There is already someone who A/Bed the Peachtree with the GaN 5 and someone else A/Bed the AGD Audion's with the GaN 5. The difference between the amps was similar.....so I would say the Peachtree/Voyager would be closer to the AGD than the GaN 5. and no mods to any amps.....I will be modding the GaN 5 soon, as well. |
I ordered the Mini Gan yesterday. It checked these boxes for me. I am in need of an amp. I want to find out what this class D stuff is all about. The specs seem to be a good match for my gear and I love the small footprint. Ideally I will use this amp as a bridge in the rapidly evolving class D world. Hope I like this class D stuff. |
@rocray I have DIY FirstWatt F4, F5, F6, Aleph J and M2x. And I have the Peachtree GaN 400 and Mini GAN 5. I compared the GaN 400 directly against the First Watt M2x which had been my favorite of the First Watt amps. I preferred the GaN 400 for its deeper soundstage and greater sense of separation but as I have listened to it more I confess I am starting to be bothered by its somewhat thin, albeit very pure and transparent presentation. The F5 is a beast with a very distinctive sound signature. It isn't a particularly nuanced amp. It is a lot of fun to listen to but in many ways my least favorite of the First Watt amps. If you love the F5 my guess is the GaN 400 will sound very different and you might not like it. Certainly comparing those two amps will clearly contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each amp in a stark way. |
Class D can dazzle in the beginning but as your experiencing the typical class D faults start to raise their ugly head even with GAN. Design is key there is no way around it just because it it uses GAN does not mean great sound. Too many think GAN is a stairway to heaven it can be but only if your good at designing ones circuit, these off the shelf boards in my experience come up short. There is less than a handful of class D amps that can play with the big boys. Most buying these lesser class D amps are looking for a bargain and will convince themselves that they have found it and for them maybe they have. If i were manufacturing these amps and saw posts about mods making the amps sound so much better i would really be upset. Most consumers will not view this as a positive but as a negative. |
If I were manufacturing these amps and saw posts about mods making the amps sound so much better I would really be upset. Most consumers will not view this as a positive but as a negative.If it is the case, where building is never a no cost objectivity, when making a profit is a consideration, perhaps it might be a driver in better future products? Which will cost more, which the modification also does. We're still in the early days of the developing GaN amplifiers, I doubt we've seen even close to the pinnacle of SQ in sound available in the near future?? But then, who knows. |
A product would never come to market. There is a price segment for each component, a manufacture could have added another 1k by adding an extra this and that but now it’s no longer a 3k amp which was the attraction in the first place, this being done to a new to the market product is not what the manufacture wants to see, it’s different if you have an outdated product and wish too upgrade to current performance. Otherwise it shows that said product is ok but needs help which in this instance seems to be the case. |
@rh67 - However, I don't think it's going to stop people purchasing it if they think it's a good deal, and knowing that a well respected modifier as ricevs has proven to be, can make it even better for not an insulting extra fee. An example from back home was the sale of upgraded PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP integrateds, it came with a neat Duelund capacitor upgrade that really gave it a substantial bump in performance. They were being sold new, with the upgrade done in house, some waited for warranty to expire, many just went for the upgrade. I suppose even I would prefer to have the upgrades performed by the manufacturer so that warranty issues would be avoided. But if you want the performance right away, and it's there to be had, many will not wait. |
What most people don’t understand is that all products need modding....yes, everything I have ever seen....I can make sound better. When you buy a $70K corvette.....you might not blink an eye spending another $40K to get 1100+ horsepower and 8 second quarter miles. That is because everything in drag racing is known. NOTHING is known....he he...in high end audio. Every single thing you do makes a difference sonic wise and most things cannot be measured......so, everyone is afraid to mod.....they think "only the manufacturer knows enough about this product to improve it." Actually, the truth is the opposite. There are tons of people out there that can improve the amp or whatever. There is a guy on What’s Best who took his $25K Audio Research Anniversary preamp and did thousands and thousands of $ worth of mods to it. He says it is in another world.....compared to stock. Why did D’Agostino put big