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GaN Amp & Speaker Popping Sound At Power On

Forum Members,

I just got a GaN400 amp and when it is powered on, the speakers make a popping noise that is about the magnitude of the music at the Peachtree startup setting (volume of 3 out of a possibility of 8).  It does this whether I use the 12 volt trigger from the PreDAC or manually power on the amp on by pushing the power on button.  There is no way to start the amp with zero volume.   

I am using speaker wire with bare ends that are tightly attached to the speaker and amp connectors - verified this.  The popping noise is much louder than with the Nova500 that I am in the process of trading in for these new units.

I have observed that the popping tends to be louder with a longer gap between turning off and turning on (similar to the music volume at startup) vs turning off and on with a few second delay (sometimes quite a bit less loud than the music volume at startup).

Is this induced speaker popping noise a concern for long-term speaker damage with many on/off cycles?  

Those of you with this amp or other GaN amps, do you experience a similar popping sound out of your speakers at powerup?  Peachtree technical support stated that this was a characteristic of GaN technology.

Note, other than powerup, this amp is dead silent as far as noise induced artifacts, including when powering it off.

Appreciate your thoughts.  (Note that I am querying both Peachtree and my speaker manufacturer about this, but would like to hear back from you all.)
michiganbuckeye
25 responses Add your response
frreo1
5 posts
 

I have the Gan400,  and only get a minor click sound when turning on.  No popping noise like described above.  Using a Chord TT2 as the preamp. 

jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
appreciate that makers/principals like ralph and alberto are speaking up here to clarify the issue -- always helpful on a board where those without proper knowledge are quite apt to post incorrect and misleading info
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
^^ +1  Wut I said, way at the top of this thread.
agdproduction
29 posts
 
The pops have nothing to do with any technology. The explanation that they are correlated to what semiconductor material is used (GaN or Si) is basically non-sense. In general, all these issues of pops at turn-on or turn-off are related to the timing circuit that controls the operation of the power supply, and in the case of Class-D topologies, also the PWM block of the output power stage. In general, a higher or lower inductance of the load (hence cables of course) may exacerbate the issue due to the extra energy that the output stage has to handle. In other words, at turn-on and off, if the timing of applying (or removing) the different voltage rails present in the circuit (main bus voltages and all the logic and analog circuit voltages) is not correct, the output transistors may be prone to be driven on for a brief period of time, which is the reason of the small (or big) spike of current going through the load (speaker), hence the pop.
testrun
231 posts
 
Quiet.  Sorry trying to do too much at once. 
testrun
231 posts
 
I have a pair of AGD Audions and they are dead quite tuning on and off.
rc22
133 posts
 
My LSA Voyager GaN 350 pops when turning on.  Not when turning off.  I leave it on, but noticed popping when turning off to replace IC’s, clean wires, or swap cords.  
I reported this to LSA.  They are looking into it, but as long as it causes no damage to anything and isn’t indicative of an eventual failure in the product, I’ll let it go.  I wouldn’t like it if I turned the amp on each time I used my system, however.
hau72
3 posts
 
Yes, in Pro Audio, you do turn on/off equipment in a specific order to avoid pop noise.  However, this particular GaN400 makes pop noise with only the power cord and speaker cables connected to it and nothing else.
rh67
307 posts
 
Always power your pre amp first then the amp and other equipment, reverse when turning off equipment.
toyman
42 posts
 
My GaN400 also makes the pop, not very loud.

My nova300 and my amp500 did not pop when I turned them on. I use the same preDAC with the GaN400.
I also called Peachtree and they told me the noise was normal.
Will the noise happens on the amps that get modded, I wonder.
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
835 posts
 
Nothing from my Mini GaN 5 amp
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Peachtree technical support stated that this was a characteristic of GaN technology.”
That sounds like a copout statement, of a not well thought out design


No popping noise from my LSA Voyager Gan350 amp at system power up or down.

Nothing reported from the three Technics amps that use GaN either.

Cheers George
hifi59's avatar
hifi59
51 posts
 
“Those of you with this amp or other GaN amps, do you experience a similar popping sound out of your speakers at powerup? Peachtree technical support stated that this was a characteristic of GaN technology.”

No popping noise from my LSA Voyager Gan350 amp at system power up or down. (Amp stays on all the time per manufacturer recommendation ). 
art_boston
45 posts
 
I know my Apogee ribbons would not like that pop! It should be corrected.

I agree with leaving it on all the time. My H2O is so recommended and so are other class-D's.
koslekt1's avatar
koslekt1
78 posts
 
I don't know about the GaN400, but the Merrill Veritas amps (class D) I had were meant to be left on at all times - and honestly sounded better to me after a day or two of constant power.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

michiganbuckeye

GaN Amp & Speaker Popping Sound At Power On

Forum Members,

I just got a GaN400 amp and when it is powered on, the speakers make a popping noise that is about the magnitude of the music at the Peachtree startup setting (volume of 3 out of a possibility of 8). It does this whether I use the 12 volt trigger from the PreDAC or manually power on the amp on by pushing the power on button. There is no way to start the amp with zero volume.


Is it alarming loud, if so not good.
Do the bass drivers move in and out excessively, if so not good
If you have a sample hold dc volt meter you could tell us the peak dc voltage these pops are at.
Even if moderately loud, it’s not good over time even for the drivers, and maybe the xovers
Cheers George
hau72
3 posts
 
I just received my GaN400.  Mine has the same popping noise on power up as you described.  I emailed the salesperson and explained the problem.  She said the pop/static noise during startup is normal for this amp, it will cause no harm to the amp or the speakers. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
Must be in their amp designs.  Some sort of audible relay protection device?
I remember we had to do quite a bit of fiddling so that when the output devices turned on the amp was already switching. So our amp starts up dead silent.
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 
That’s a capacitor charging/discharging! A design flaw that was deemed insignificant! Just leave the amp on 24/7. Class D should run cool to the touch!
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,598 posts
 
Sounds like a Peach of a problem.  
The only popping I have is a Valid 2 slamming open the valve.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Must be in their amp designs.  Some sort of audible relay protection device?
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Yes my peachtree audio class D amp
made the same noise at turn on and off. 

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
Is this induced speaker popping noise a concern for long-term speaker damage with many on/off cycles?  

Those of you with this amp or other GaN amps, do you experience a similar popping sound out of your speakers at powerup? Peachtree technical support stated that this was a characteristic of GaN technology.
@michiganbuckeye  There's no danger to your speakers.

This is not a characteristic of GaNFETs. But it is something that class D amps can do if the designer didn't do something to prevent it.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,479 posts
 
Other Peachtree amps I have owned did this. 
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
Those of you with this amp or other GaN amps, do you experience a similar popping sound out of your speakers at powerup? Peachtree technical support stated that this was a characteristic of GaN technology.


nope
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