Peachtree GaN 1 Beta

The dealer in Santa Rosa, CA can give you more info about the Maria amps (about remote, etc.).  The website shows they have them to demo.

Depending on how good the GAN1 amp is I am thinking of trying the Maria amp for 30-days with the KEF Blade 2 Meta that I am getting. I have saved up cash to buy an expensive DAC but the idea of a single box, DAC, volume, and at least 1 analog input for my tuner sounds like a winner proposition. Not sure if the Maria has a remote control. I need something that is easy for the wife to also use and the GAN1 will not be easy the way I will use it. I will have that in the office where I am the only user.

 looking for a cool running amp

I love Sunfire amps, they have a lot of power and run very cool.

@thespeakerdude 

No, I know I am not an EE, but I have quite a few who work for me 

You just made this up to troll this thread. Anyone can claim anything but you need PROOF! You got NO system, NO speakers, and NO proof of even ONE claim.

 I assume you don't understand

Arguing again, why not just go away, do you understand that? 

Of topic but interesting for me.

When I have the KEF KC62 sub working I think the Benchmark AHB2 monos with the KEF LS50 Meta is my best 2-channel setup, better than the CODA. A bit more clarity and the sub fills in the bass nicely.

Now that the sub is broken the AHB2 monos take a back seat to the CODA #16. The CODA #16 makes you wonder if I even need a sub. What an amp.

I should get the amp back early next week. On the following Saturday I will take it to an audio manufacturer and musician who has an incredible ear. I am helping him with some other things, and I want him to hear the GAN1 along with my Lumin X1 + RAAL VM-1a headphone amp.

One bit of bad news is that my KEF KC62 sub died this week. I am sending it back to KEF this Saturday, so I am not going to have my best 2-channel to test the GAN1.

Though, I have a RAAL adapter box for the SR1a earphones and the GAN1 + CODA #16 + Benchmark AHB2 monos. I will listen with all 3 in the SAME setup to have an apples-2-apples comparison. The adapter box draws a lot of current from the amps. I saw this when I had CODA #8 amp with meters. More than my now sold Thiel CS3.7 at about the same volume.

I have the KEF LS50 Meta speakers but without the sub it is not comparable to the full-range sound of the RAAL SR1a.

BTW - anyone take a look at a GAN1 competitor or brother. This is a supped up GAN1 with volume, analog inputs, and likely better software.

Maria Amplifiers – Daniel Hertz SA

Some interesting pedigree of this company, which seems to be using the same tech as behind the GAN1.

Looking forward to yyz’s honest take on the modded Gan1. He has a great system to compare with. 

I was the world leading pusher of this technology based on my past knowledge and what others said about it.......but, when I listened to the stock GaN1 it was not what I thought it was......now it is. You can read anything into this you like. I tell the truth.....that is all I can do. The dealer Verdantaudio felt it sounded dry and thought it was good but not great.....well, he should hear it now.  You can read his comments on the best DAC under $7K thread.

The output inductors he’s taking about, is a ferrite on the speaker wire outputs, the speaker wire is coiled around it. Not a coil on the power supply.

@donnylovely Yes- that was very clear in his prior post. FWIW, the choke used in a class D is not in the power supply; I don’t think anyone here had thoughts otherwise! A choke used in series with the speaker output (as mentioned prior) wouldn’t be part of the power supply either.

However if the amplifier suffers parasitics on either account, those can cause noise to be radiated via the power supply.

@ricevs  Referencing your recent post (3/8 @ 9:08 pm), you state that the stock amp "Did not sound good stock.....very grainy, dry and harsh.". I find this statement hypocritical, since the beginning of this thread you and others have indicated that the GAN1 is an exceptional amp. I understand how your mods may make it better, but many of the opinions on this thread and others indicate that it is an exceptional amp stock. I realize that you may not have actually heard it until recently, but i am amazed that your opinion differs so drastically from others. I understand that you are interested in modding thes amps, but some of your readers may only want to buy the stock unit.

