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The Peachtree GaN400 amp was once $2999 dropped to $2499 and now $1599. It at least has a set of 'standard' analog inputs unlike the earlier GaN1.
The Peachtree GaN1 had one digital coaxial input. Huh? I understand the concept but talk about limiting the product appeal. I wonder if anyone bought that one.
Is it just Peachtree or did all of these GaN FET amps fizzle out before they really got started?
Which brands are making GaN FET based amps today?
Follow Ups:
A better question.....at least for ME is
Who makes GaN DEVICES? What is intended market or application?
In the old days, IR made IGBT devices. 600v, mostly....But Bob Carver latched onto them for output devices of some of his Sunfire line.....
Too much is never enough
I was at a audio show this past weekend.
The HiFi Rose GaN integrated as well as their R520 GaN streamer/amp combo were both pretty spectacular. They seemed detailed, airy, yet creamy sounding...very pleasing.
The Rose R520 pair with the new-to-be-released Quad Revela monitors may have been the best sound of the show.
Edits: 08/07/23 08/07/23
Kind Peachtree looking, albeit better.
voolston - audiophile by day, music lover by night!
I thought Class D amps were supposed to be reasonably priced ;-)
It will be interesting to see if any of the larger mainstream brands start using GaN FET technology in their amps. If I'm not mistaken all of the posts so far point to small shops.
I have owned many class D amps over the last decade+, the only one that stoked my fire was the EVS 1200 (dual mono ICEPower modules one chassis) from the tweaky mind of Ric Schultz. It is really good. Some 10-12 months later PS Audio released the M1200s with tube input at 2+ times the price. Michael Fremer bought the review pair. FF to about 2 years ago now, when the much anticipated LSA Voyager GaN 350 hit the market. I bought one and felt it surpassed the EVS 1200, at least with the series 8 WW cables I was using at that time. The Voyager was smoother sounding, no doubt due to the much faster switching speed.
About 10 months ago I had to reinsert the EVS 1200 due to a mishap with the unplugged Voyager. This time the EVS 1200 sounded significantly more 3D, this after a huge upgrade in cables and PCs. Until I get the Voyager fixed I am very pleased with the EVS 1200. Moral of the story, even HQ cables don't shine in every system, but Gan is also a worthy choice
I just replaced a PrimaLuna Evo 300 amplifier with a pair of the Atma-Sphere Class D amps. The Atma-Sphere's are the first Class D I've had that truly do the tubes thing of air, 3D, and timbral weight, while being noticeably more open in the midrange and treble, and more controlled and accurate in the bass. Previous class D I've owned were a set of the EVS 500M, PS Audio Stellar 300, and NAD C298. All were sold on because they ultimately were too sterile for my listening preferences.
JohnK
Congrats!
I too have gone through quite a few class D amps over the last 10+ years. I really like both the EVS 1200 dual mono and the LSA Voyager GaN 350
I had the PS Audio M700 ICEpower monoblocks that I thought were excellent. They were "voiced" pretty much to my liking. As with many PS Audio products they have a slight warmth with robust and dynamic midbass and are always the opposite of lean or thin sounding. They're never bright but possibly not fully extended in the treble. The M700's additionally produced better bass definition than I've heard in my previous but old favorite Wyred4Sound SX-500 monoblocks. I have also tried Hypex UcD and nCore amps that were not very good sounding IMHO.Fast forward to July 2023 and I've been playing with the Purifi Eigentakt NAD C 298 stereo amp. Amazing! It's incredibly smooth without losing detail, more transparent than the M700 w/o being 'etched', and the NAD delivers just enough midbass and midrange robustness plus extension up in the treble w/o being bright. It is not lean or thin by any means but it appears to be more revealing and even across the board vs my previous PS Audio M700's. Both are excellent but different.
I'm pretty impressed with Purifi Eigentakt Class D as implemented in the reasonably priced NAD C 298 stereo amp.
That being said, I'll wait for a few major [larger] companies to commit to GaN FET designs and let those mature a bit longer before I jump in.
Edits: 07/19/23 07/19/23
No reason not to demo it
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/orchard-audio-starkrimson-stereo-ultra-amp-tour.1148415/page-28#post-32436020
HiFi Rose actually makes a nice sounding GaN (gallium nitride) amp. I'm not really a digital amp fan but I was pleasantly surprised how well this Rose RA180 amp sounded compared to tube and Class A amps in similar price range, does not sound like a class D amp, tube or Class A/B amp.
