What are the best GaN Amplifiers available today?
There have been a number of threads discussing the wonder of GaN and some of the individual amplifiers that have caught peoples attention, including those from AGD, Atma-Sphere, Peachtree, LSA, etc. Has anyone done a shootout against two or more GaN amps? If so, which did you prefer, and why? And on what speakers?
Also, of the one you preferred, do you prefer it over every other amplifier you’ve ever heard? If not, what non-GaN amp do you enjoy more?
@mbmi What is the sound of these 2 that make it the best. I only know the T+A HV amps (and stack). Slightly warm sound but my ears like my CODA #16 more. I would assume the T+A Class D Purifi based amp is not at the same level as the T+A HV amps. I never heard the AAVIK. |
@blisshifi looks like T+A makes those class D M200 amps in monoblocks and they sell for $10k. I'm going for Atma-sphere's class D first, but these t+a have peaked my interest to compare them for sure. |
@j-wall I did mention the M 200 monos earlier in this thread. I am a T+A dealer and also have the A 200 amplifier on the floor. I may add the M 200 for my floor in the near future. The A 200 does not sound like a typical Class D amp. It is quite musical, very big sounding, with a wide stage despite it being incredibly linear. Like much T+A equipment, it does a good job of refining the top end and having a very involving midrange. My only qualms with the A 200 is that 1) the presentation is slightly more forward than other amps, and I’ve found it harder to get truly great depth way past the speakers with them (perhaps additional positioning could solve for this), and 125wpc into 8 Ohm isn’t enough to drive some of the more demanding speakers on my floor. The M 200 might be a good solve for this as the extra power may improve the control at the frequency response, which tends to result in a better capability of depicting the sense of space. For me, I just want to have hands-on experience with some of the later developments in GaNFET amp design. I’m not expecting to be mind blown, but I am prepared to be surprised, especially for the cost-to-performance ratio. |
@blisshifi gotcha. Is the A Vs M just a monoblocks differential or is there any difference to build? I'd definitely be interested if you get to hear a pair. I've been curious about the Mola Mola class D, but $15k is a little too steep for me to experiment. |
