VTV D300 Digital amp

He has no plans to build GaN.

?  Who is he?  What are you talking about?   This amp is released NOW.

Love the simplicity and value but what is the solution for remote volume control?

"Heavy, custom designed aluminum case" — with a Purifi badge 😆

Except for their own input buffers, VTV merely assembles amps from pre-made OEM modules. I wonder who makes the modules for this amp?

You need volume control in your streamer, xover or computer.  For instance, if you have only CD as a source you could use the $500 Minidsp flex with its remote volume control and you can use all the eq in the flex to equalize and room correct....and then add another amp later if you want to biamp your speakers or make your own speakers.  The $400 IFI Zenstreamer has an app for your phone that has volume control.....you can stream with that or add a hard drive or thumb drive to play files.  Many other streamers have coax out with remote controls or apps to use your phone as volume/controller.  The Lumin U2 mini has LEEDH lossless volume control and everything controlled by the app downloaded to your phone or tablet.

If you are using a streamer with volume control then you can always later add the Minidsp Flex in line to room correct and or to biamp......lots of options

He will be getting faceplates in without the Purifi logo......The modules are from the same company as used in the Peachtree GaN 1......Elegant Audio Solutions (EAS). There are lots of companies all over the world that do what VTV does....Nord, Apollon, Audionics, Rouge Audio Design, March Audio, etc. All make very good products.....Right now, the only one selling a digital amp is VTV.....free shipping in the US and 30 day money back.

@ricevs thanks for the detailed info.  Very helpful and insightful.  Just would prefer a remote volume on the amp and not have to rely on ap’s, additional components or select streamers/players.  All Digital seems like a great way to go if you are building a new streaming system at a reduced cost.

There will be integrated digital amps with switching between usb and coax and built in volume control.......Oh gee.....there already is a digital amp like that.....the Technics at $2700.  But does it sound as good as this EAS module?......the guy at EAS said his was better......is that just talk?  For me, the revolution is not just the purity of these EAS modules but the fact that you can get a couple of stereo amps and bi-amp and room correct using the Flex xover......You can make your own speakers that have zero analog xovers and you will simply blow your mind with purity of  sound.  Cannot do this with the Technics.....well, you could buy two of them.....but now you are talking a lot of money and it would look pretty weird having two big units with volume controls on them in your room.  You still need a streamer with the Technics......so why not have a streamer with volume control and then the Flex and two amps......$3500....or so.......and then bi-amp for incredible sound.  This is what I want.  We all want.....what we want.....he he.  When you know how much xover parts wreck the sound....and then removing the DAC, preamp and normal amp from the chain.....well, I just don't see another more transparent way to make music for under $30K......maybe some super DAC, Preamp, amp and speaker with xover for $30-$50K plus will beat this.......but I would not bet on it.

You guys enjoy your new Class D amps, I hear they have gotten much better.  For myself, Class D is not for me.  I’ll keep my Mac amps.  75-110 pounds of American Iron and muscle. God bless America!

Oh gee, I think this is the zillionth time I've written this. The D in class D does not stand for digital. It's D only because it came after 3 previous classes, A, B and C. And it's unfortunate it's an encoding format and class D because every one therefore assumes Dis is for digital. But it's not. There is an encoding and then decoding but the coding is ANALOG. Class D is analog. Sorry.

And I will write this over and over: a "digital amp" is not a normal class D amp. It is an amp that takes a digital only signal (PCM) and converts it to a PWM (class D type of switching) signal and then the class D output stage sends the signal to the speakers. So, you have regular class D.....usually with op amps on the input and lots of feedback......that is as stated above by dynamiclinearity...not digital at all....it is analog switching.....and THEN you have a digital amp which is what I just described. Regular class d amps need a DAC in front of them to decode the digits......a digital amp IS THE DAC and the amp all in one.....big difference. There are no analog stages or feedback in an digital amp.....The limiting factor on sound is the software written on the DSP chip that does the conversion, jitter, clocking, switching frequency and purity of parts and power supply. These EAS boards are great.....but, I am sure we will see all out implementations of this technology within 3-5 years (will cost way more than these boards!!!). This is the blow away the $20K systems teaser board......the blow away the million bucks systems boards are coming later. What a fun ride!

