What are the best GaN Amplifiers available today?


There have been a number of threads discussing the wonder of GaN and some of the individual amplifiers that have caught peoples attention, including those from AGD, Atma-Sphere, Peachtree, LSA, etc. Has anyone done a shootout against two or more GaN amps? If so, which did you prefer, and why? And on what speakers?

Also, of the one you preferred, do you prefer it over every other amplifier you’ve ever heard? If not, what non-GaN amp do you enjoy more?

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I am using a pair of AGD Tempo (bi-amping). I compared the AGD's to the Atmasphere monos and to a Pass XA-25. 

Both the Pass and the Atmasphere's are darker than the AGD's in my system (Bakert Rhythm pre and Fyne F1-8 speakers). The AGD's are smooth, detailed, and balanced - again in my system and to my ears. If you have speakers that are a little bright you might prefer the Atmasphere monos which are also excellent.

@yyzsantabarbara 

 

Always appreciate your thorough assessments. I have a Voyager and love it. I also have a Ric Schultz EVS 1200 and love it too

The amps I want to hear is the Daniel Hertz Maria "amps". It is like the PeachTree GAN1, but maybe not GAN. It also has an A2D convertor for analog sources. I also believe a sub is easy to hook up to it. No remote control though.

I am looking for forward to what the future will bring with Peachtree GAN1 like pieces. Eliminating so many items makes sense to me in many ways other than just cost.

BTW - when I owned the LSA Voyager 350 it was with the older KEF LS50 and the Thiel CS3.7. I forgot I had not upgraded to LS50 Meta yet. I sold the Voyager because my CODA #8 that I owned at that time was stronger on the bass for the hard to drive Thiel CS3.7. Wish I had not sold the CODA #8, it is perfect for the LRS+.

As I post this comment, I am listening to some Earth, Wind, and Fire on the LRS+ and PeachTree GAN1 and each time I hear this MODDED "amp" I am shocked at how good it sounds. Just beautiful.

 

Thank you for all of the responses so far. 

@verdantaudio I agree there is no objective best amp. I’m asking about peoples’ preferences and the reasons they landed there. I am not hoping to get a unified alignment on this thread, but get broad knowledge about what’s available and how they differ. Which AGD amps did you compare to the Atma - were they the Audion? Would you characterize them as rolled off on top, or just sweet? My brother has the Audion, though he lives too far for me to be able to try them in my system to compare. 

@jeffseight To my knowledge, Aavik uses Purifi, not GaN. I agree they are some of the best Class D, and I have a high affinity for them. I own Borresen 02 as we speak. 

@markmuse Interesting to hear that you find the Tempo to be less dark than the Atma as others comment that the Audion are darker than the Atma. This is helpful to understand what might be gained by moving up to the Tempo. I’d be curious to hear of anyone who has compared the AGD Audion to their higher offerings and share their impressions. I personally have heard the Atma monos at shows and have found them to be brighter / more detailed than many non-GaN solid state amps. I’m guessing that Ralph voices the monos to be more like his OTLs, of which I have owned two (MA-1 and S-30). 

@yyzsantabarbara Thanks for the impressions between the GAN1 and GAN400. I wasn’t aware Ric Schultz was offering mods. I’ll look into that as well  

Keep the comments rolling, it’s all helpful!

 

@blisshifi 

If I remember a conversation with Alberto correctly the Tempo is simply a stereo version of the Audion, probably with a common but beefier power supply. I have two of them to use as mono blocks that also bi-amp. 

If the Audion's and Tempo's are rolled off in the HF, I might now be able to hear it. I can't hear anything over 10k. But I think there was a model upgrade in the Audion at some point. Maybe wrong, but if so that might account for different perceptions.

I don't think Rick Shultz is modding GaN amps anymore. I had an LSA Voyager I was going to send to him, but he said he wasn't doing it any more. That was a year or two ago.

You might contact Alberto at AGD. He replies to emails to his site.