[morganc]

So in regards to the Class D Audio Gan5 amps, has it been determined yet that the stereo amp is just as good as the monoblocks or at least very very close?

Yes I’ve been lurking while listening and I was just about to A/B the two when life intervened with a much needed surprise Holliday in kauai that sent me back to work in prep of the trip which is in two days.  And one of the Monos had a malfunction which was replaced immediately with a brand new unit (Tom has been very nice to work with) and will now need burn in time. 

I did briefly put the stereo back in and it’s an older board vs  the brand new monos and all I can say is they both sound great. I don’t believe there will be much difference when I do a proper AB as didn’t really notice much at all in my casual listening sessions. However, the stereo was set to the high gain setting and the monos were on the low setting. I do believe they sound best with my pre on the high gain setting but I want them to at least be the same when I AB them.

For anyone on the fence, you’ll likely be just as happy with the stereo as the monos and after I AB mine, I’ll keep one and sell the other which likely will be the monos. 

[Tomy2Tone]

Thanks morganc. May you have a wonderful trip!

[Mr. Big]

Mr. Big,
Your points are well taken and forced me to reconsider my position.  Thank you for that.  I should have finished my first cup'o'joe before knee-jerk responding to the Mytek issues noted.  I even felt that way while responding... I guess it's the audio pilgrim in me that decries the nature of fake.  And when the designer admits the "tube" is not functional....  I appreciate and, even admire, aesthetics in build.. So Agostino's kit, while, like you, is not marketed to me, is lovely and beautifully executed. Nothing fake about it. It goes without saying that Mytek has every right to build/market any product they see fit to.  My comments were not directed to its sound quality so no judgment there.  And while aesthetics, I suppose, can somehow "inform" sonic perception (Is that true? I'm not certain that's a legitimate/valid statement but perhaps), I think I'm reacting to the combination of high price, admitted inclusion of non-functional (?) circuitry, and the trend to over-building where it has no discernable audio justification (again, if that's true).  At some point, is overbuilt kit more a proxy of affluence than love of music? And I admit it's none of my damn business.  Ultimately, and again, to each their own (as has been noted, even by me). This is just a hobby.  Perhaps a new thread.

I think what they were saying with their tongue in cheek, was folks who love tubes will love our amp because it sounds more like a tube amp than a stereotipical class D. So you sit there and say wow this sounds good like a tube and there before you is a tube sticking out of the amp. I would guess buyers will buy this amp sans tube..smile!

[musicdre]

Tom at Class D Audio says they are easily bridgeable into monos at home, so easy to upgrade to dual monos later if the extra headroom is desired (or if crazy OCD audiophiliacs form a consensus they sound better).

as spatial owners its mind boggling that someone would need the headroom power from dual mono.  but these amps are apparently for use with other speakers too .  and am remaining open to the potential that the dual monos sound better than the stereo for whatever reason or no reason at all .

[genjamon]

That’s right Morgan has both. Any early impressions you’d like to share Ben? This is in the same spot the Kismet was in use?

Same components as the Kismet, but I’ve actually been using a Folsom amp I DIY’d last year. So it’s been a while since the Kismet was in the system. I also moved to DC this summer and live in a row house, so a VERY different listening room than what you’re familiar with from my Tucson place.

I got the amp about ten days ago and the family was gone all last week, so I got about 20 hours on it then. Tom also kindly put about 100 hours on it in their shop before sending to me to give me a head start on break in. But it will only get maybe 2-4 hours a week of use moving forward due to lifestyle changes and shared space now. So it’s gonna be a while before I can say it’s reliably finished settling.

I can say that it was initially very impressive, then started to have some doubts over the next couple days, but was really growing on me more and more toward the latter part of the week. But final conclusions will await comparisons with the Folsom and Kismet - if I ever get there.

One great thing about it is it's completely silent - which is an accomplishment with the high sensitivity Zu ODW's I use.  I've always had some hum or noise between my Don Sachs pre and either the Kismet or Folsom amp.  Folsom has less for sure, but still there (I still need to keep tweaking the grounding scheme I think, because it's also showing more noise than it should in the TV system right now too).  But for the first time in years, I finally don't hear anything at all when the system is on and idling.  That reason alone might be enough for me to want to keep it. 

Of course, I'm also very curious what the hyper power supply upgrade would do to the Kismet.  My amp was manufactured in 2014 or 2015, I think, so the caps are now starting to move beyond top performance (Klaus recommends replacing them after 7 years if you're after top performance).  I asked Klaus about the upgrade at CAF this weekend, and he said he'd be waiting on parts until April at this point if I put in the order now.  But he cited a more than reasonable dollar amount, so maybe I should put down the deposit and get that process started.

[Tomy2Tone]

Of course, I'm also very curious what the hyper power supply upgrade would do to the Kismet.  My amp was manufactured in 2014 or 2015, I think, so the caps are now starting to move beyond top performance (Klaus recommends replacing them after 7 years if you're after top performance).  I asked Klaus about the upgrade at CAF this weekend, and he said he'd be waiting on parts until April at this point if I put in the order now.  But he cited a more than reasonable dollar amount, so maybe I should put down the deposit and get that process started.