The output inductors he’s taking about, is a ferrite on the speaker wire outputs, the speaker wire is coiled around it. Not a coil on the power supply. Looks like the know it alls, don’t know it all. This we don’t listen to people that have never seen the product. 

@atmasphere do you care to comment? I think the removal of an output filter for Class-D will be very measurable. I guess when you don't have to worry about compliance testing, anything is possible. @atmasphere what would happen if you hooked these up to a big electrostatic speaker or something like a Magnepan? Aren't these switching at frequencies right in the middle of the AM band and then hooked up to all that wire in the speakers?  Aren't those speakers big capacitors? What is going to happen without those filters?

The extra output coils mentioned are only part of the filter. Certainly the result will be measurable, and likely audible as well. As best I can make out, the output filter choke remains. The amp would not function without it!

A zero feedback class D amplifier will exhibit an electrical resonance when used on an ESL; this being the result of the choke inductance and the capacitive load of the speaker. I've seen this resonance cause some class D amplifiers to fail.

I'm sure those series inductors are there for a reason. For example, most solid state amplifiers have a resistor/inductor network across their speaker terminals to increase stability at ultrasonic frequencies. In a class D, the concern is always radiated noise. To this end, with any changes made to the amplifier, its a very good idea to test the radiated noise to the AC line, since that noise can leak into other parts of the system (such as digital devices) and really mess with them. That is why its important to not just meet EU Directives, but to actually have noise figures well below that, since a lot of consumer digital devices aren't that good at dealing with switching noise in the AC power. Radiated noise which might emit from the speaker cables (behaving as an antenna) can also get into other equipment, increasing noise in the system.

Because most class D amps (if designed competently) are meant to meet EU Directives and similar emissions ratings of other countries, its often a Bad Idea to mess with the components in the output filter since they are often chosen for their noise characteristics; for example many capacitors have leads which have inductance; if the inductance is increased you can wind up with parasitics, which in turn if they don't mess with the amp directly can mess with other parts of the system. 

Put another way, reducing noise in a class D can have a very direct improvement on how it sounds!

The only problem there is ......is you thinking something is wrong.....with your self and therefore with others......You are amazing and totally loved.

Thank you for your LOVE.....whenever or wherever you feel and express it. You are beautiful......you are not broken.....nor is the universe......all is incredible.......60 trillion cells in your body.....all working together and making life......what a miracle you are!......What a miracle everyone is and every second is.....IN JOY AND LOVE........FOREVER.

Assume means......make and ass out of u and me.......usually it means make an ass out of oneself.  When you assume.....you think you know something you really don't know.

The amp is protected by the fuse on the power supply....it is not soldered on.....a fuse in a holder, on the board. 

Do you pick nits out of your navel?  There are two modes in the universe....ONE IS LOVE.....praising and being of service......the other is EGO...or defending your position and making things wrong.  Would you rather be RIGHT or LOVING?  Your choice, every second.  When you choose love.....everyone wins........when you choose ego....no one wins.

You only need one fuse in an amp to protect it.....It has a fuse on the power supply....you DO NOT need two fuses in a row. 

How about you run that by UL, or ETL or TUV.  I assume you don't understand what that first fuse is for, but the one on the power supply is not a replacement. 

I changed the caps to polypropylene. The small polyprop Wimas (not any other larger series) with my mods are more transparent that practically any capacitor in the world. Also, you need a small part as you do not want to radiate noise (this is one reason why orienting the outside foil to ground helps the sound).

You only need one fuse in an amp to protect it.....It has a fuse on the power supply....you DO NOT need two fuses in a row. 