heavy brass binding posts on his $250,000 Relentless amps? Why would he run the signal through a hunk of brass rather than a low mass WBT copper connector? Why would he screw up the sound? Maybe he does not know better. Probably is the truth. So, put some WBT output connectors on a Relentless amp and you have a better sounding amp. Please send me your Relentless amps (575 lbs. each) so I can mod them......NOT!!!!! By the way, the Audion amps use low mass WBT copper output connectors.....yeah for them. Most people have never tweaked anything.....most don’t even take off the cover and look inside. The first thing I do when I get a new component is take off the cover and see what I can change to get better sound. I have been doing this since 1980. Most manufacturers have a set goal. A lot of them do not even believe in subjective tweaking. Several of the class D modules (GaN and otherwise) were designed purely for specs or specs plus what they consider "low distortion parts"....mostly gotten by inference. The Voyager and the Peachtree use the same modules and power supply. They will sound similar but not the same. The chassis and its resonance, the footers, the jacks, wiring, etc. all have a sound. |
pinwa, Thanks so much for your comments. I am very impressed with the soundstage of the F5,and even more so with the J2. To hear that the Peachtree GaN 400 has a deeper soundstage compared to the M2 is very impressive. I have never heard the M2, but the two FW amps I have posses stellar (IMHO) separation,pinpoint imaging, and soundstage. I think the J2 does this a little better than the F5,but I find the F5 to have a little better detail. After reading your comparison, would you say the FW has more”meat on the bones” than the GaN 400? I am really in love with the FW amps,however I always try to have an open mind. |
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rixthetrick Not saying your wrong but myself having once been in the industry as a manufacture i'm looking at it from a manufactures point of view. Nothing more. |
rocray, The First Watt F5 definitely has more "meat on the bones" than the GaN 400. But if you start doing an A/B comparison with other First Watt amps I think you will conclude that the F5 isn't a particularly nuanced or accurate amp. I felt it had a very specific sound that was a lot of fun to listen to but ultimately I replaced it with the Aleph J. I think First Watt amps in general have very good soundstages and imaging but the GaN 400 truly excels there. Comparing it to the M2x, I often felt like the sound was being unveiled. It is the most appealing part of the GaN 400. If you have heard the F6 I would say the GaN 400 sounds most like the F6 with a kind of purity and clarity that is fairly unique. But it does come at the cost of that fat, liquid, rounded sound that good tube amps give you. So far I have yet to find the perfect amp but then I'm not willing to spend 5 figures on an amp either so it may well be out there. And remember, a lot of this is personal preference. If you want that bass slam that the F5 offers then that would be a better fit for you. |
rocray, I generally run my DAC straight into the amplifier. I do have the Schiit Freya, Elkit TU-8500DX, and DIY Wayne's BA2018 preamps that I have tried with the GaN 400 etc. but generally I find I like the sound straight from the DAC better. I mostly use the SMSL SU-9 but I also have the Denefrips Ares II and I find it very difficult to hear a difference between them although the Ares II does sound a touch better but the convenience of the SU-9 really tops any sonic difference. The Elekit TU-8500DX does give the GaN 400 wonderfully liquid vocals but I seem to lose that holographic soundstage when I use a preamp. |
@rh67: Class D can dazzle in the beginning but as your experiencing the typical class D faults start to raise their ugly head even with GAN. Design is key there is no way around it just because it it uses GAN does not mean great sound. I'm a little confused. Are you not the same person who owns the Audion amps which I believe are class D/GaN? I thought you really liked them and preferred them over some big $$$ amps you've owned or heard in the past. |
arafiq Yes, understand i said design is key. Not all GAN amps are are equal. The AGD design is excellent which equals excellent SQ. Hope you understand now. Don't let one particular member muddy the water for you, he's continuing to bury himself. |
pinwa I also have that Elekit pre that was given to me because the owner of it that didn’t realize it was a fairly complex kit, and way above his pay grade to make up, so he gave it to me for fixing his Pass Labs power amp. I made it up with even better coupling caps and a better tube compliment, I had to beef up the heater current circuit though, for the beefier tubes I used, and yes for a tube pre it is very very good, and very silent, but as you found also, direct was better. Maybe on bad recordings the Elekit would be more forgiving, but that’s not what I want, "to lower the best, so the worst is a little more acceptable but still bad". Cheers George |
