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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Someone previously posted that most comments on GAN were not using higher end non-GAN amps as comparison.

This morning I took the Peachtree GAN400 down to the much larger Livingroom where I have the amazing Yamaha NS5000 speakers. Here is what I heard compared to the CODA #16:

  • the slight hardness on top with the GAN400 is even more noticeable with the NS5000. The preamp upstairs is the Holo Serene and the NS5000 downstairs uses the Benchmark LA4. It is not the preamps that are making the difference. It is the better sounding NS5000 that is letting me hear the hardness on top.
  • the sound stage on the GAN400 is not as expansive as with the CODA#16.
  • The thump from the low end cannot compare to the CODA #16

Overall, the sound is about 8/10 and the CODA #16 is a 9.5/10. If the CODA #16 had the same top end as the Benchmark AHB2 I would give it a 10/10

The CODA #16 with my LRS+ in the smaller office

  • the hardness is totally gone witth the LRS+, same as when paired with the NS5000
  • the speaker hits harder with the #16 but not as noticeable as with the big woofers on the NS5000
  • the overall amp sound differences are less noticeable with the LRS+ compared to the NS5000. The NS5000 is a better speaker.

I am keeping the GAN400 for a while. Maybe until the next iterations of Class D of GAN come out. This would be for the LRS+.

If anyone is interested, I would be willing to sell the modded GAN1 since it is no longer used. Though a warning, using it is not for the faint of heart. It is bit more complicated.

 

This is Not a fair comparison...The CODA #16 is $13,000 W/O meters and $16,000 with meters....and you’re trying to compare it to a $2,000 amp and you say it’s Better...I should hope so...The Peachtree is one heck of an amp for 2K.....But use a Tubed pre amp....I get no harshness at all and a soundstage that's deeper and wider than my Tube amps.

I never said I was going for a comparison by price. Though price is really BS in audio these days. I just laugh at some of the prices. My comparison is of one of the best GAN amps I have owned vs one of the best Class A + AB amp I have owned. For example, the $3300 Benchmark AHB2 is better on the top end than the CODA #16.

The PeachTree GAN1 after Rics mods is almost as good as the CODA #16 on the LRS+ and KEF LS50 Meta. Not so close on the Yamaha NS5000. That amp cost me $1500 + $600 for mods. The reason I am not using it is I want my analog tuners to be used. The GAN1 has no preamp just 1 streaming SPDIF digital input. The elimination of so much circuitry and cables plus Rics mods make $1500 almost equal $15000 (Coda raised prices).

Of course, better to me may not be better to you.

 

I am very sensitive to hardness.....me no likey.  I bet my mods to the Peachtree amp would not only address that issue but make it sound better in many ways.  Since I modded its cousin, the LSA Voyager couple of years ago, I have come up with a couple more mods to do to the output board (changing the output filter caps to my modded Wima caps and also removing some parts it does not need).  Would love to see how far this $2000 amp could sound with a $500 mod.......Who will be the first?

 

 

OK Ric, I will send you the GAN400. I paid $1200 for it.

I had a modded Voyager 350 GAN before. It was much better than stock and did not have the hardness on top. It did as stock. The deficiency with the 350 GAN was the lack of real grunt on the low end. I listened to that amp with the Thiel CS3.7 in my small office (treated). Maybe that low end issue was due to power supply? The GAN400 seems more powerful than the 350 GAN. (LRS+ and Thiel CS3.7 are not easy to drive)

Ric, when I get the modded GAN400 back from you I am going to listen to Sinead O’Conner’s Troy back-to-back on the GAN400 and the CODA #16. That will be my goosebumps test.