GaN based SU-R1000 Technics Integrated Class-D, review by TAS

georgehifi  Plus 1 

I own the baby technics  SUG 700 integrated amp I picked up on here at a steep discount thank you very much to the seller. My only gripe I wish it had more power but really not needed in my system.
 The SUG700 is beautiful to look at and listen to at a fraction of the cost of its big brother, but with a few of the same features. I'm don't spin records so I could give a rats patoot about the phono stage but I do listen to headphones and my Focal's sounds great thru this amp.
What I've said before on here Technic's customer service sucks, actually it's nonexistent as far as I am concerned period amen. You see you can't speak to a person, hell you can't contact a person at Technics give it a try. Why do I say this the email address and phone numbers in their manual do not work. I called Panasonic the same deal no people answer just recording telling you to leave a message which is ignored.  So  I randomly calling variations of phone numbers listed and  I got some guy at his desk and he gave me an email address at Technics  I wrote to it and never got a response. Hell I was only looking for information about the SUG 700, I sure hope this unit never breaks! 
I might also add their marketing sucks as well as evident in the limited reviews available on the SUG 700. 

the good news is that the better made, higher priced gan or otherwise class d amps are sounding quite good these days, much much better than older stuff, even under big uber high end brand names who have gone there in the past

the bad news is that reviews, esp. by the commercial audio press, online, or in print, will only get you so far, as they have mixed incentives to report the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and legit and useful comparisons that buyers likely care about

auditions (ideally in home, in your own system) are key, but they cost time energy and money... that being said, the good news above is indeed good news, and the differences in sq between different units may be relatively modest on all but very good very resolving systems... on many systems most modern options will be very good in producing glorious music, especially when direct comparisons are not at one’s disposal

i have gone back to the budget gan mini 5 - listening to this very modestly priced amp with various dacs i have laying around, soekris, pontus, audio mirror doge... in all cases there beautiful reproduction of music without typical distracting hifi nasties

I have no doubt that the Technics unit sounds good.  Whether it outperforms other 10K integrated's--that's pretty exalted company--is another question.

Focusing just on GaN technology, 10K gets you a pair of AGD Audions + well on your way to a really nice preamp.  Food for thought.

Heard a Rowland, another devialet, past two months.
when I have a day off, I love taking a few hours, putting on some better clothes, cologne, as I am treated better.
I love lugging in my Sunfire to test speakers, as well as my own music, testament, Riot, seance, ....you get the pic..... they will not leave the room during play time, they have stereotyped me with my choice of music,...

Few Months prior, I showed up in my work clothes, I’m a construction worker, you figure it out. Partially ignored, pretty much came up with excuses why they would not hook up my Crest CA-9 to listen to music on their speakers.....this one made me smile...”crest is not an audiophile amp” had to smile on that one. We only play the amps we sell and represent.  We don’t have balanced cables or a preamp which accepts balanced cables.  
As mentioned, I brought in my Sunfire ,dressed well, cologne, combed my nest head, and was welcomed with open arms, until I popped in testaments practice what you preach, the attitudes quickly changed to a nice dressed man,...to a parolee....hell, I even shaved.


amyway, eventually listened to the devialet and the Rowland D amps, while they played music, and sounded good, there was something missing, the Devialet curiously sounded better than the Rowland, which surprised me. 

Devialet curiously sounded better than the Rowland, which surprised me.

 That doesn’t surprise me at all, if the Rowland was the $10k Continuum S2.

As in that they just used a Pascal "tweaked?" Cheap Chinese Class-D modules made for sub-woofer amps.
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/pics/jeff_rowland_continuum_2_large_inside.jpg

https://s25.postimg.cc/g9j21ldv3/20170819_180541.jpg

And here is the $100 Chinese Sanway subwoofer amp https://imgbb.com/kBHf1S4

Cheers George