2. amps-preamps
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Peachtree GaN 1 Beta

Before I start my post here is my current system for reference:

Auarlic Aries G1 --> Denafrips Terminator or SW1X DAC --> Audio GD HE1 XLR preamp or Sachs preamp --> various tube amps --> Cube Nenuphar Mini's w/ a pair of REL S510 subs. Cables and power conditioning commensurate with the rest of the system.

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As warmer months approach I have been looking for a cool running amp to replace my Line Magnetic LM-518 and other tube amps for a few months as they run pretty hot.

I've been interested in the GaN FET amps and just purchased a used LSA Voyager 350 Gan FET amp which I should receive in a few days. I've tried class D amps before and while they checked a lot of boxes I just didn't feel drawn in. However, I like to explore so I figured I'd try the GanFET and since the amp has zero feedback and my speakers seem to prefer amps with little or no feedback I figured it be worth checking out.

Today, Peachtree Audio sent out an email inviting users to a beta of their new Gan 1 amp. Here are some excerpts from their email:

 

What is the GaN 1?

In basic terms it is a 200 Watts-Per-Channel (WPC) Power Amplifier designed to be the sole interface between your digital audio device with a variable output, like a Bluesound NODE, and your speakers. The GaN 1 is a simple, pure and cost-effective audio solution: connect the GaN 1 to a streamer and a pair of speakers and you have an amazing Hi-Fi system. That's it...no DAC, no preamp and no input switching. The signal path from the music to your speakers is remarkably short and free of artifacts. Want to hear the intricate details in your music that have always been there, but you couldn't quite make them all out before? Then the GaN 1 is for you!

What makes the GaN 1 so special?

First and foremost is the GaN-FET amplifier module. It has several inherent advantages in a power amplifier that even the best MOS-FET designs simply cannot achieve. A GaN-FET power stage provides a precise high-power reproduction of the Class-D PWM signal with extremely high linearity. This linearity eliminates the need for ANY feedback, ultimately allowing for the best possible audio quality providing clean, clear middle and high frequencies and a tight, solid reproduction of low frequencies. GaN-FETs track the complex audio waveforms MUCH more accurately than MOS-FETs, resulting in significantly more transparent and natural sound. The difference is something even a casual listener can hear and appreciate. The GaN 1 is also designed so that it does NOT require a digital-to-analog-converter (DAC). The digital audio signal at the input directs the amplifier outputs to drive the speakers. Although DACs have continued to improve over the years, there is no DAC better than NO DAC! This concept is not new as similar devices known as "Power DACs" made quite a splash in our industry years ago. But this time around, by executing the concept with GaN-FETs, the bar is raised to an entirely new level.

Key Features at a Glance:
▪ 200 WPC state-of-the-art GaN-FET module
▪ ZERO feedback design
▪ Regulated 450-Watt power supply
▪ Coaxial S/PDIF input with native support up to 24-bit / 192kHz
▪ DAC-less design
▪ Power on/off trigger port
▪ All aluminum chassis
▪ No cooling fans

 

This sounded really interesting to me and since I have a good streamer I signed up for the amp beta only. One aspect that intrigues me is to create an extremely minimal signal path. My speakers are single driver, crossover-less design. Employing the GaN 1 will mean the system will be Auralic Aries --> GaN 1 --> Cube Nenuphar Mini's. Will that lead to a more engaging sound vs the full system? Will the Voyager GaN 350 outperform a tube amp in the full system? Who knows, should be fun to find out....

Now, I have no idea how either of these GaN FET amps will work with my speakers. The Cube Nenuphars seem to prefer amps with low damping and no negative feedback, which is more common with SET tube amps and Class A solid state amps. I'm not sure of the damping factor of the GaN FET amps, but both are Zero feedback designs, and both have way more wattage than I need. For reference, I have a 1.5 wpc 45 tube amp that sounds amazing with the Cubes, so high wattage is not required. I am interested though in what these amps will sound like compared to my tube amps, and I am particularly interested in what the streamer direct to amp Peachtree will sound like.