@nationalbar ,

im sure they are but it would be of no interest to me.  I plan no more changes to my systems regarding electronics.  

+1 @stereo5 

Then what about the Class G used by Benchmark? 

Where is E & F I want to hear them. I know I am being a smart ass. 

This is not the first digital amplifier as the Technics SUG700R2 and the Flagship SUR1000 are both DIGITAL not CLASS D. 

The D in class D does not stand for digital. It's D only because it came after 3 previous classes, A, B and C

Do a search of my posts and website.....your will find the history....Tact in the 90s, with Lyngdorf using the same? code till now......then Technics.....and also the Exogal Comet Powerdac.

However, these boards from Elegant Audio Solutions are the first ever released that any manufacturer can use to make amps, integrated amps and powered speakers with......and, of course, the code was written by someone else than wrote the above......and it uses GaN transistors. Only the $10K Technics amp uses GaN fets. The $2.7K Technics uses mosfets on the output stage. Lyngdorf and Exogal also use mosfets.

Bi-amping with two of these amps with the Minidsp flex is so way cool. And you also use the flex to room correct and equalize. The benefits of not having a normal DAC, preamp, normal amp, analog cables and having zero passive xover parts plus room correction and equalization is completely over the top. Never before has this been done and you can do it right now. For instance, buy four 12 great inch woofers and mount 2 of them on an open baffle for each channel......put a serious tweeter above it......including the $150 Dayton large dipole AMTPRO-4 and wire the drivers directly to the amps....cross over at 1K and equalize and....OM frickin God.....you will be blown away......transparency like an electrostat without all that junk in the signal path. Of course, you can bi-amp any existing 2 way speaker by removing the passive crossover....and you can make a two way box speaker real easy too. The possibilities for mind blowing sound without spending very much are unlimited.

The Benchmark AHB2 amps letters A, H, and B allude to the unique topology of the amplifier’s output stage. The AHB2 combines class-AB, and class-H topologies using a feed-forward error correction system.

Come on guys and gals reading this thread you all have some interest otherwise you would not be reading it, let alone posting on it.

My research led me to this quote in the Enjoy the Music review.....that I thought I remembered correctly.....indeed, this old guy can still remember....he he:

"The AHB2 (named in tribute to Allen H. Burdick, who founded Benchmark Media Systems in 1983)"

@ricevs You are correct and so am I, a Kumbaya moment!

A.H.B.

The letters A, H, and B allude to the unique topology of the amplifier’s output stage. The AHB2 combines class-AB, and class-H topologies using a feed-forward error correction system.

But there is much more to the story -

The initials A.H.B. can be found on many of the circuit diagrams of Benchmark’s early products dating back as far as 1983. These are the initials of Benchmark’s founder, Allen H. Burdick. He personally designed many of Benchmark’s early products.

Allen had a life-long passion for audio, and he became one of the leading innovators in the pro-audio industry. The AHB2 is named in his memory.

 

 

@ricevs  VTV or Peachtree  that is the question?  
Any benefit of one over the other?  Both have 30 day return, $100 apart and very similar build.  I plan on trying one of them with an Zen Ifi stream/ sonic transporter with roon sharing main speakers on my Midfi home theatre system with an amp switch.  Would like an improved 2 channel listening option in that room and this sounds promising at a reasonable cost.

VTV has more power and a bigger power supply and options for WBT jacks and better digital input wire (not yet added to site) than what is in the Peachtree. At some point, I will have both here and mod both of them and compare.....I doubt, after mods there will be much difference......but....you get more power with the VTV.

Just now checked the Peachtree site and it says out of stock for the GaN1 only.....looks like you have to buy it as a package with the Bluesound to get the discounted price?...maybe someone can email them about this........also.....I believe you have to pay shipping......VTV gives free shipping in the US. You pay return shipping if you return it.  After this second batch of Beta GaN1's are shipped the price will be $2K and also sold through dealers.......I imagine.....