I was wondering if you were able to attend CAF. If there’s one regret I have of all the amps I’ve sold it’s the Kismet monos, but they were 70lb behemoths in Stratos cases so a stereo amp would have likely stayed.

As far as GaN amps go the one I’m interested in is the Peachtree GaN 1. If my dac ever hit the skids this would be something I’d consider with its simplicity all in one kinda setup. But the price of the GAN5 stereo has me intrigued.

[Daryl Zero]

A friend of mine is going to lend me a cheapo tube pre-amp and I probably will try a single amp to run in stereo as I can't see needing 200 watts per channel for these X5s. I barely turn up the LTA and get a pretty loud result.

I have realized that I really really like the LTA 40+ integrated but if the sound of this cheapo class D amp works with tubes then I figure I can get a Don Sacks pre-amp and use the class D with it and save several thousands of dollars. I'm all about economic efficiency.

I won't try this for a few weeks as I have my first vacation in a few years coming up.

[AllanS]

Any fence riders like me need a Black Friday push?

https://classdaudio.com/

[RonN5]

Just saw this GanF Black Friday push:

[Tyson]

I just bought a Mini GaN 5 thanks to this thread.  I'll report back once I have it fully burned in.

Hopefully I can still post here, even though I'm no longer a Spatial owner, since I put my X3's up for sale....

[franSSS]

I just bought a Mini GaN 5 thanks to this thread.  I'll report back once I have it fully burned in.

Hopefully I can still post here, even though I'm no longer a Spatial owner, since I put my X3's up for sale....

Looking forward to your feedback. With what did you replace your x3?

[Daryl Zero]

I just bought a Mini GaN 5 thanks to this thread.  I'll report back once I have it fully burned in.

Hopefully I can still post here, even though I'm no longer a Spatial owner, since I put my X3's up for sale....

Please stay and post here.

[Tyson]

Looking forward to your feedback. With what did you replace your x3?

The X3's are still for sale, I have an ad for them in the Trading Post here on AC.

The reason I'm selling them is a bit involved.  Let me try to explain:

I used to only have 1 system, in the basement, that was both music and HT.  I had the GR Research Super 7's down there.  When I built out my 2nd system upstairs, I got the X3's as my 'backup' speakers.

After setting up the 'backup system' I found I was listening to music on the '2nd system' about 90% of the time.  So I pulled the Super 7's upstairs and moved the X3's downstairs.

I would have kept the X3's but they just didn't have enough bass extension in the HT setup.  They go to 30hz strong then drop off a cliff.  They get to 30hz with power and finesse both.  For music that's perfectly fine but for HT I needed more depth.

So I bought these:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=183572.0

I didn't fall out of love with the X3's, they are great speakers.  Really great speakers.  But just didn't fit my new application as well as the new speakers do.

[genjamon]

Welcome to the GaN club.  Is the new amp intended for the upstairs or downstairs system? 

[Daryl Zero]

Speaking of the GaN club, I've ordered the Mini GaN 5 and will probably have it in about 2 weeks. In the meantime, I found a used Schiit Freya at a good price and am going to roll the gain tubes with Sylvanias. I'm following Catluck's lead on this (although he uses different tubes in the gain) so I'm going to give it as good a chance as I can.

I've been listening a bunch to my X5s with the LTA z40+ and I keep thinking how good it sounds to me. I'm anxious to see if the Mini GaN 5 plus the Freya beats it.

[catluck]

Daryl Z - congrats on your purchases. I can only say that now, going on 3 months of MiniGans (and two months of Freya+) I've never been happier, with the presentation I'm now enjoying, in 45 years of musical pursuit. I know, and appreciate, that means nothing to anyone else.  But to a dyed-in-the-wool tube guy, it's shocking to me.  I still can't get over the purity of tone/timbre, clarity, and killer bass in comparison to any other amps I've run.  Hope it works out for you.

[TF1216]

Well shoot...if anyone is looking to unload a GaN 3 or GaN 5 please let me know 

[2bigears]

  well this thread just cost me a cool grand !  Haha. Thanks guys. 100 pounder swap-out to a 5 pounder.  I really have a hard time with that. All notions confirmed in a couple weeks ..  should be very interesting indeed. 

[lazbisme]

2bigears, plug it in and leave it on. Give it a chance to break in as much as you can before trial period is up. It runs barely warm. I'm betting you keep it!
Joe

[2bigears]

  thanks. It was a month long decide. Flipped and flopped.  I will leave it on for a few weeks and then let it rip.  I have a tube VAC pre to mate with it. I'm still freaked that 5 pounds can equal 100. Time will tell.
      Ships out on Monday so maybe next late week I can plug and play. Was told the monos really don't make that much difference. That's good enough for me.