The coil on the output wire is not needed.  Atmasphere, Purifi, Hypex, Orchard, LSA, etc. do not use an extra coil on the output, they just use the coil and cap on the board.  VTV uses the same type of module with no coil.  EAS, the manufacturer does not recommend a coil on the output.   Mbolek already modded his Peachtree and also eliminated the "not needed coil" on the output wire with positive sonic results.....please read his experience.  Lots of manufacturers put things on their products they "think" they need......but actually wreck the sound.  Marantz thinks they need to protect the secondaries of their power transformers in their CD players.....so they add 'extra fuses"......which ALL degrade the sound.  They also put coupling caps on the output stages that they do not need........you know...."just in case someone sends 30 volts into the output stage of their player"....which is as likely to happend as you winning the biggest lotto on earth......meaning never.

The first main rule in tweaking is to eliminate everything not needed for sound....as every single thing has a sound......meaning it has distortion (not measureable....but sonically hearable)....LESS IS MORE!

@ricevs do the output caps have to be polyester could you use milflex sa's in there? 

Upgraded the output wire and eliminated the extra output coils (not needed). 

For those ASR types.....none of these mods are measureable.....the amp will measure the same before and after the mods.

@atmasphere do you care to comment? I think the removal of an output filter for Class-D will be very measurable. I guess when you don't have to worry about compliance testing, anything is possible. @atmasphere what would happen if you hooked these up to a big electrostatic speaker or something like a Magnepan? Aren't these switching at frequencies right in the middle of the AM band and then hooked up to all that wire in the speakers?  Aren't those speakers big capacitors? What is going to happen without those filters?

2. Covered the external fuse with copper foil.......noiticeably more musical and correct.....costs nothing. It has another fuse on the power supply inside so this external fuse is not needed.

I think what you meant to say is it is not needed for anything other than safety. If you are going to break EMI compliance, may as well go all in and break safety compliance too.

Here is my experience with the GaN 1:

1.Did not sound good stock.....very grainy, dry and harsh. Some of the problem is that you have to play it for at least an hour before it really performs.....this could be the turn on warmup of my streamer as well.....as I turn them on together using my inverter.......maybe the inverter has to warm up.

2. Covered the external fuse with copper foil.......noiticeably more musical and correct.....costs nothing. It has another fuse on the power supply inside so this external fuse is not needed.

3. Did the entire AC mod which removes the inlet/fuse holder and switch. Changed the inlet to a Furutech inlet and hardwired much better wire directly to the power supply...and did another mod to the power supply to reduce distortion. Now I was crying....it sounded so good. I thought to my self....."I could charge $500 for this mod alone and people would be amazed". But, this was just the beginning.

4. Removed the output connectors, stock output wire with inductors, and hardwired great wire directly out the back of the amp and soldered them to my speaker wires. This will be an option as I will be offering my plastic clamps as an output connector option (slightly less good sounding WBT Nextgens will be standard)......I NEVER use any kind of speaker connector. So glad I can offer that to people. Much more detail, dynamics and bass power.

5. Changed the digital input wire to my own custom wire and wired it directly from the input jack to the input pins on the board (bypassing two connnectors). More detail again. However, it had gotten slightly less juicy with the last two mods......so on we went.

6. Changed the output filter caps on the board to modified Wima polyprop caps....oriented so the outside foil goes to ground for best sound. OMG!!! Way more musical, detailed, real and bigger sounding.....more liquid yet more clear.....Now we have something special. The stock Kemet metalized Polyester are really not good. These same caps are also used the the EAS modules used in the Peachtree GaN 400 and the LSA Voyager. These amps would sound way better with those caps changed out.

For those ASR types.....none of these mods are measureable.....the amp will measure the same before and after the mods. But the sound......well, you judge.

Some info is on my website and I am now taking orders. This will blow your mind!

@ricevs tell us about these upgrades please. The link on your site isn't working. 

@ricevs .. all the flak you keep getting on this thread and another for pointing out the obvious :). Thanks for all your advice and recommendations.

You remind me of "the" dude who 2000 years ago tried to enlighten people to the path.