MiniDSP makes good products, IMHO, but the Flex has a limitation that may rule it out for many.  Running Dirac Live the sample rate is limited to 48kHz.  Perhaps future iterations of the Flex will improve (the SHD Running Dirac supports 96kHz), but for now it's too limited.

Just don't buy and or use Dirac......Dirac is automatic room correction.  You can do the same manually with the 7 eq points in the Flex.....the Flex without dirac is 96K and $200 less.  It takes longer to measure and make the settings and re measure......for sure.....but it is cheaper without Dirac and you get the same results and at 96K.

My VTV D300 with WBT NextGen binding posts arrived a few weeks back.  Before receiving it, I bought a used Lumin U1 Mini with Sbooster upgrade to get LEEDH digital volume control.  My speakers are Zu Audio Soul 6.  The Soul 6 doesn't have traditional crossovers but the supertweeter does use a capacitor.  The 10" driver is driven "full range". 

In my digital based system that is heavily and cleanly power conditioned, the D300 has been very fun for listening.  It'a about as good as my DAC and amp I was prior but at much lower cost.  I've sold the old amp and the DAC is up for sale.  If I were using a preamp, that would also be up for sale. 

Because there is not much of an analog path to upgrade, I find myself looking at enhancing the digital chain.  I've recently took receipt of an Audio GD DI-20HE DDC and this has improved the sound. It also has SPDIF input which allows me to connect my ADC I use for home theatre.  The DI-20HE has a clock input and now I'm waiting for my LHY OCK-1 10MHz clock to ship out.

This past weekend, I completed my first mod to the D300.  I switched out the Neutrik RCA SPDIF connector for a Neutrik BNC SPDIF connector.  I used solid copper Neotech wires with the return wire in helix formation around the signal wire. I crimped my own dupont connectors on the board end and I soldered the other end to the BNC connector.  The BNC connection allows me to remove the BNC-RCA adapters I was using on my SPDIF cable. BTW, the ACSS BNC SPDIF output of the DI-20HE DDC works with the D300.  I was afraid they may not be compatible.  The next mods are replacing the board to board wires and AC input wires with Neotech wires and then replacing the AC inlet with the Furutech FI-09 inlet.  I want to keep all mods reversible but this inlet mod might not allow me to do that. 

I'm liking the BNC mod but because I've made simultaneous changes to the system, I'm not sure what how much this mod is contributing to better sound.  It's not an option on the VTV website but I believe the BNC connection can be installed from the factory if asked. 

Speaking of the website, I've noticed the D300 is out of stock for a few days now.  I hope more are available soon because more folks need to hear this amp. 

This past weekend over the span of two days I upgraded the internals of the amp.  On Friday, I replaced the original EMI/RFI filtered inlet with a Furutech FI-09 G inlet.  I had to drill two holes in the backplate to secure the Furutech to the chassis.  Goodbye warranty. By removing the original filtered inlet, this removed some restriction on the dynamic current.  If you are familiar with Shunyata Research, then you must know about their rule #1 which is to not impede what they call "DTCD" (Dynamic Transfer of Current Delivery).  I have a Shunyata power conditioner so I'm allowing that unit to do the AC noise reduction instead.  I also replaced the the original AC power wires inside the amp with 14ga Neotech Stranded UPOCC copper wires.  I hooked up Furutech FP-09 gold spade connectors to one end of the wires and then I crimped down.  My amp comes with a 12V trigger module so I made sure to connect its wires to the Furutech wires before I crimped down the spade connectors.  Then I screwed down the spade connectors into the Furutech inlet.  The Furutech does not have an On/Off switch so now I use the 12V trigger for On/Off.  On the opposite end of the ground cable I crimped on a ring connector and then connected it to chassis.  I crimped on the pin connectors to the Line and Neutral wires and then I connected the pins inside their connectors to the Hypex board.  Then I had a listen...

