Affordable GaN FET amp from Peachtree Audio

Didn’t TacT do this decades ago? Doesn’t Lyngdorf still do it?

Doesn't the big Technics integrated do something similar?  It has an ADC for incoming analog signals, then the digital signal can be manipulated if necessary, and then it's handed off to the amplifier section.

Yes it does. In my post @7:57am I cite a reviewers take on the Technics where he describes the process, as best he can. It's the same for my Technics SU-G700M2.

And yes, TacT, Wadia, Lyndorf all do something similar but the GaN FETs are stirring the pot more than ever.

All the best,
Nonoise

Some history:

Tact (Tocatta Technologies) was the first to do this back in the late 90s.....nothing new here. Tocatta Tech was sold to TI and they made chips that Panasonic used in some receivers back in the early 2000s.....Mr. Lyndorf was part of Tact and went on to make the Lyndorf amps (which he still makes and sells).......Technics released their first digital direct amp a few years ago and continues to do the same in cheaper amps and now Elegant Audio Solutions came up their own version of this type of circuit a few years ago and the Peachtree is the first implemtation of these inexpensive EAS boards.

Yes, there is digital to Analog coversion done in these amps....but not in the traditional way......there are NO analog amplifiers (op amps) in the circuit.....and no traditional DAC chips. The digital signal (PCM) is converted directly to PWM (class D type of output stage) directly in software. Tact stated in their white paper back then that this process was "inherently non linear".....hence it took them a long time to get it right.....of course, EAS has their own engineers and we have way more processing power now so hopefully this thang sounds great.

Because there are no analog stages.....there is no feedback....so the distortion measurements of this module are going to be worse than the EAS module in the regular Peachtree/LSA GaN amps. But, as most of us know.......measurements do not tell you much about how good or pure something sounds. If you are a measurements are GOD person then you will want to stick to Purifi, Benchmark and Orchard.....These amps measure REALLY good.......and they also sound really good......as good as this "digital in only baby?".......we shall find out soon.

The amp, like all others, can be modded with better jacks, wires, beefed up power supplies, etc.....for increased sonic wonderment.

Thanks for the history lesson. 👍
Something tells me that with the use of GaN FETs and lots of good old time on their hands (for all the R&D being done), the future is going to look a lot brighter for "digital" amps.

The sound I'm hearing out of my Technics SU-G700M2 is unlike anything I've heard and yet it's all in a good way. As I adjust to the sound and notice what sounds like minor trade offs are beginning to look more like the shedding of bad aspects and maskings and the revealing of more musical information, if that makes any sense.

It's more than a different perspective, but it's still early in the game.

All the best,
Nonoise