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
ricevs
1,454 posts
 

If you are constantly attacking someone....then you are not loving that person....and therefore, you are not loving yourself....as we are all one. When you point your finger at someone......three are pointing back at you. It is all projection.

More and more....I see nothing but love. But.....I do state the truth of what I HEAR and also the truth of what I see in others behavior (based on my state of being...btw...you are NOT your behavior). What truth are you stating? Who is living in fantasy mode and who is living in reality (what we experience in the here and now). I am your dady.....I am giving you the love lecture.....my sweet children.....you are also my dady (and I am your child)....that is the way it works.....we all lift or lower each other. I lift you to the highest of the high.....for that is what you are.

Ralph, You have stated a couple or more times now on Audiogon that you can measure parts....here is your latest: "Actually, a lot of the things in the list above do have measurable effects. The trick is knowing what to measure." You have never given us an example of measuring something and changing to another part and finding a measurement difference and then that difference results in a change in sound. As far as I know.....there is no way to measure resistors, capacitors, diodes, solder, wire, jacks, damping, directionality of wire, etc. If you use a large inductive part in a sensitive place...like a feedback loop.....then of course, it would change the distortion measurement.....Who the heck would use a large inductive part there? No one.

So please show us your many measurement tests followed by listening tests that prove your statement.....Lots of people say things here....very few back them up......Please show us your examples to prove that you did tests on "lot of things".

My proof of what I say is in what people say about THE SOUND of my work and products. You will read nothing but raves.....and I have been modding and manufacturing since 1977. My Ultimate Attenuators using shunt attenuators (which I re-invented). were rated in Stereophile as Class A for 7 years. Check out Audioreview for reviews of my Millennium DAC......do a search....you will see MY PROOF.......and in audio, the only thing that matters....the only thing that is true.....is what something sounds like.....all else....including measurements....iare secondary.....believe it or not.

Your turn......please lift us up....if you love us......if you love yourself. I love you all for ever and ever..........YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LOVED.....all is good and always has been. Joy to the world, for we are magnificent!!!! Let earth receive our blessings!......Bless....B L E S S......Beautifully....Love...Every...Single....Soul

You can do it.......it is your destiny......embrace it.....embrace yourself....embrace everyone and everything and every second.....

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,590 posts
 

Ralph, You have stated a couple or more times now on Audiogon that you can measure parts....here is your latest: "Actually, a lot of the things in the list above do have measurable effects. The trick is knowing what to measure." You have never given us an example of measuring something and changing to another part and finding a measurement difference and then that difference results in a change in sound. As far as I know.....there is no way to measure resistors, capacitors, diodes, solder, wire, jacks, damping, directionality of wire, etc. If you use a large inductive part in a sensitive place...like a feedback loop.....then of course, it would change the distortion measurement.....Who the heck would use a large inductive part there? No one.

Seriously? If you want to know the effect of a part in an amp, measure the amp not the part. In a class D tiny things can have a big effect, like how a lead is terminated inside a capacitor. If the amp is noisier it can radiate noise through the air and thru the AC wiring (as well as audio grounds). When this happens, it can interfere with other equipment producing things like hum or buzz, or increased errors in digital gear.

If the circuit is also zero feedback, just about anything can affect how it sounds. Combined with degraded noise floor its hard to imagine how that will turn out well. That is why I recommend that any modified class D amp be tested to meet or exceed EU directives for radiation. Its common sense.

In case its not really obvious, getting class D amps to behave and not make noise is most of the design work. Even if your layout is good, changing a single component such as a bypass capacitor can blow that out of the water.

Sound by itself isn’t enough- if the amp is noisy its a liability. I mentioned earlier that GaNFETs can switch really really fast. The deadtime in any GaNFET amp isn’t there for the output devices - it actually has a different purpose in GaNFET amps (extra credit: what is that purpose? If you can’t answer that question you are not qualified to work on the amp). If you make a change and the amp starts switching at 40MHz for no good reason, its a simple fact that the output devices will run hotter. Heat and cooling cycles impose limits on all electronics- GaNFETs are no exception. If they fail early on because they are running hotter, that’s not a good thing, right?

The bottom line for anyone looking inside a class D amp is if you plan to modify it for any reason, there is no integrity in doing that if you can’t be sure the noise isn’t affected.

 

kuribo
524 posts
 

So please show us your many measurement tests followed by listening tests that prove your statement.....Lots of people say things here....very few back them up.

 

Kettle, meet pot.

 


My proof of what I say is in what people say about THE SOUND of my work and products.

Opinions are not proof of anything, other than perhaps how gullible people can be.

ricevs
1,454 posts
 

So, you are clearly stating that changing parts does not matter because you have no test results that show that they do? As long as the amp measures the way you want then it does not matter what part you use? You earlier stated that a LOT of what I said could be measured. Now you are stating that you just measure the amp and as long as it measures OK..it is. You just keep measuring it so it has no rf? You are clearly not measuring A LOT of what I said. You are measuring NONE of what I stated. You are just measuring the entire amp and that is it. You have no idea of what parts SOUND LIKE.

You have never tested parts for distortion because it is impossible and you and everyone knows that.....However, all parts SOUND different.....no matter how they measure. I am sure your amp sounds great and measures fine and has no rf or other noises......so what? All the parts inside still have a sound.....this is what you will not address. If you change the brand of surface mount resistors in your amp to another brand....it will change the sound of the amp....and it is not measurable....it will measure the same. This is what I do mostly. I don’t make things measure worse or have more rf......I change parts so the amp sounds better.....something you and all the ASR people do not know is true......is that.....ALL PARTS HAVE A SOUND........and also execution of parts and layout and damping, etc. is important. If you do not put the outside foil of a cap to the negative polarity....it will not sound as good. Do you do this to your capacitors on the output of your amp? If not....please determine the outside foil and oriented the way I suggest and listen. EVERYONE who has tried this agrees with my findings. Again, the amp will not measure differently. There is a thread that you can find on Audiocircle where people describe the sonic benifits of using better modified caps oriented in the correct direction......quite dramatic is their findings.

kuribo
524 posts
 

ALL PARTS HAVE A SOUND

Shouting doesn't make something true.

No, all parts do not have a "sound". They have electric characteristics like resistance, capacitance, inductance. They have no sound or we wouldn't need speakers, would we?

Electrical characteristics can be measured. It's how parts are made, how they are tested, how they are spec'ed and used in circuits. An electrical device is just an assemblage of electrical components- the total a sum of the parts. If there is no change in the amps' measurements in toto, there can be no change in how it interacts with the load, and thus no change in the sound.

The only thing you have proven is that people are susceptible to confirmation bias. Of course, it is entirely possible your circuit hacking has degraded the performance of whatever you have operated on, and there is some change in actual sound. Some may in fact think they hear an improvement. But again, that just opinion, not fact. Since you don't actually test and compare actual performance, you have no idea.

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