What are the best GaN Amplifiers available today?


There have been a number of threads discussing the wonder of GaN and some of the individual amplifiers that have caught peoples attention, including those from AGD, Atma-Sphere, Peachtree, LSA, etc. Has anyone done a shootout against two or more GaN amps? If so, which did you prefer, and why? And on what speakers?

Also, of the one you preferred, do you prefer it over every other amplifier you’ve ever heard? If not, what non-GaN amp do you enjoy more?

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xblisshifi

I should also say that I am looking for very high performing GaN amplifiers to perform against some of the best / most high-end units out there, like the T+A A 3000 HV amplifier (which I own along with the T+A PS 3000 HV power supply), Audionet amps as @pennfootball71 mentions, or other Class D leaders like Aavik or Bel Canto Black. High bandwidth, control, transparency, and resolution are all important, but just as important is a completely organic, natural presentation with the proper use of harmonics and lifelike presence/immediacy and dynamics.

@greg_f I unfortunately haven't AB/ed Aavik against other amplifiers with the same speakers in the same room to be able to comment. I would say that Aavik 580 series is a cleaner sound, but still incredibly musical, than my reference T+A HV stack. The T+A has richer harmonics and a tad less control in the lows (Aavik is known for its insane damping factor and that is a large contributor to making Borresen speakers sing the way they do). My T+A is more natural, a bit less clinical, but at the expense of not being as lightning fast as the Aavik. Keep in mind that this was the same set of speakers, but in different rooms (I brought mine back to Next Level Hifi to compare) and different cables (Synergistic Research Galileo SX in my room vs their Ansuz DTC-2 loom). Gryphon has richer harmonics still over T+A, and I prefer T+A, which is why I became a dealer for them. Pass generally has less rich harmonics than Gryphon or T+A but has a warmer character to them. Vitus, I've only heard once, with Estelon Extreme at AXPONA this year, and though I've heard a few Estelon, I'm not familiar enough with what the amp was doing vs what the speakers were doing. In that room, it was a very burly, natural sound, but not as immediate and transparent as Aavik / Borresen combos I've heard time and time again.

@blisshifi Thank you for taking the time to form such a detailed reply, it is exactly what I was looking for. I have been using Class D amplifiers for almost 20 years and the technology keeps on improving, IMO they are the future of amplification. It seems like the Achilles heel of the Class D amplifiers (the top end) is becoming less of an issue with the latest generation. Of course regardless of the topology used, the design of the amplifier is the most critical factor. My speakers (Vienna acoustics Mahler) require the amp to have good grip of the bass units and be fast otherwise they can sound lazy, so they work well with class D amplifiers. 

Even though GaN transistors were not designed for the HiFi industry, they could suit class D topology since they are switching much faster (decreasing dead time, easier filter design, etc) but again it all depends in the implementation of the amplifier, you can't say because an amplifier uses GaN transistors is better than one that uses MOSFETs or bipolars, we need to talk about specific amplifiers.

@markmuse -  I got my modded Gan1 back from Ric less than a month ago, so he is still doing them.  Best to call him 9r send him an email to be sure.

I had a D-Sonic Class D using Pascal module (new about 4 years ago) it was powerful, but it was not as resolving on top as the GAN amps I had afterwards.

I also had a NAD M22 V2 which is also Class D and I returned it since it was not as good to my ears as the similarly priced Benchmark AHB2.

As stated by Greg_f above......it is implentation that determines the final sound.  All Ganfet amps sound different and not necesarilly better than Mosfet based amps (Purifi and Hypex).  Modded high power Purifi amps (VTV even has a tubed buffer version for more 3d liquid sound) sound outrageous.  All class D amps will sound much better with mods.  Recently I have done more mods to the LSA Voyager that are also applicable to the Peachtree GAN 400 (they use the same amplifier module).  Modded Purifi, Peachtree, LSA and Orchard all sound really really good.  Just tonight I finished my first modded Hypex Nilai stereo amp......pics are now online......Yes, I am still doing mods....and mod all the above.  More info and pics will be added in the next couple of days.  I have done a couple more mods to the Peachtree Gan 1/VTV amps since yyzsantabarbara got his and will be trying another mod to the unit I have here now.