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LSA Voyager GAN Amplifier

Just got mine last week.  After 24 hours of play all I can say is that this is not your father's class D amplifier.  There is not one thing about its sound that reminds me of the class D gremlins that I do not like.  The low end filled in and now has deep impact, the midrange is the love child of a beautiful tube and clean hybrid amp - just gorgeous.  Highs are very clean and extended. Spatial cues are top notch. My system has had some damn good tube and solid state amps in it before and it has never sounded this good.  I am blown away with the quality of sound coming from class D amplification at this price point.

This 300 wpc amplifier is a real winner.....
jaymark
ricevs
1,543 posts
 
Is the chassis on the GaN 5 amp made of aluminum or steel (a magnet will quickly tell you)?  If it is steel.....and even if it is not.....removing the cover may give sonic benefits.  The chassis is so short that it is very close to all wiring and the circuit board.....not good.
yyzsantabarbara
5,123 posts
 
I made some decisions on my amps last night. The Voyager beat my KRELL K-300i in a head-to-head shootout. I like the excitement factor of the Voyager over the very relaxed sound of the KRELL. However, the KRELL is just too good to sell, so I made it my primary headphone amp. In the past, I thought is was the very best RAAL SR1a headphone amp, a 10/10 on the RAAL. It is now tied with the CODA #8 on the RAAL, the Voyager is still not at that level with the RAAL SR1a.

So I put the CODA #8 back with my Thiel’s and changed the input connection of the DACs from XLR to RCA into my CODA 07x preamp. The RCA seems to have lowered the hiss to whisper levels. Still not Benchmark level but good enough. The 07x sounds great but a bit of a PIA to use. It maybe good now.

The CODA #8 sounds incredible now with the Thiel’s. There is power, detail, and very full sounding bass. Just the very best the Thiel’s have sounded, better than the Benchmark AHB2’s (9/10). The Voyager does not approach this level of sound yet. If the CODA #8 is a 10/10 the Voyager is 8/10. The KRELL was a 7.5/10 (for my music).

It is now the CODA #8 and the Voyager for the final shootout to see which stays with the Thiel. Or I could state, does the CODA #8 ever come off the Thiel’s.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,327 posts
 
I don't see any images on-line yet of the innards of the Peachtree, but the back panel is organized completely differently from the Voyager.  Of course the modules and power supply may still be the same.
ricevs
1,543 posts
 
I assume you are using the Conductor speaker wire on both the Coda and Voyager when driving the Thiel's?
yyzsantabarbara
5,123 posts
 
@ricevs Yes the Conductor SE speaker cable. The FrontRow is on the sidelines until next week. I did try the FrontRow for 1 album and it is at another level of goodness. However, I reluctantly took it off and put in the Conductor cable for the past few hours.

I will be burning in the Voyager on the RAAL interface box (I have 2 of these now) until Monday. After a few more hours the weekend starts and I will let the Voyager burn in non-stop. I won't be listening this weekend on this system. That should get me very close to 200 hours.
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