I enjoy following this thread because of you Ric. It is like watching Dallas minus the beautiful chics.

@yyzsantabarbara you are a real gentleman.

I am the guy whose GAN1 amp Ric is working on. I have zero concerns about what the heck he is doing. He modded my LSA Voyager 350 GAN amplifier sometime back and the result was WAY better than stock. Specifically in the clarity department.

When Ric is telling me the GAN1 is a bigger improvement over the Voyager mods I am now very enthusiastic to hear the amp.

I have 3 pretty fine streamers to hook up to the GAN1. It will be compared to a CODA #16 amp + Lumin X1 vs GAN1. The speakers are LS50 Meta (only ones I have these days). I will also compare against Benchmark AHB2 + Lumin X1. 

The stock GAN1 could not keep up with the AHB2 and a Musetec 005 DAC before I sent it for the mods. The Lumin X1 has replaced the 005 and the system sounds a little better than when I compared with the GAN1. The GAN1 has some tough competition when it comes back home.

BTW - I had some mods done on my Sony SCD-1 SACD player about 20 years ago. The machine partially died last week (never to be fixed), but those Vaccum State 5+ mods were incredible and made me realize modding is something I want to do with the right gear.  Ric knows his sheete.

I have a Bachelor's/Master's in CpE. I can say the mods I've made to my VTV D300 does not require any college education.  It's fairly basic to switch out stock wires/inlets/connectors with better wires/inlets/connectors. The most crucial thing for me was to learn how to solder/crimp properly, to do research on parts and techniques, and to take my time to get it right the first time.

I'm now reaping the sonic rewards.  It'll be great to hear about the gains from the mods on the GaN 1.  I know I would be able to relate.   

Good for you. I'm glad you have read his resume and inventoried his tools. 

@donnylovely - No, I know I am not an EE, but I have quite a few who work for me and I have managed a lot of projects with EE involved. I understand my limitations especially when working on someone else's equipment. This is not a simple tube or transistor amplifier. @atmasphere who is an EE I believe and an expert has discussed the issues of modifying a Class-D amplifier when you don't have the proper tools or experience.

@thespeakerdude don't send him your amp then. We all know your the smartest person on earth and that you are better than everybody else. No need to rub it in. 

What the heck are you talking about.  Nitpicking? I expect someone going in with a soldering iron and modifying someone else's amp to be an expert and understand what things are. Paragraphs of flowery language does not excuse that requirement. Caveat emptor. @atmasphere 's prior warning is ever more salient.  

The ego finds it easy to nitpick and cause a fuss and pretend to KNOW tthngs (I know, I have been there)......however, The SOUL wants everyone to be happy. It praises and celebrates every single second and every single person.  I celebrate everyone.....I celebrate this and every moment.....for this moment is the most beautiful moment that has every existed in the entire history of the entire universe......it has always been so.....Thank you....I love you.  There is only this moment....the past is gone....the future has not arrived......can you dig this moment?  This most beautiful moment...........I hope you embrace it with all your passion......hugs and kisses for everyone.........Listening to "Where do the children play" right now.....lovely.

@ricevs , it would probably be best not to post links to technical articles you do not fully understand. I was trying to be nice before and give you a way out. Class-D and PWM are not the same thing. A Class-D amplifier may use PWM. However, that is not what you said, you said this,

"The GaN1 is the DAC.....it changes PCM directly to PWM (class D analog switching)".

Class-D may use PWM, but PWM is not Class-D. Put in simpler terms, an Orange is a fruit, but not all fruits are Oranges.

Class-D is an amplifier architecture. Peachtree may call it Digital Class-D, but that is marketing. There is no such thing as "Digital Class-D". You are more accurate to call it a power DAC as you did because that is what it is. They call it an amplifier but it does not amplify anything hence why it cannot be a "Class-D" amplifier.

Did you measure the switching frequency on your oscilloscope? I was curious as to what it was.

