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[Gallium Nitride amplifier] Impressions of the Mini Gan 5 by Premium Audio, pictures / video inside

shal

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AC Voltage Input 90 to 264VAC. Voltage Selectable from switch on bottom of the amplifier (from the manual).
The sentence in manual is
This switch can be changed for use un countries with either 110 VAC or 230 VAC (85 to 250 VAC)
.....
and must be set correctly before plugging in the amplifier

Difficult to understand if 85 to 250 VAC is Ok in all positions of the swith or not .
 

oivavoi

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This entire thread supports my theory that most of us cannot hear -70dB distortion (0.02%). Since we can't, it doesn't take much "poetic language" to swing people's opinions (and bling and $$$$$$$).

Just reproducing CD's spec is hard enough. Hi-res is snake oil.

Yap. There have been some successful attempts at identifying different amplifiers in blind tests, but many more blind tests have shown that people often can't differentiate between amps (excluding tube amps). In the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter whether distortion is 60, 70 or 110 db down (even 40 db down will usually be masked by music). Noise and hiss is a different matter.

As someone said on this forum some time ago (@Blumlein 88 ?): don't sweat the small stuff.
 

pma

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The sentence in manual is


Difficult to understand if 85 to 250 VAC is Ok in all positions of the swith or not .

You want for me to copy and paste. It is absolutely clear that the switch is to be set to 110V or 230V

1633601375354.png


1633601406435.png


1633601451125.png


1633601543290.png


Though their technical description is inconsistent (220x230V etc.), it is clear what the user must do. Set to 110V in countries with 100-120V network (Japan, USA ...) or to 230V in countries with 220-240V net (EU ....). If the switch was set improperly, the review would be invalid.
 
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mhardy6647

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index.php

Though their technical description is inconsistent (220x230V etc.), it is clear what the user must do. Set to 110V in countries with 100-120V network (Japan, USA ...) or to 230V in countries with 220-240V net (EU ....). If the switch was set improperly, the review would be invalid.

in 2021 AD (or CE, if one prefers), this seems like the kind of thing that should either set itself or the amp shouild be provided with a smartphone app for the end user to do it.
:cool:

I mean, for cryin' out loud: don't Elon's and Jeff's and Richards' space capsules run via smartphone apps?

(OK, I am being facetious -- but not entirely facetious)
 
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daniboun

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index.php



in 2021 AD (or CE, if one prefers), this seems like the kind of thing that should either set itself or the amp shouild be provided with a smartphone app for the end user to do it.
:cool:

I mean, for cryin' out loud: don't Elon's and Jeff's and Richards' space capsules run via smartphone apps?

(OK, I am being facetious -- but not entirely facetious)


If that can reassure you, I am the first European to have bought this amp, I have received the product in the 220V position....
Although I must admit that the user manual seems confusing ...

I will still seem boring and considered an extraterrestrial ... but I've been using the Mini Gan for a month and I have almost all the high-end Class D on the market (Purifi / Hypex Ncore, and I even have all TPA3255 Jlester / DrMordor and Sabaj A20a and Poppulse T180 and more ...)
I can't seem to draw the analogy between what I perceive and what Amir's test returns to us. Yesterday I reconnected some other amps, I listened with a friend of mine and really I do not understand ... the Mini Gan sounds much better on all fronts than for example the Aiyima A07 or my Jlester which has been measured by ASR. Either I have a huge problem with my ears .. I have been a musician for more than 20 years or the model received by Amir is really defective, possible ?

I turned the question around to see if my perception was really truncated as well as that of my friends who listened to the Mini Gan, I found on a forum a person who compared the Mini Gan to the Peachtree Gan400. Should be interesting to read :



Either way, I would really like the manufacturer to live up to their word and send Amir an other new amp quickly to clear my doubts.
What bothers me the most in this story is that Tom does not have the courage to register here to answer questions ... so I will continue to share my correspondence with him.
 
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antcollinet

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....... is that Tom does not have the courage to register here to answer questions ... so I will continue to share my correspondence with him......

In the interests of being kind, I'd replace the word "courage" with "time and energy". It is clear from one of your earlier posts that Tom is working like a dog (12+ hour 7 day weeks) which is not surprising for a small independent company trying to release a product.

I have no doubt he will have seen the negativity surrounding the test of the mini GaN. (not to mention floating heat-sinks)

In his shoes I'd not be able to bring myself to engage with that either, at least until things calm down a little.
 