I know this gets repeated again and again but class D is not digital. It's analog. It's unfortunate it's called class D but D comes after C and class D amps came after class C circuits(which are not suitable for audio).
I heard an AGD system with the Ocean Way Audio Eureka monitor speakers at and audio show this past weekend and it was simply sublime sounding.
but doesn't mean he was the first. The AGD guy worked for Siemens and, it seems, he implemented an existing Siemens class-D amplifier solution. I am sure he implemented it well and, maybe, he has developed the design further since then but I suspect not as the modulator is the heart of the design (IMHO) and creating your own is a big deal - adding the GaN FETs is the 'easy' bit (as discussed in an earlier thread).
I've just taken delivery of a pair of Atma-Sphere Class D GaN FET mono amps.Initial impression good, but it will take some time for me to evaluate it in comparison with Purifi Eigentakt that I have in the NAD M33
AGD do a tiny GaN FET mono amp known as the Audion
Edits: 07/16/23 07/16/23
I'd love to get your opinion on the Atma-Sphere mono amps vs your current Purifi Eigentakt M33.
Will you be driving the Atma-Sphere with the preamp outputs from the M33?
Please keep us posted once you've had more time to compare. Thanks!
Yes, I'm using the pre outs from the M33 to the A-S amps, unfortunately via single-ended connectors. Sounding good so far, but I'll wait 2 or 3 more days before doing comparative tests.
I have an amp switcher so can change from the Purifi to A-S with the push of a button and volume adjustment as the Purifi is twice the power.
I could return my M12 preamp in place of the M33, but it would need the M50.2's streamer as source. Then I could go balanced between preamp and monos. I suspect the M33 may better that combination though.
If I take the next step that I'm planning - moving from M33 to M66, I'll be able to go balanced to the monos and could also feed the Avantgarde bass section via balanced XLR from 2 of the M66's 4 sub outs. I presume these sub outs will be 2 for left and 2 for right channel.
Have you used that amp switcher before with your M33 ? It could possibly cause a problem if the switcher uses a common ground but I'm not sure. NAD warns against grounding the blue speaker terminals.
M33 Manual Page 9 that I found on the internet :IMPORTANT NOTES
- The blue terminals must never be connected to ground (earth).
- Never connect the blue terminals together or to any common ground device.
- Do not connect the output of this amplifier to any headphone adapter,
speaker switch or any device that uses common ground for left and
right channels.
If you use the amp switcher [speaker output switcher?] you might want to power-OFF both amps for several seconds before you switch then power-ON only the amp under test.
Edits: 07/19/23
Thanks for the advice. Before buying the Beresford TC-7220 Mk III switcher, I checked with Mr Beresford who confirmed that no input is earthed and the action of switching is "break before make", so the 2 amps are never connected to one another. However the advice is to switch while no music is playing. Peter
Excellent. That switcher should make for easy comparison w/o having to wrestle with cables.
v
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Gan FET Amp of the month club?
How much are the dues?
"Reality cannot exist because it cannot keep up with the lies on the Internet."
I can't stop this feeling deep inside of me........ GaN amps you just don't realize what you do to me.
D Amps in general. No GaN FET amps here yet. I'm taking a wait and see attitude on those.
There's probably more GaN amps. Merril Audio has been making 3 models for a few years.
Abe,
See blow. Sorry, I've not quite grasped how to imbed links in a post. Care to share how to do that?
LSA Electronics (Underwood HiFi) - Voyager - I think it's the same module as the Peachtree, but could be wrong. Currently sold out?
https://www.underwoodhifi.com/products/lsa-electronics
VTV - digital input only though...
https://vtvamplifier.com/product/vtv-amplifier-stereo-eas-ganfet-digital-amplifier/
Orchard Audio - Starkrimson
https://orchardaudio.com/starkrimson_ultra_stereo_ultra_amplifier/
voolston - audiophile by day, music lover by night!
Thanks for the mention. If anybody has questions feel free to contact me.
How do you like them apples?
www.orchardaudio.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here is that example in action. Click the link to Goodies from LSA
I might be wrong, but it's the only affordable GaN amp that is fully balanced. It's on an introductory discount. They make 3- and 2-channel versions.
The 3-channel would be good for a 2.1-way compact desktop stereo system with a passive subwoofer... .
Fascinating, but... I am too busy to review it.
ciao,
john
Thanks for the mention. If anybody has questions feel free to contact me.