The difference was very noticeable.  There was more energy to the music and it was more dynamic.  These are two very important qualities for me.  I also noticed I didn't have to increase the volume as much to get the same level of output from the amp.  Feeling pretty good about these AC power upgrades, come Saturday I moved to replace the DC power wires from the Hypex to the EAS board.  The original wires were 14ga stranded copper and I replaced them with 14ga Neotech Solid UPOCC copper wires.  Because these are solid wires, I had to solder the contact pins to the wires.  After the soldering was done, I inserted the pins to the connectors and then attached the connectors to the boards.  I had another listen.

The DC cable upgrades may have been more impactful than the AC upgrades.  With both the AC upgrades and the DC upgrades I found the soundstage had lifted up slightly higher in elevation.  I've never had this experience before in all my past system upgrades.  I can hear more details and instrument separation is better.  The music had better attack when called for and the sounds "popped" more if you know what I mean.  

Needless to say, I highly recommend these upgrades.  This amp is now on steroids.

I went back to using an RCA SPDIF cable so now my next upgrade is to replace the stock RCA connector and associated wires with a WBT 0210 RCA connector and Neotech Solid UPOCC copper wires.

sirnui,

Way to go....you tweaky dude!

You and I have the only VTV D300 amps in existence (more coming soon). Right now I am working up mods on the Peachtree GaN 1 (brother of D300). I will be doing the same mods to both amps. Please try some better speaker output wire. I will also be offering my binding post bypass system using quarter inch nylon bolts, nuts, flat washers and wingnuts used as a clamp. This is even better than the WBTs but you cannot use banana plugs.....only spades and bare wire. All speaker connectors suck....please use bare wire or tinned bare wire everywhere you can and especially on speaker cables. I have been hardwiring my amp to my speakers for over 35 years!

Thanks for posting your sonic findings.....most people have no idea how simple mods can completely change and improve the sonics of equipment (and the mods you did will have no impact on measurements....none). I have been tweaking since the 70s.......he he....since I am in my 70s.....maybe that is not so long.

Have fun!

I have to disagree. I’ve been modding/tweaking for many years...

I have never heard any audible/musical improvements with any modifications to the power side of any electronics. I have done my mods to simplify the signal flow (removing fuses/switches), upgrading contacts (pure copper), more robust/solid connections (solder), and better wiring (OCC, Triple C). For me, as an engineer, purist, it’s a fun hobby.

If you really need to mod some parts of their equipment for better performance, shame on the OEM.

I have ALWAYS (since the early 80s) heard a sonic change with every single thing I have done to the AC power inside a component..  To each his own.  What I did to the GaN 1 the other day was mind blowing....all it was....was purifying the AC going into the amp.  It completely changed the character of the amp....way better sounding.

ricevs,

Thank You ... again.  Cheers to the VTV D300 and tweaking!  I've done plenty of tweaks outside of boxes and in between boxes but I've never seriously done tweaks inside the box.  Now I know first hand what can be achieved by doing this.  My speaker cables have BFA connectors so I won't be following you down your route with binding posts but I do plan to change out the internal speaker wires with more Neotech Solid UPOCC copper wires.

I also use the VTV D300 to listen to headphones using a Zynsonix speaker amp to headphone converter. If I ever make the D300 a dedicated headphone amp or if I get a second D300, I may just hardwire the converter box to the boards on the amps!  Thinking about it some more, there is some space inside the D300 that may allow me to put the internals of the converter box inside the D300. This should allow me to cleanly hardwire the internals directly to the EAS board. 

Remove the speaker connectors from everything......I have not used speaker connectors in over 30 years. Your amp can drive headphones without resistors and junk. However, with a digital only volume control.....you will need a digital volume that has no losses at very low volume.....like the Leedh.....if you have that then why would you want a converter box with all its veils?.....since you have Leedh....give it a try.....start out with lowest volume and turn it up slowly. If you do not have enough control over the volume then you may have to put resistors before the headphone....but why use connectors....just use plastic clamps....or attach tinned wire with resistors (if needed) to your WBT jacks and the other end of the wire to the headphone jack. By the way, I also hardwire my headpones....just clamp the wires from the resistors (if needed) or wire directly to your headphone wires. Why have connectors on your headphones? I also modify my headphone so the headphone wire is hardwired to the headphone driver......LESS IS MORE!