Which Class D Amplifier? PS Audio, Ghent, Nord, Merrill or other???

mountainsong

Technics SU-G30 really amazing.

Great find.

GaN technology for $4k, and this Technics SU-G30 is also a complete network integrated amplifier. Seems like it doesn’t use the 1.5mhz higher switching frequency that the $20k Technics SE-R1 uses, but does use a hybrid power supply, not all smp, and by just using the GaN technology it’s probably front of all it’s competitors anyway.

https://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/large/1837138-technics-sug30-network-amplifier.jpg

What one reviewer thought

The musical reproduction offered by the Technics SU-G30 was among the best sound of any amplifier I have ever reviewed. Technics has a short preamble in the manual that hypes the great sound of this amplifier and I agree with their marketing-driven assessment. It is ironic that the better digital gets, the closer it sounds to analog. Tubelike even. And at some point, digital can have the best qualities of digital and analog at the same time. This is how I view the audio prowess of the Technics SU-G30 – it is like analog, super clean analog at that.

My generalized listening impressions involved excellent purity of tone, a huge soundstage, amazing detail retrieval along with surprising excellence on streaming services.

Cheers George

So George, I guess we can all consider you in the Class D camp?

One day maybe, when the price (not looks) of the performance of the SE-R1 comes down to the the price or lower of the SU-G30.

GaN technology seems to be lit, just needs more semi conductor manufactures like Motorola, AD, Texas, ect ect. to purchase patent rights to make them from EPC (GaN)
That’s how they (Lidow and co.) did it when they sold the rights to the power mosfet all those years ago, and if you remember the same scenario is going on here. Initial price of amps using them were very high then they crashed because so many manufacturers bought the rights to make them.

BTW looking at the heatsinks in the SU-G30 above, that section is the GaN amp, it may have higher than todays 600khz switching because it’s using these heatsinks, as EPC said to me if left at 600khz there is no need for any heat sinking on any of the GaN boards, so it maybe higher. Could be a great sounding little amp, I can think maybe Quad ESL57’s would be nice as they can’t take to much wattage, or any > 90db speakers

Cheers George

I’ll consider your response promising. Maybe it’s time for a group hug with Eric?

Maybe it’s time for a group hug with Eric?

Too busy listening to my marvelous Class D amps to bother with other humans.