GaN-based Class D power amps

tweak1
George, wasn’t it you who told me when I had the Hattor XLR passive pre George, wasn’t it you who told me when I had the Hattor XLR passive pre that it was a impedance mismatch with both my Emerald Physics, then later with my Audio Alchemy DPA-1?

With one there was a mismatch and you weren’t getting the best from it, with the other it was fine. And I suggested a buffer stage with the Hattor for the Emerald Phyics


Yes and here is what’s said

georgehifi4,817 posts06-27-2018 9:26am

tweak1 OP
My EP KC IIs sound fantastic

Actually hate to say, your Emerald Phyics EP-100.2SE Class-D amps are not a great match for a passive pre, as their input impedance is "not typical" as they are very low at 19kohm, your passive preamp while working fine would sound even better if it had a unity gain buffer on it’s output.
For a 10kohm passive to work it’s magic the input impedance of an amp/s should be 33kohm or higher.

And this to the other amp.

georgehifi4,817 posts06-28-2018 7:40am

tweak1 OP
I have been keen on getting a Nord Two Stereo amp, but need to sell at least one SE first

This will be great with your Hattor Passive Pre and much better.
As the Nord is double the input impedance of the Emerald Phyics no need for a buffer then. I always say the best buffer is no buffer if possible.

Enough on this impedance subject or celander will get his nickers in a knot, especially Michael Powell for bringing it up..

Cheers George

Hmmm....I have no issues with a topic I brought up with respect to a GaN-based class D audio amp. 

I did start a new thread the other day about impedance matching in the preamp-power amp topic. 

C, where is that thread? I do not see a matching title?

Guys, I don't understand why always in forums like this new things, technologies got trashed and blamed just because only a few people had the chance to really experience these new things and only a few people know how good they really are.
The topic of this thread is "There are new GaN based Class D amps out there, has anyone listen to it or even own one of it?". I want to stick to topic and want to add: I'm using the AGDs Vivace GaNTubes together with a Mark Levinson No.28 Pre (yes it's an old one but still in very good shape compared to many others) and it works perfectly together. At least from what I can hear :). I would be interested to hear from other people experiences from listening sessions against other power amps maybe...I'm not interested in discussion whether or not they are worth the money. This question has everyone to decide by themselves... as always. Either you drive in a Porsche from A to B or in VW Golf, both bringing you to the finish but with the Porsche it's a lot more fun :)
Cheers,Mallard