2. amps-preamps
  3. 168820-2546

Stock Voyager GaN amp (350/600) Contrasted with my EVS1200 (600/1200)

The Voyager (V) I received is well broken in, and as the title says, it is stock. An upgraded version will come later.


I let the V warm up for ~ 24 hours while I listened to my beloved EVS 1200 (~$2300) playing a wide variety of Redbook CDs; The Judds, Chris Issak Heart Shaped World, Leonard Cohen remastered collection, Willie Nelson Across the Borderline, the Eagles Hell Freezes Over, and Jennifer Nettles Playing with Fire (love the music, but the mastering has a few ear bleed cuts- or does it???). I capped the session off with Roger Waters Amused to Death SACD, a huge, occasionally very dynamic, and intentionally phasey recording. While I enjoyed the hell out this listening session, but afixed in my mind was reading others reporting on their not fully broken in V amps frequently mentioning detail/clarity, the music via the EVS 1200 wasn't as focused as I felt it should, but have accepted for 2 years, as it easily outperformed my PS Audio M700s (MSRP $4000), FYI, their M1200s are based on the same IceEdge AS1200 modules as my EVS 1200, but untouched. They simply added their own tube input stage (MSRP $7000), and Audio Alchemys DPA-1 ($2000), wish I could have tried the monos ($4000), but...


Could  the lack of focus be elsewhere, like the Wire World Electra 7 Power Conditioning cord ($240), connected to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5, which is IMO, my weakest PC, all the others are $700+, or my $150 Pangea XL coax cable? How would the V stack up?  Im thinking it can't be THAT much better, and what about the huge power disparity in my ~ 26 x 38 X 12 lively room with lots of glass and open beam ceilings, which adds up to brightness?


I connected the V, but didn't want to start with any of the same discs, just in case the V needed to see some signal before being ready for the comparison, so I chose Getz/Gilberto Jobim and Astrud Gilberto SACD as a nice way to ease into the Voyager. I haven't listened to this disc in months, so no recent memory to taint hearing it now. Did I say 'ease'. Silly me.


I'll cut to the chase hear/here, from the first note, it was obvious that this is a special amp, but at $3500 MSRP? OMG: What a steal!!! The focus reminds me of how much sharper and with greater depth of field pictures taken with Leica camera lens are, compared to all other cameras and lenses. GaNs magic is the equivalent of Tesla EV motor speed- immediate: The V grabbed me from the first note.


More  to come after I go through the Redbook CDs that I started with, but I already know it's a moot point. And wilder, still, LSA has already made a few tweaks, like the internal wiring for an additional $175.


Ric Schultz was right when he said expensive amps will be boat anchors
tweak1
viber6
2,454 posts
 
Ricevs,
Yes, the review contained no comparisons, which we all wanted.  He is an old man, so may not want to bother.  Still, his few words are informative, like the amp being uncolored.  This is much more informative than a typical young reviewer going off on his emotional tangents saying how a component gives him peace and improves his relationship with his friend, etc.  That one word, "uncolored" is enough for the interested listener to go hear the amp somewhere, and better yet, try it himself.  All too often, audiophiles hang on the every word of the reviewer as though he were a mystical guru.  All these reviewers are full of BS.  The best source of info is threads like this, where the owner doesn't have a business interest in the product which would bias his statements.  In particular, yyz and tweak1 have done great jobs telling us honestly what they hear, comparing AHB2 and EVS1200 to Voyager/Peachtree.  When they tell us the effects of your mods, the advertising bias and increasing uselessness of the mags will be further exposed.
art_boston
45 posts
 
We are seriously off topic!
Let's wait for tweak1 to get us back on it.
tweak1 OP
3,680 posts
 
I’ve long felt AC was a hack reviewer, never not liking a product in decades of reviews (yes, it’s a double negative, but, in this case I think it makes the point clearer), but in this review his comments about the Technics mirrored my own with the Voyager, which is why I posted it, to help answer viber’s questions, and Im sure others.

Last night I listened to a very very old favorite, Barbara Joan Streisand Columbia 1971 remastered from original tapes. Never ever has it sounded so life like, open, effortless, and dare I say; non digital. IMO (and to be fair, GeorgeFi all along, switching speed is a BFD), and quite likely the primary difference between it and my long beloved EVS1200.

There is no going back
Not the remaster: https://www.amazon.com/Barbra-Joan-Streisand/dp/B0000024XL

hth
art_boston
45 posts
 
@tweak1:
switching speed is a BFD
 Then how do you explain AGD's Audion at only 400kHz - at least the first gen? Granted, it's now at 800kHz in its second gen but the first gen is universally praised for SQ.
I've said it in other threads: Alberto has an inside track on this technology and is way ahead of the game. Sure, other manufacturers will "brute force" it with higher speeds and even George's holy grail of 1.5MHz. But, Alberto's TOTAL design is smarter and superior to others and it shows in SQ.
A telling comparison would be between Technics SE-R1 and the Audion.
viber6
2,454 posts
 
Merrill W. in his Element GaN's, told me that LOWER switching speed is actually better.  This is because dead time is a fixed constant for the particular transistor, so if there is lower switching speed, there is a longer time before switching needs to occur, or that the fraction of time spent doing the switching is lower with a lower freq of switching.  His GaN's use a switching speed of 400 kHz.

That aside, I agree with art_boston who implies that the overall design is far more important than any 1 factor, such as switching speed.
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