rixthetrick Not saying your wrong but myself having once been in the industry as a manufacture i'm looking at it from a manufactures point of view. Nothing more. |
rocray, The First Watt F5 definitely has more "meat on the bones" than the GaN 400. But if you start doing an A/B comparison with other First Watt amps I think you will conclude that the F5 isn't a particularly nuanced or accurate amp. I felt it had a very specific sound that was a lot of fun to listen to but ultimately I replaced it with the Aleph J. I think First Watt amps in general have very good soundstages and imaging but the GaN 400 truly excels there. Comparing it to the M2x, I often felt like the sound was being unveiled. It is the most appealing part of the GaN 400. If you have heard the F6 I would say the GaN 400 sounds most like the F6 with a kind of purity and clarity that is fairly unique. But it does come at the cost of that fat, liquid, rounded sound that good tube amps give you. So far I have yet to find the perfect amp but then I'm not willing to spend 5 figures on an amp either so it may well be out there. And remember, a lot of this is personal preference. If you want that bass slam that the F5 offers then that would be a better fit for you. |
rocray, I generally run my DAC straight into the amplifier. I do have the Schiit Freya, Elkit TU-8500DX, and DIY Wayne's BA2018 preamps that I have tried with the GaN 400 etc. but generally I find I like the sound straight from the DAC better. I mostly use the SMSL SU-9 but I also have the Denefrips Ares II and I find it very difficult to hear a difference between them although the Ares II does sound a touch better but the convenience of the SU-9 really tops any sonic difference. The Elekit TU-8500DX does give the GaN 400 wonderfully liquid vocals but I seem to lose that holographic soundstage when I use a preamp. |
@rh67: 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. I'm a little confused. Are you not the same person who owns the Audion amps which I believe are class D/GaN? I thought you really liked them and preferred them over some big $$$ amps you've owned or heard in the past. |
