Another marketing gimmick?

Thank you Dan D'Agostino. He started this back in the early 80's with Krell. Initially it was just thick face plates and gold screws. I would like to think his early Krell stuff sold because it really sounded good but soon other manufacturers climbed on board looking for ways to distinguish their equipment visually at least. Now if it looks good it must sound good and everything even wires got sucked in. As I have said before, all this money wasted on jewelry could have been spent on better engineering and components. We all pay for this. Pass Labs is a good example of a manufacturer who did not fall for this entirely. His designs are straight forward. He uses the same chassis parts across his model line to save money so you pay for performance. I could do without the meters. 

I wouldn't be surprised the amp sounds great. It's a $14K amp, with the latest transistor technology-it should!
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9b494-agd-productions-vivace-monos-gallium-nitride-newest-techn...

The circuit in a tube thing just seems CORNY. It's a high performance amp-great. That kind of aesthetic however, belongs to low end Best Buy stuff.
To each his own.

@nonoise Cheers and I never take anything too personally here! :)

Hey, I hope that it's a real push forward for D amps, frankly.

That tech is either lauded or dumped on with annoying regularity in the various forums, but it's already Everywhere...Your phone, the car, the tv, the laptop....anything that has to speak or sing or play sounds @ you.

It will only improve in the long run...not that A-A/B will disappear, but they're already being eclipsed....rapidly.

Yesyesyes...I understand and appreciate the 'warmth & nuance' of the tube.  The 'silk' of sound, if you will.  Combined with the 'right' components, not to easily rivaled by SS.

To the 'golden eared' amongst us, there will be no equal.

BUT....I'll wager that within this decade, it's going to get more difficult to discern the difference so quickly.  The music from behind that 'A/B curtain' will begin to fool the disclaimers.

That 'discussion' has been going on since the debut of the transistor...then, the IC....

In some ways, stuffing them into vacuum tube ought not to be a surprise.

You're looking @ what's happened after some bright sorts hooked a tv up to an early 'puter....and played PONG shortly after...

One can either get 'woke'...or prep for a coma. *G*

(Somebody buy this thing and run the cr*p out of it...that's the only way to see if it's worth getting excited about it.  Works for racing vehicles...see if it breaks, and how, and why.  Fix it, back to the track, and repeat as req'd.)

...until it doesn't. ;)

That’s just an aesthetic take on a what reviewers say is a great sounding amp. It’s a Gallium nitride power FET device that only the maker has access to, since he designed it. All other GaN devices are for radar and if used for audio, are modified or backward engineered. It replaces silicon devices as it’s way faster.

No, he designed the circuit, not the GaN FET used in it. He had some involvement when he was in the semiconductor industry, but it was not designed for his amplifier. It appears to be obsolete as well as he bough the remaining inventory and is changing to a different FET for newer designs. Your comment about all GaN are designed for radar is simply not true. Switching devices in power conversion (which is what a Class-D amplifier is), is a primary market for GaN and there are numerous devices designed specifically for this from a growing number of vendors. They are not even very expensive any more with low quantity orders under $2.00, and volume much less.


The switching FET is just one aspect of Class-D as well.

While Class-D is efficient, there is still heat generated. Putting it inside glass is going to maximize the temperature swing from turn-on till it reaches operating temperature. If you like to keep your amplifiers off, till used, it may not be ideal for consistent performance.

Marketing? .... Definitely, but the upgrade path is interesting and this method ensures the unit does not have to be opened. I wonder if those contacts are audiophile grade? $20-100 speaker binding post, $0.25 cent tube socket contact ..hmmmm.