GaN amps: Peachtree or LSA Voyager?

@markmuse Funny you should ask. My CODA 07x preamp was great with the Voyager. Read up on the CODA 07x. It is a slightly warm and tube fans love it. I am an SS fan but I really like it too.

I am debating selling my complete Livingroom system (which includes the CODA 07x) to buy the active KEF LS60 speaker. I would not need any other gear with this. If I keep that system I would need to get more gear to finish it off, KEF Blade2 or REF 1 speaker, DAC, additional Benchmark AHB2 amp.

I also tried the $799 Topping pre90 preamp with the Voyager and it had volume issues. The Benchmark LA4 (my keeper preamp) sounds like the pre90 but does not have the volume issues of the pre90. However, with the Voyager it maybe too much of a good thing for some folks. Too much detail and maybe too sterile a sound.

I had sold my Voyager before I owned the Schitt Freya+ preamp. That preamp will likely be very good with the Voyager. I say that because I really liked the Benchmark AHB2 | Freya+ | RAAL SR1a headphones. The AHB2 and Voyager (modded) sound very similar. The CODA 07x is better than the Freya+ but it costs more.

@markmuse :

“It is closer than I expected it to be”

The above line is what made me wonder if you specifically had a hunch one of these would sound better than the other.  But I get that you very well may have just not expected any two amps to be this close in performance.

Rest assured I have no angle in my questioning.  Like accusing you of “confirmation bias”, for instance.  You strike me as a seasoned hobbyist who calls it as he hears it after carefully assessing. 

@yyzsantabarbara If you are interested in the KEF Reference 1 I have a pair for sale. Less than a year old in mint condition. Walnut. See US Audio Mart.

Yeah, I had an LA-4. It would be too much of a good thing with the Voyager. It was great with the Rowland 535 monos though. I'm thinking more tubes, but maybe a little less bloomy than my current RP-7. Though I should probably change tubes. That might change the noise as well. The Rogue RP-9 looks interesting, as do some of the ARC reference preamps, and Atma-Sphere MP-3. Am I nuts or what?

@markmuse If you are inclined to go with tubes give the Schitt Freya+ a 15 day home trial. Only thing you have to lose is having more money in your wallet. It is a very quiet tube preamp.

@markmuse 

During your listening test, in addition to your analytical listening did you also do what I like to call musical listening… no analysis, just close your eyes and see which amp is the most musically and emotionally compelling… and with no fatigue from an hour or two of listening  

Its hard to turn off the brain and do this but at the end of the day it’s not the minute detailed differences in the amps that matter, it’s what makes you want to listen rather than do something else.