I am also looking to acquire a First Watt SIT-3, which is a great match with the Cubes, but now that they are no longer produced prices have gone above my current comfort level. If I can get one I will throw it into the experiment.

The Peachtree won't be shipped until sometime in June, or possibly later. In the meantime I will get the LSA Voyager in the next few days. I might even be able to get it hooked up this weekend so stay tuned, should be an interesting experiment...
abd1
mofojo
2,303 posts
 

It’s like Kenjit for amps! Ha. 

thespeakerdude
483 posts
 

My vote is with the guy who has built a Class D architecture from the ground up and "the other guy". I don’t place much faith in someone who does not know the difference between Class D and a digital PWM like amplifier.

@kuribo , fraud or charlatan may be a bit harsh. In result there may be no difference, but I believe the person in question faithfully believes what they believe though the lack of knowledge is obvious in the writing and the hubris is shocking to me personally. The best people I work with in audio are very confident but also very humble in their abilities. They would never think to make such claims.

If we make a change to a product and a difference can be heard by anyone, we can always measure a change. Always. Those best people I mentioned, they usually have a very good idea what it is before we have the measurements. It does require having measuring equipment.

ricevs
1,543 posts
 

The lack of your knowledge is not shocking....it is a common trait amongst those that refuse to listen and think they know everything there is about audio by looking at meters and squiggles. Only about 10% of serious audiophiles believe like you ASR types......the other 90% actually think that cables, and line conditioners, capacitors, resistors, etc.....all make a sonic difference and those 90% know that the sonic difference is heard (and they hear it) but cannot be measured.  Why are you on a forum where you are the serious minority?  Do you just like being right?  Why would you comment about something that you have no interest in nor would you ever even try listening to it to see if it makes a difference?  What is your purpose here?  No one can learn anything from you because you do not listen.  "Just buy the stuff that measures the way we say is best".......is all you say.....over and over again.  Very sad......If feel sorry for you....you are missing out on so much goosebumps from discovering some free tweak that blows your mind.....really!!!....the universe is infinite.....you are infinite...exporation is fun.

thespeakerdude
483 posts
 

You are right. I don’t listen to people who don’t know the difference between Class D and a digital amplifier. I don’t listen to people who make wild claims so obviously false. I don’t listen to people who post manifestos on the web filled with easily recognized errors.

I do listen to the many speaker designers, acoustic physicists, and EEs i work with who in total have many hundreds of years of audio work experience. I listen to our panels of experts listeners working in controlled conditions. I listen to my customers who include mixing, mastering and recording engineers, and even artists.

Call me crazy.

kuribo
524 posts
 

Always the go to fallacy: "people who criticize don’t listen"...just another deflection.

Who are you to decree that just because people trust science, logic, and reason rather than your self serving, self interested fairy tales, they don’t listen? Maybe many have and the issue is in fact that there is nothing to hear amongst the unsubstantiated, unproven-or should I say disproven?- claims you make (and make money of off)? Who are you tell everyone that your hack jobs will universally improve the sound of an amp? Even if your "tweaks" actually improved the performance of an amp, there are sure to be people who don’t think they improve the sound- tastes differ. Talk about fantasy...

It’s not slander to call out the truth. First, prove your "tweaks" actually do something other than degrade the performance of an amp, then prove that whatever you’ve done is universally accepted as an improvement. You can’t prove or verify your claims, yet you are a non-stop ad machine always sneaking in your services here on this hobbyist board, always spewing the same unsubstantiated claims. Audio is full of charlatans always ready to fleece the unknowledgeable and insecure. You might fool 90% of those on this forum but you won’t fool everyone.

Of course your disagree with Ralph- what could someone who actually designs and sells equipment possible know, compared to someone who makes a living off of other people's work, jumping on every new amp with fantastic claims of "improvement"? To actually think that some solder gun jockey could actually somehow know better than the designers of these products really is beyond the pale. Kind of like some 6th grade kid with a watch teaching Stephen Hawking about time...
 

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