Anybody else waiting for GaN and Purify to have a baby?

@rocray I have DIY FirstWatt F4, F5, F6, Aleph J and M2x.  And I have the Peachtree GaN 400 and Mini GAN 5.  I compared the GaN 400 directly against the First Watt M2x which had been my favorite of the First Watt amps.  I preferred the GaN 400 for its deeper soundstage and greater sense of separation but as I have listened to it more I confess I am starting to be bothered by its somewhat thin, albeit very pure and transparent presentation.

The F5 is a beast with a very distinctive sound signature.  It isn't a particularly nuanced amp.  It is a lot of fun to listen to but in many ways my least favorite of the First Watt amps.  If you love the F5 my guess is the GaN 400 will sound very different and you might not like it.  Certainly comparing those two amps will clearly contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each amp in a stark way.

Class D can dazzle in the beginning but as your experiencing the typical class D faults start to raise their ugly head even with GAN. Design is key there is no way around it just because it it uses GAN does not mean great sound. Too many think GAN is a stairway to heaven it can be but only if your good at designing ones circuit, these off the shelf boards in my experience come up short. There is less than a handful of class D amps that can play with the big boys. Most buying these lesser class D amps are looking for a bargain and will convince themselves that they have found it and for them maybe they have.

If i were manufacturing these amps and saw posts about mods making the amps sound so much better i would really be upset. Most consumers will not view this as a positive but as a negative.

If I were manufacturing these amps and saw posts about mods making the amps sound so much better I would really be upset. Most consumers will not view this as a positive but as a negative.

If it is the case, where building is never a no cost objectivity, when making a profit is a consideration, perhaps it might be a driver in better future products? Which will cost more, which the modification also does.

We're still in the early days of the developing GaN amplifiers, I doubt we've seen even close to the pinnacle of SQ in sound available in the near future?? But then, who knows.

A product would never come to market. There is a price segment for each component, a manufacture could have added another 1k by adding an extra this and that but now it’s no longer a 3k amp which was the attraction in the first place, this being done to a new to the market product is not what the manufacture wants to see, it’s different if you have an outdated product and wish too upgrade to current performance. Otherwise it shows that said product is ok but needs help which in this instance seems to be the case.

@rh67 - However, I don't think it's going to stop people purchasing it if they think it's a good deal, and knowing that a well respected modifier as ricevs has proven to be, can make it even better for not an insulting extra fee.

An example from back home was the sale of upgraded PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP integrateds, it came with a neat Duelund capacitor upgrade that really gave it a substantial bump in performance. They were being sold new, with the upgrade done in house, some waited for warranty to expire, many just went for the upgrade.

I suppose even I would prefer to have the upgrades performed by the manufacturer so that warranty issues would be avoided. But if you want the performance right away, and it's there to be had, many will not wait.