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Is a GAn amp worth the switch?

I’m currently a happy owner of a Peachtree Nova500 integrated amp powering a pair of Magnepan 1.7s and streaming mostly using Qobuz through a Bluesound Node. All the hoopla about GAn transistors has me interested in the Peachtree GAN 400 amplifier and wondering about a preamp.

I’ve heard good things about the Schitt Freya S, including the price. I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations or opinions about my choices?

baconboy

Showing 1 response by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
4,517 posts
 

I am listening to the LRS+ and the PeachTree GAN400 as I type this. The GAN400 has a bit of hardness on the top that is not evident in a much more expensive amp I tried with LRS+. However, I can say that the PeachTree GAN1 is much better on the LRS+ and other speakers and almost rivals a system that cost 10x more. I only got to that conclusion after I got it modded for $500 by tweakaudio.com. You can only stream to it and the Bluesnode is a recommended streaming device for it. I have a better fibre streamer.

I owned the NOVA 150 for a few years and did not like it that much, but it made sense to use it until circumstances changed. The GAN1 and the GAN400 are much better than the NOVA 150. Though the weakness in the NOVA is the preamp part and not the amp (I tested this out).

I also owned the Freya+ and that tube warmth may work nicely with the slight harness of the GAN400. You have a 30-day home trial to test it out.

 

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