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 would think low-volume performance in Class D amps is not solely reliant on low noise (albeit that being a huge factor), but also the amount of attention in delivering the appropriate quality and control in those first few watts?

The first few watts are always the best...then its always down hill from there as the volume goes up.

Playing at low volume does not require a lot of watts so most any good quality amp should do well.

As I think mentioned earlier, human hearing and Fletcher-Munson is teh key issue for good sound at low volumes in most cases. FInding an amp at most any realistic cost that can deliver enough power for low volume is just not practically a problem.

 

Now in teh case of high efficiency speakers, where the effects of just a few watts gets magnified, it is more of an issue perhaps but so also is noise.

Easy cases like low volume is where measurements are your friend in particular. That is the only way to truly know what performs best OBJECTIVELY or better than others. Subjectively, anything is possible. A poor quality overly bright amp may sound better at low volume due to aforementioned Fletcher-Munson, but crank up teh volume and be prepared for greater chance of ear bleed.

Fletcher Munson Curves

 

 

Ralph is in in the room. Cool. Met him at Axpona. Great guy with great stories. Thanks to jeffseight for introducing me to Ralph.

As an update. I'm still running Orchard Audio on my Center and Surrounds. I got a killer deal on a pair of Black Ice F100's that I couldn't pass up. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9Te5RTN1NUyC9G3NA

I've also listened to a pair of Atmas-Phere Amps that Ralph designed on a pair of PS Audio FR30's. They are a good match. 

I tried orchard starkrisen, if you never compare it you’ll like it it is very good but my Hegel h360 is much better 

@nickintroy Which one did you try, Rev 1.0 or Rev 2.0? Did you have one with an upgraded power supply? In what ways is the Hegel better?

Earlier in this thread I mentioned I was impressed with the Cambridge EDGE A. There has been more than one review where it compares that amp to a Hegel H590 which is $12K or so, and it seems the Cambridge outperforms the Hegel. If you’re saying an even lower tiered Hegel beats the Starkrimson, that’s eye-opening and makes me want to drop it from my consideration set.