being extremely personable, helpful, fantastic customer service oriented Principals of their individual companies.
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Nice to hear from another SDFB user and The Audion fan.
How are you using the SDFB with the modified DS Sr. DAC (MKII)? Did you replace one of the DAC’s internal fuses with a Sluggo or a fuse on the “outboard” analogue power supply?
TIA
I have an Uptone Audio JS2 power supply feeding both my Direcstream, and Wavelet. The JS2 has the SDFB on it.
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I appreciate your replying.
I have a SDFB ready for use in lieu of the DS Sr’s internal fuse, but have not taken the time to open up the DAC and swap in a Sluggo.
The JK Richards analogue PS card is powered by a 12v Small Green Computer PS. The “mains” inlet to the DAC is plugged into a MSB Isolation Base (an isolation/grounding device) - both of these have fuses.
Your set up has me wondering if I should consider powering the Small Green Computer and/or MSB with SDFBs instead of the mains inlet to the DAC.
Come to think of it, I also wonder whether the analogue or digital power side of the DAC would benefit the most from being plugged into the MSB.
Any thoughts based on your experience…?
Thanks in advance.
Did you install the analogue JKR PS board in the DS Sr.?
Cheers.
Here is the latest configuration:
Alberto also upgraded me with the polished versions upon returning the amps due to the need to replace one of the “tubes”. Subsequently, I acquired the Decware preamp second hand.
When a tube failed for a second time (since attributed to a bad patch of some internal components) I also upgraded to the MK III version of the tube components.
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Yes.