How do you like them apples?
www.orchardaudio.com
Presumably it has a built-in DAC.Linked below is some info on the 'EAS Digital Amplification Module'. This is EAS' "Evalution Kit" description. I see that the kit module permits analog and USB input though VTV has apparently decided not to implement either of these.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 07/15/23 07/15/23
I'm not familiar with the GaN FET amp modules but the first GaN FET amp from Peachtree was digital input only. If I'm guessing correctly there is no built-in DAC but they let the digital input signal more directly control (modulate) the pulse width modulated (PWM) nature of Class D amps. So these would be digitally modulated Class D ?
I had a Panasonic AVR years ago that directly convert PCM to PWM. It accepted analog input but did ADC before passing on to PCM-PWM converter. I believe the convert was by Texas Instruments.Actually there's a TI guide on how to do it with TI chips: see link
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 07/15/23
And that application note is dated 2001.
The Panny receiver I mentioned I bought in 2002/3.The concept of bypassing DAC seems appealing especially with the increasing digital dominance due to streaming, etc. But I suppose the power amps would need different "front ends" to what they have typically got.
Unless I'm confused about it, I think NAD had some "direct digital" amps for a while, but I'm not spotting any of these in their current lineup.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 07/16/23
> Unless I'm confused about it, I think NAD had some "direct digital" amps for a while, but I'm not spotting any of these in their current lineup.
NAD used a DirectDigital amp in their M32 all-in-one - predecessor of the M33 that I currently use. The sound improvement with the M33 is subtle and the M32 was still a great amp
So NAD says of the M32, (not longer sold), "Combining all pre-amplification and power amplification functions into a single amplifying stage, the M32 ...". The M32 had analog inputs, so were these inputs converted to digital, (ADC), before being passed to the "single amplifying stage"?For that matter, is this the case for the M33? As far as I know the Eigentakt needs analog inputs(?)
Dmitri Shostakovich
Edits: 07/16/23
Yes, both the M32 and M33 convert incoming analogue signals to digital and later back to analogue.
The forthcoming M66 will feature a bi-pass such that analogue will remain analogue throughout. In fact it offers lots of nice features for analogue users. Pity in a way because I'm planning on buying one and don't use only digital inputs - but will have to pay for the analogue features!
Peter
I'm not a fan of the all-in-one approach with preamp and DAC combined and having the analog inputs first converted to digital. It's good that the M66 will have an analog direct mode but having the DAC in there would be wasted on me.I have to admit that I'm loving the sound of the pedestrian basic black NAD C 298 Purifi amp. It would be nice if NAD came out with a matching analog only preamp. Maybe they have one but I'm not sure.
Edits: 07/16/23
> I'm not a fan of the all-in-one approach with preamp and DAC combined
DACs seem to have matured to the extent that any worthwhile improvements may be long past the sell-by date of the amp it's built into.
Since DAC modules are now tiny and require very little from the power supply, I'm very happy not to have to pay for the extra case, power supply, sockets, cables, etc that a stand-alone DAC would require. In fact the DAC element within such a stand-alone box may represent only 25% of its total cost.
I'm thinking of moving away from an all-in-one to a 2 box solution where the low power demanding components (streamer, DAC and preamp) are in one box and the power amp in another. I have no concerns that the DAC board shares the box as long as it's a first-class DAC. The one in the M33 is the excellent ESS Sabre 9028, whereas the M66 will use the top-of-the-range 9038.
It's also how the DAC is implemented in the design. The Devialet Expert Pro uses an excellent DAC, although not the latest (and greatest). It does, however, support an outstanding interface between the DAC and the power amp section (passive I/V) with an incredibly short and extremely low noise floor.
I'm happy enough with the Expert Pro setup that I'll stick with the one box solution, as it also supports Roon/UPnP, and most importantly, Spe3aker Active Matching. Once you are exposed to it's virtues, very hard to go back to a non SAM supported speaker.
" Don't look back. Someone may be gaining on you"
Sctchel Paige
"Maybe they have one but I'm not sure"
With analog falling by the wayside, I don't see that happening. Notice you don't see a pure standalone NAD DAC in the lineup either? Phono stage tech seems mature enough to be ok to include in a preamp, but digital/dac's is seemingly still evolving so I feel your sentiment abut not combining them in a preamp.
Thanks for the link imbedding info provided elsewhere.
voolston - audiophile by day, music lover by night!
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