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Premium Audio Mini GaN 5 Review (Stereo Amplifier)

abdo123

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I am not quite sure what you mean. The balanced input has a gain of 19.05dB (8.96V/V)

So 5Vrms on the input gives you 44.8Vrms on the output, that is 500Wrms into 4ohm, or 1000Wpeak as the peak power of a sine wave is double its rms value.
I thought 1000W peak output here meant instaneous peak output (CEA-2006/490A). Not the peak of 44.8Vrms sine wave output.
 

orchardaudio

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I thought 1000W peak output here meant instaneous peak output (CEA-2006/490A). Not the peak of 44.8Vrms sine wave output.
To answer your original question which I now have a better understanding off... an instantaneous 1000W into 4ohm is equivalent 63.25V this means that to get that power from the amp, the input voltage on the balanced input would need to be 63.25V/8.96 = 7.06V for the SE input it would need to be 3.53V since the gain is 6dB (double) more for that input.
 

abdo123

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To answer your original question which I now have a better understanding off... an instantaneous 1000W into 4ohm is equivalent 63.25V this means that to get that power from the amp, the input voltage on the balanced input would need to be 63.25V/8.96 = 7.06V for the SE input it would need to be 3.53V since the gain is 6dB (double) more for that input.
Yeah that was kind of my point. Glad i got that across.

Can the amplifier deliver 63.25Vrms in any shape or form without clipping? and don't you think the input voltage is a bit high / non-standard.
 

orchardaudio

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Can the amplifier deliver 63.25Vrms in any shape or form without clipping?

Yes the Starkrimson Ultra can deliver that. At 500Wrms into 4ohm the distortion is ~0.01% if there was something bad going on at the peaks the distortion would not be that good. See below.
THD+N Ratio vs Measured Level_4ohm.jpg
 

orchardaudio

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2DFlier

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It seems basic, but I’m confused by the frequency response plot. Amir states “What is not reasonable is high dependence on speaker load when it comes to frequency response:”
He specifically mentions 4 ohm being down 1.7 @ 20k. Do the results also indicate 8 ohm is up 1 @ 20k and both begin to deviate at 2k?
The reference to Right and Right 2 also confused me. They appear to be associated with 4 and 8 ohm but it’s not obvious to me what they represent.
Lastly could either of these responses be related to unidentified defects or are they fundamental: “Clearly the output filter is interacting with the load.”
Thank you.
Edit: Spelling. Gotta at least get the host’s name right.
 

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Killingbeans

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Do the results also indicate 8 ohm is up 1 @ 20k and both begin to deviate at 2k?

Yes, correct.

Lastly could either of these responses be related to unidentified defects or are they fundamental: “Clearly the output filter is interacting with the load.”

They are side effects of the design.
 

RoyB

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Really ? this is credible for you ? Mount a heatsink without worrying about its role?
I hope, without offending you, that EPC engineers its components with more elegance)


I just received my Mini GaN 5 this morning. Looking in through the vent holes in the top, the heatsinks look nothing like this. Now they appear to be screwed down tight on the top of the circuit board. I don't want to remove the screws from the bottom as I might be sending it back......But if I keep it, the top will come off and we'll see whats up.....BTW, First Impression?....BALLS with a capital B!! This think has some amazing power. Back when I did sound reinforcement for Rock and Roll bands, this would have been so much nicer than lugging around a dozen or more Crown DC300A amplifiers....
 

gentlejax

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I just received my Mini GaN 5 this morning. Looking in through the vent holes in the top, the heatsinks look nothing like this. Now they appear to be screwed down tight on the top of the circuit board. I don't want to remove the screws from the bottom as I might be sending it back......But if I keep it, the top will come off and we'll see whats up.....BTW, First Impression?....BALLS with a capital B!! This think has some amazing power. Back when I did sound reinforcement for Rock and Roll bands, this would have been so much nicer than lugging around a dozen or more Crown DC300A amplifiers....


