What are the best GaN Amplifiers available today?

@derekw_hawaii Sorry to inform you that I have not sent the amp in to Ric (yet). I am not sure if I will sell it so I may not mod it. Since I sold my amazing RAAL VM-1a this week I needed to figure out how to get both my RAAL phones and my LRS+ to work with the gear I have. One result of this finding lead me to buy the Sanders Sound System MagTech amp today as the replacement for the GAN400 with the LRS+.

I have been using the GAN400 with the RAAL phones the last couple of days and it is very good, but still has that slight hardness. I will use the GAN400 this way for a while. The KRELL Duo XD amps are better on the phones than the GAN400 but I have no money or space for the KRELL at the moment.

I am listening to Robbie Robertson’s debut album on the LRS+ and the GAN400 as I type this, and I have never heard this album sound so good. I used to listen to this album at least once a week for maybe a decade. The 2 best speakers I had in the past were the Thiel CS3.7 and Revel Salon 1, but this LRS+ is just killing both of those with this album. Incredible sound for $1000. The GAN400 is also responsible for this so do not let my comments indicate that the GAN400 is a bad amp.

Even though I have not modded the GAN400 I do not expect Ric to make it sound even close to the CODA #16. The PeachTree GAN1 is an entirely different animal and I like that whole modded GAN1 system almost as much as the #16. I say this as someone who had Ric mod the LSA Voyager 350 GAN amplifier. He made it sound much better. However, it was not as good overall as my CODA #8 with my Thiel CS3.7 (both now sold). The GAN400 is the same internally as the Voyager (per Ric), though sounds stronger on the bass region. If the KRELL Duo were not in the back of my mind, I would have already sent the GAN400 for mods.

The CODA #16 is incredible. One reason I had comfort in buying the Magtech today is because I believe CODA made that amp for Sanders. Roger Sanders helped me figure out how to best setup the RAAL phones and speakers with my remaining gear. Great customer service.

@yyzsantabarbara  thanks for the update and no worries. Coincidentally, Roger's Magtech also has my attention, though budget and heat is a concern. I look forward to your listening observations via a vis the amps you have and had in your stable, and am curious as to how much heat the Magtech generate.

@derekw_hawaii On TMR a Magtech came up for sale at $2800. I think it sold in minutes. I then contacted MagTech and discussed a few things with them. I bought a used Magtech from them for $4K. This amp was given a thorough update from MagTech.

There was an issue I was reading about for heat and the MagTech (on A’gon). It seems it was an issue with some part from Motorola. That was rectified in 2015 so I am expecting my unit to also have the updated part.

I get the amp on Tuesday. Send me a DM if you want to get my opinion. This is the GAN thread so I will not digress more on it.

So, you are an expert on damping? You spent hundreds of hours with various damping materials and used them everywhere and you know which damping materials are linear and which are not and where to use it and where not to use it?

🙄

We've had optional damping packages available for our products for decades. We have lots of feedback and experience with a variety of damping systems (footers, stands and platforms) as well as extensional and constrained layer damping materials. I've consulted with engineers at firms that make damping materials and damping equipment, some of whom are also customers. Any of them, looking at your post to which I responded earlier, would simply say you don't know what you're talking about.

Some gear is far more sensitive to vibration than others; I've yet to run into a situation where such equipment received too much damping. OTOH I've seen poor or incompetent attempts at damping that has exacerbated problems in the equipment. That is why the myth of 'overdamping' is around. The effect of good damping is easy to hear and  measure.

@ricevs "...I doubt it. I am not an expert....".

Interesting comment. And you just poked the bear. It’s a very smart bear too, who knows these woods well, better than most who travel these forests. LOL 😂