new GAN amplifier

Hey @tweek1 Glad to hear you are going to be an early adopter. I’m thinking of trying one of these as well. I do wish they would have released a mono block version but I’m sure they will if the stereo version sells well. I don’t see that they are bridgeable to mono. Do you know? Anyway I am currently running a pair of EP 100.2se’s as mono blocks driving EP 2.7’s. I think they sound great together. They were designed to work together so that is not surprising. Are you still running Emerald physics speakers? I forget which model you have/had was it the KC11?

I don’t get comparing a $2500. amp to 15,000 - $30,000. amps. Of course they will not likely be quite as good. Wally is about value products not chasing the uber high end. Just look at the case’s of the amps. These are designed to be affordable and if they are decent performers I’m sure they will out sell the high dollar ones. The designer of the Living Sound Audio (LSA) amps is the same one who designed the Emerald Physics amps and helped design the EP range of open baffle speakers. In fact he is currently helping me get the best out of my EP2.7’s that I bought from him. I have talked to him a few times lately. I plan on asking him some more about these amps.

tweek1 I look forward to your thoughts after you get it. Do you have an ETA?

+1 pirad


GFi, your designer quotes lack dates. Also, most of them have a company to protect, so there comments can mostly be taken with a small grain of salt. Still, you hang in there with your negativism

BTW, while I find all the technical comments worthy of discussion/debate  you  have hijacked this GaN thread. Take it to a new thread

Sonicjoy

In fairness, the EP amps design is ~ 5 years old, which is ancient compared to the newest IcePower modules in the EVS 1200, plus Ric employs lots of tweaks that commercial designs would not

Also, post EP amps; my Audio Alchemy DPA-1 and PS Audio M700s benefited from upgraded interconnects and speaker cables (to 100% WW, series 7s and 8s), but I still think the EVS 1200 is by far a superior amp to all of them, at least with my EP KCIIs, which has an 8" mid-range and twin 10" woofers.

Your 2.7s have 12" mid-range and twin 15" woofers, meaning your sound is likely bigger, fuller and richer in tones, though the KCIIs are excellent in their lane, my room is too big for them by themselves, but I could not get the 2 SVS subs (12") to blend even with the EP BOM, so the KCIIs are flying solo. And still I am very impressed with the overall sound.

That said, EP 2.8s should arrive any day now. I was expecting to have the Voyager well in advance so I could make apples to apples comparisons with my KCIIs, but it is still not here, and I will have someone coming for just a few days who has intimate knowledge with setting the 2.8s up, which means any thoughts I have on the Voyager vs EVS 1200 comparison will be pretty useless, at least until I get used to the 2.8s then compare the 2 amps

Very cool! I predict you will like the 2.8’s. They are the same basic speaker as the 2.7’s just with carbon fiber mid’s and woofers and an upgraded tweeter. My 2.7’s have the upgraded tweeters and have had the crossovers tweeked by GR Research for the new tweeters. If I can use one word to describe the sound it would be "Power!" Of course one word is not enough. Maybe effortless power and dynamics. And the bass is to die for. Just wonderful! Deep powerful and not boomy at all. And the impact of drums is so life like and did I mention vocals? Just "power". I too tried them with my Vandersteen 2wq pair of subs but they are so efficient that the subs can not quite keep up. I took the subs out and the bass actually increased. It really is better than sub woofer bass. (My room is medium sized with cathedral ceilings. Speakers 5 feet from the front wall.) I know you have a good idea of the overall sound and room loading of the open baffle design. Be sure and give them lots of time to break in before judging them. Couple hundred hours at least. Oh and mine have the single input crossover with no DSP.

I have not tried any other amps yet with them but am researching that now. And I am not afraid to try new tech. The EP’s are such a good value though. Picked them up for $600. each used.
Regarding the Voyagers I did find out from the designer that they use the same GaN transistors some of the other $30k GaN amps. He says they are really something special. I hope to find out soon. Looking forward to your comparisons. Please keep us posted.

Underwood HiFi says they have shipped out a small batch, maybe 20, Voyager GaN amps, more powerful than the original design, Who got one and how does it sound?