What are some of the more popular combos possible with that amp and it’s digital coax input  I wonder?

Dude,

You are wrong.  Class D almost always uses PWM.   Please read this article and get informed:

Doing one more mod to the amp here and then will return it to the owner.  All info will be on my website by the end of the week.  

@ricevs have you delivered the modified unit back to the customer? You keep describing the GAN1 as Class D analog switching. I do not think that is correct. Class D and PWM are not the same.

The GaN 1 only has coax input. So if you have a source that has usb only then you need a digital to digital converter to change it to coax. Your source would need volume control. You can use the volume control in a lot of programs like Roon, etc. Most computers do not have a coax out....so if using a computer or Ipad then you need a DtoD converter to get it to coax to drive the Gan1.  The Hifi Rose streamer has usb input and coax output (volume controlled)....but then why would you want a computer if you are using this streamer?

The GaN1 is the DAC.....it changes PCM directly to PWM (class D analog switching). A normal DAC is not needed. Less is more. Basically, a digital amp is a power DAC.....a DAC that can drive your speakers. A regular DAC changes PCM to a low level analog signal but then it needs to be amped up by an amp to drive the speaker.

Most A2D’s do not have a digital volume control. You would still need to run the converter into a streamer that has volume control.

All, I understand a bluseound node or an Ifi Stream is what you hook up to Gan 1 to stream, output coax and control volume.

What if someone wanted to use an Ipad Pro with USB C and stream Apple Music high res lossless - would there be a simple workaround for that?  I'm just not understanding where the Dac function happens or how or if it is like a standard coax dac.

On another note with Gan 1 - I imagine an A to D converter like the AVA DVA A2D product could be used for an fm tuner and volume control.

I made some upgrades to my VTV D300. Upgrades to the Gan1 may be similar.

Link

mr_bill

Yes, the mods should be done by this weekend and will be shown on my website. Yes, I have a VTV D300 here and will be doing the same mods to it. The more powerful module in the VTV amp would work better on Maggies.....but if you do not listen that loud then the GaN 1 might work fine.

The Audio-GD DI-20HE has a coaxial SPDIF input and a USB input.  There is a selector on the front panel that allows me to easily switch between the two inputs. For my stereo I use the USB and for the HT I use the SPDIF input.  Don't know if this will work for your setup but it will work for some. 

Has anyone thought of a way to get more than one digital input into a Gan1 so you can use two inputs that have volume without having to connect and disconnect coax all the time?  
Would something like a Matrix SPDIF allow you to do that?

@ricevs 

Ric, will you be offering and selling upgrades to the Gan1?

If the Gan1 puts out 200 watts per channel it should work with a Maggie 1.7i?

Are you also thinking of doing upgrades to the VTV D300?

Nice, that is my amp that the mods are going into. Looking forward to getting this amp back.

Initially, I will be streaming from a Lumin X1 SPDIF into the GAN1.

@ricevs  What did you do to upgrade the power?

Did the first mod to the Peachtree.....OMG.....never heard such an improvement from just upgrading the AC power.  Three more mods to try....should have it wrapped up by this weekend some time.

The VTV D300 has more power and should be better for maggies....VTV will be shipping again in 2 months.

Has anybody used the GaN1 to drive Magnepan 1.7 or 3.7 speakers?  I have the GaN 400 and didn't think it was a great match with the 3.7's, especially compared to PS Audio BHK 300 monoblocks.

For those interested in bi-amping using the GaN 1 and VTV digital amps and also making your own speakers......I just put up a page on my website to talk about all this and explain how to make your own speakers, etc.  

http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Speaker_building_info.html

The info is preliminary.

Way, way more information and pics coming.....every day I will be adding more info.

Yes, and Yes.  Just tested that very combo tonight on the bench....played it through and old 15 inch woof to make sure it worked.  Tomorrow I finish the custom power supply for the IFI and fire up the stereo and let er rip.