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In Reply to: RE: Who makes GaN FET Amps ? posted by AbeCollins on July 15, 2023 at 09:48:07
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
Follow Ups:
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
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