so what is your verdict now after nearly a month?
 

gentlejax

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I bought a stereo amp from Premium Audio to run my ridiculously inefficient Stax F81 Electrostatic speakers. I liked it enough to ask Tom to make me mono blocs. They run cool and with zero issues, sonically they best my Rogue Medusa my NuPrime mono’s and Ghent Audio mono’s. More detailed less haze than any class D amp I have used. Bass is exceptional with a smooth extended top. Midrange is a little more forward than other amps but that ok. Value for money is outstanding. I understand measurements are important, but if I measure some of the tube amps I love I think I would be just as shocked. I say let your ears be the judge.

thoughts now that you have had it a year? I actually ordered one today BEFORE I saw this review on it.
 

RoyB

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Well, I decided to send it back. It is a fantastic amplifier especially driving hard to drive Megnepans. No negative issues what so ever. But at the same time, I bought a Bucharest i150 integrated amplifier with a class d amplifier section and I found I simply didn't need the extra power of the Mini. And they sounded identical to my ears in my room. I just felt I would rather have the $735 back in the bank.....
 

goryu

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Well, I decided to send it back. It is a fantastic amplifier especially driving hard to drive Megnepans. No negative issues what so ever. But at the same time, I bought a Bucharest i150 integrated amplifier with a class d amplifier section and I found I simply didn't need the extra power of the Mini. And they sounded identical to my ears in my room. I just felt I would rather have the $735 back in the bank.....

Magenpan's are a nearly flat resistive load, how are they hard to drive?
 

goryu

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As I mentioned elsewhere, magnepans are nearly flat, simple, resistive load, which is easy to drive. They are rather inefficient and need a lot of power, which I also explained. Both of the amps you mention spec at 300 watts into 4 ohms so no, the GaN amp doesn't have "extra power". The GaN amp is load dependent, the other uses an ncore amp module, which is not load dependent and rather state of the art design versus the GaN amp.
 
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mocenigo

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Well, I decided to send it back. It is a fantastic amplifier especially driving hard to drive Megnepans. No negative issues what so ever. But at the same time, I bought a Bucharest i150 integrated amplifier with a class d amplifier section and I found I simply didn't need the extra power of the Mini. And they sounded identical to my ears in my room. I just felt I would rather have the $735 back in the bank.....

So why did you not send the Buchardt I150 Integrated Amplifier instead to get even more money back? Because it provides more functionality and you do need extra HW for DAC and/or DSP correction? It makes sense - until a few years ago there was tremendous improvement in the SQ of DACs, but now it has audibly plateaued, and any improvement seems mostly in the realm of even crazier measurements.
 

RoyB

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So why did you not send the Buchardt I150 Integrated Amplifier instead to get even more money back?
The Buchardt i150 does everything I want in a PREAMPLIFIER....The power amplifier sounding great is just a bonus....The onboard DAC, the Room Correction, The EQ but most importantly, the sound quality when the i150 is used as a preamp with my Pass Labs First Watt amplifier is simply magical! I was using a Schiit Freya with a bit of tube rolling and a Gustard DAC (Node2i as source).....And that combination sounds amazing......But Room Correction and a bit of parametric EQ brings my whole HiFi system to another level......(Can't believe I'm saying all this as I was a DSP/EQ denier for decades!)
 

gentlejax

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Well....I received my Class D Audio amp which is same as the one reviewed here. had it for couple weeks and ZERO issues with it. I replaced 2 vintage Altec Lansing 50lb blocks of iron with this single amp. I was running the Altecs bridged for 600 watts per front speaker. Now with 1/3rd that power but much more efficiency I am not short on power. I hear very clearly different things in the music that I heard in my much more expensive Carver amps I Had prior to the Altecs. My carvers were modified.

so , I would not hesitate to buy another of these amps at near 1/3 the cost of the Peachtree version. very possible the amp here was faulty.
 
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