GaN-based Class D power amps

As more class D audio amp manufacturers enter this market space, competition will drive down prices.

The only way this can happen, is if the major semi conductor manufacturers get the licence to make the GaN devices, this is what happened to Mosfets years ago, at first they were very expensive then prices came down when more were being made by different manufacturers.

RF GaN business is totally different and requires different type of transistor design than the one needed in power management.

I know this, but it’s the GaN technology that’s being used, and they will hopefully start manufacturing audio output GaN transistor as well.

And your in the box seat for now AG with your $15k amp, as a low volume manufacturer is in the prime seat at the moment if GaN transistor don’t go big time quantity manufacturing. Because if companies like Sangway can get hold of them for a dollar each bought in the in the thousands, then they make complete $100 modules with it, well you know what happens!

Cheers George

George,
it seems to me there is a big confusion about supply chain cost, and even more about why HiEnd audio is more expensive than consumer products.
The design Idea of AGD amps (by the way 200W on 4ohm, so I would like to have the header of this blog corrected eventually), was not simply the utilization of the GaN as power semiconductor for the power stage, which is actually a specific innovation per se.
The product has also unique features about the industrial design, materials, finishing, shape proportion and the way it is presented overall, including, last but not least, the non trivial idea (easy to imagine a bit more challenging to make it as industrial product), of integrating the power stage in a glass tube.
So there are many peculiarities that make this product quite unique among all kind power amps in the market, and certainly, unique among the one using GaN.
Moreover, you underestimate the issue of distribution costs, and dealer margins that unfortunately, have a serious impact to the overall economics.
But instead of making a case with a long list of negative things and hoping or wishing for a brutal mass market distruction of values, intelletual property, patent infringments and so on, why don’t you spend the time to try and listen the sound of these new products?
Then you would be able to make a more serious case, expecially if in the process, you discover their true value.
Hope to see you at Axpona and possibly in Munich
Best
AG

AG most of us here hope to see a 200w GaN for close to $1 or $2k which is doable one day.

Have a look at Red Dragon S500-$1k v Continuum 2-$10k both of which use very similar electronics.

Your are selling yours for $15K, you can’t tell me if a big company like Sangway decided to put them in a plain metal box, like the Red Dragon, made thousands of them they couldn’t be sold for around $1K.

It’s already down to $4k with the GaN Technics SU-G30 network integrated amp, and that’s a lot extras in that one with preamp.

Cheers George

For informational sake...Merrills other offerings for GaN amplification also include.
Element 116 @ $22,000.00 per monoblock pair.
Element 114 @ approximately $12,000.00  per monoblock pair. [pending release] 
 

The original post cannot be edited once someone posts a response. I admit certain mistakes exist in that original post that adversely affect all three manufacturers in one way or another. All errors have been addressed in follow-on posts.