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daniboun

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In the interests of being kind, I'd replace the word "courage" with "time and energy". It is clear from one of your earlier posts that Tom is working like a dog (12+ hour 7 day weeks) which is not surprising for a small independent company trying to release a product.

I have no doubt he will have seen the negativity surrounding the test of the mini GaN. (not to mention floating heat-sinks)

In his shoes I'd not be able to bring myself to engage with that either, at least until things calm down a little.

I see things a little differently ... The Mini Gan is the result of 3 years of R&D. In his place; I would take the time to answer because it is a bit about the survival of its brand image ... I am aware that it works a lot, but the Mini Gan is probably a flagship of the brand and therefore by definition they worked hard to develop it. I can not blame him if he does not want to respond on ASR, however, I expect the manufacturer to explain the measures claimed.
 

antcollinet

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There's a difference between "explaining measures" and "answering questions from a baying mob". (As I guess he may well currently see us)
 
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daniboun

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asking questions about how he explains the measurements is still questioning ....

In short, let's wait for a possible new test with a new amp)
 

whislai

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Been thinking why the GAN sound different vs the SDS, most people think they want "accurate" high fidelity sound, I'm not so sure about that, you know we human always overestimate our ears sensitivity, more does not mean is good for you sometimes, so I'm guessing despite the old SDS might not as accurate as some of the top best measuring amps (e.g. Ncore Hypex), but it guarantee at least smoother and forgiving sound when matching gear.
 
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daniboun

daniboun

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Been thinking why the GAN sound different vs the SDS, most people think they want "accurate" high fidelity sound, I'm not so sure about that, you know we human always overestimate our ears sensitivity, more does not mean is good for you sometimes, so I'm guessing despite the old SDS might not as accurate as some of the top best measuring amps (e.g. Ncore Hypex), but it guarantee at least smoother and forgiving sound when matching gear.

Since I no longer really trust the data shared by the manufacturer, on paper I read this:


I guess @ 8 ohms :
SDS-500 : THD+N, 1W - 1KHz: 0.02%
Mini Gan : THD+N, 1W - 1KHz 0.006%
 

whislai

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Since I no longer really trust the data shared by the manufacturer, on paper I read this:


I guess @ 8 ohms :
SDS-500 : THD+N, 1W - 1KHz: 0.02%
Mini Gan : THD+N, 1W - 1KHz 0.006%
Aha one hell of difference, and yes I did hear difference sound from these 2. To add more story of my usual habit, if I want to analyze track noise etc, I would plug in my Sennheiser HD600, I do not want those dirty details (but pindrop sound is fine to me aha) output from the speakers lol.
 

antcollinet

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asking questions about how he explains the measurements is still questioning ....

In short, let's wait for a possible new test with a new amp)
You might be waiting a while. Amirm has stated he won't just retest anything else sent out unless the manufacture engages with him - and first does their own tests.
 

JayGilb

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There's a difference between "explaining measures" and "answering questions from a baying mob". (As I guess he may well currently see us)
I agree. He's obviously busy and one wrong or misinterpreted answer given to the baying mob could haunt the company forever.
A new unit and additional testing will confirm the amplifier's capabilities.
 

mhardy6647

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Uncontrolled sighted listening doesn’t tell you much, as many posts on this forum will explain…
I'd have to agree -- even as much as I am in the camp of "different amplifiers can sound different, even with similar levels of traditionally-measured performance".

In other words -- yeah, maybe it sounds "better", or more to the point "is perceived as better-sounding" (which is utterly subjective and not really open to debate) to a given listener... but that assessment may not stand up to the rigors of a controlled and blinded test. One could debate the relevance of such a test to personal preference -- e.g., if one prefers a red car to a silver car, there's probably no quantitative measurement nor blind test that can deconvolute the root cause for that*. ;)

That said: hey, if a given listener has the amp and prefers it (for whatever reason)... that's OK with me!
And, again and as always: the daily driver amplifier here is a single-ended, direct-heated triode (vacuum tube) amplifer with linear P/S and vacuum tube HV rectification. Demonstrably, quantitatively inferior? Indubitably. Prefereable to me? Likewise, indubitably. ;)

________
* for the record, I've owned two red cars and two silver cars over the course of the past 30 or so years. :rolleyes:
 
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