LSA Voyager GAN Amplifier

My listening session with the another set of ears will happen tomorrow.

However, today I am going back and forth with the CODA #8 and Voyager, an apples-to-apples comparison. I am playing the same CD’s on my 20 year old Sony SCD-1 SACD player (modified to Vacuum State Level 5+). This source does not have DSP and is ’naked’ in my small room. I also still love the sound of this player, especially with SACD’s.

Today the Voyager sounded very clear now (more hours). I cannot complain that it is not as clear as the CODA. The sound was actually very good and non-fatiguing. The bass seemed a little shy but the music was very engaging and fast.

Once a disk was done I switched the XLR, Audience Conductor SE,  and power cord to the CODA #8 and played the same disk again. Now with CODA the bass is a bit too much in my room. It is giving me a bit of fatigue, but I am in a small room with wall treatments but that extra software digital DSP is beneficial for the CODA. Not a fault of the amp but the room.

The CODA also has more decay on the drum cymbals. The drum whacks are harder and more powerful. Maybe the term is ’air’ but the CODA has something to it that makes the Voyager sound a little flatter in comparison.

The Voyager is actually more enjoyable with the the ’naked’ SONY over the CODA #8 because of the stronger bass of the CODA giving me fatigue. The room needs to be tamed first. I felt this was also the same issue with the KRELL K-300i (btw - compared with the $15K Boulder 866 in Stereophile this month).

With my main digital streaming sources (DACs) this bass boom is not an issue with the CODA #8 because I have a Convolution filter for my Thiel CS3.7.

Thank you for that detailed comparison.  No doubt, the Voyager will have much more purity, air, speed and palpability once modded.  Should be an interesting A/B at that point.

Notes from Walter re the LSA Voyager and hard loads - 

The 350 is 2 ohm stable so will have no issue with the Thiels. Our amp is similar to the Peachtree but we use far superior inputs and binding posts and the amps comes with our $150.00 internal cable upgrade. Both very good but we feel ours is $5-10% better as these upgrades do make a difference. Yes, 15% restock charge but that includes the freight to you. You just return it to us.

Guess I'll wait and see what W4S comes out with.

yyz glad the Discovery sounds great with your 3.7s!  Fun times in hifi continue.  

Last night I listened to Alison Krauss + Union Station New Favorite. Listened to this disc at least 50-100 times. It was always entertaining, but I simply wasn't prepared for how everything sounded so clear, so focused and natural. Not even thinking about it, when the banjo played I was floored, as I never noticed it before, because it never had its own space or sounded so natural. Ditto all the musicians and singers.

I remind anyone interested in this amp to read the Absolute Sounds Technics review in Jul 2021 issue. As I read it the other day, he nailed everything Im hearing, which should help you decipher my scribblings on how the Voyager sounds