New Purifi amplifiers coming

[fcracer]

I got to hear the Purifi 1ET9040BA with their SPK16 demo speaker, and it was amazing!

The preliminary watts on the 1ET9040BA are:
400/8 ohm
800/4 ohm
1500/2 ohm (maybe a little bit under).

Probably the best system I have ever heard!
The preamp was Mola Mola Makua with a DAC board.

What a great time to be alive to witness and experience these gains! Imagine a cool running, efficient, integrated amplifier/streamer like the NAD M33, but with two of these new Purifi modules! 400w x 2 into 8 ohms would be end-game for me. No need to ever upgrade with that setup.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

The fight whose distortion is inaudiblier begins

And the fight for the audiophools' money while bragging about it.

 

[PHD]

I'm surprised that Purifi hasn't switched to GaN FETs or SiC MOSFETs transistor technology for their amplifiers, so much higher switching frequencies could be achieved.

 

[Ra1zel]

I'm surprised that Purifi hasn't switched to GaN FETs or SiC MOSFETs transistor technology for their amplifiers, so much higher switching frequencies could be achieved.

And I'm on the other hand completely not surprised, I remember that audioexpress interviewed someone from GaN Systems about their class D evaluation modules and asked why their module switching frequency is inferior or just matching the newest purifi and hypex. The guy replied that he thinks higher switching frequency than that is not needed in class D amplifiers, perhaps not the smartest thing to say when you are trying to sell GaN based amplifiers for their "benefits"

Edit: here's a fragment from that audioexpress review

 

[boXem]

I'm surprised that Purifi hasn't switched to GaN FETs or SiC MOSFETs transistor technology for their amplifiers, so much higher switching frequencies could be achieved.

Apparently there are no reliable GaN FETs currently available for this application. SIC is interesting for ultra high power amps (for live events in example).

 

[Matias]

To me the high power and low distortion of this module already shows that GaN is not needed at all.

 

[BergeHiFi]

To me, the high power and low distortion of this module already shows that GaN is not needed at all.

I agree. The new 1ET9040BA module is better at everything, so I think so far GAN is hype.
But it would be interesting if the Purifi team tried to see if they could do something with it, which will probably happen sometime in the future.

 

[dlaloum]

At the High End I met Purifi, and I was offered a sneak peek of the new 1ET9040BA. Available soon-ish, this amplifier module is a full bridge topology (a first for Bruno Putzeys?) and it has a residual noise of 8uV, so it beats the newest NCorex's. As for power and stability, if I understood correctly load impedance is not a problem as long as the amp does not have to deliver more than 90V (180 actually, it is from -90 to +90) or 40A of current. The top is reached at 2 ohm, a "conservative" 1500W. If these numbers for power and stability are correct we have a game changer. A buffer and connectors are on board, but you can "snap" that off. It will be available on their shop as soon as they can get the parts, as you know currently component supplies are vey very tight.

A bridge design that can handle 2 ohm? that means the core (unbridged) amps are capable of driving 1ohm - either way it is impressive.

 

[dlaloum]

Should be just about enough power (and more importantly, voltage) for my Soundlabs. As long as it doesn't mind a 1 ohm impedance around 20 khz.

Of course the eternal question......at what cost..........for the amps?

At 1 ohm, wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask what the core amp prior to bridging is? and whether it is available as a seperate module?

A 2 ohm capable amp is promising for the soundlabs... but it would be nice to be sure!

Is it the bridged monoblock version of the 1ET7040SA? (if so wouldn't that be more suitable?)

 

[roog]

I agree. The new 1ET9040BA module is better at everything, so I think so far GAN is hype.
But it would be interesting if the Purifi team tried to see if they could do something with it, which will probably happen sometime in the future.

I recall hearing an interview with Putzeys, (sorry can't find a link, oh have I looked), where he was asked about the use of GaN fets and his answer was along the lines of: 'any gains would not warrant the extra cost'. This seems quite believable for me given their relatively recent appearance, especially as he spent his early years with Philips where the use of fancy pants devices that cost lots of $$ wouldn't have washed. Good training!

 

[TheWalkman]

This is all really interesting but last June, I bought an S400ET (Audiophonics) amp and that’s an end-game amp for me. (To be honest, I don’t know what to do with all of its power but hey, I know it’s there.)

Like the great DAC race, we have reached DAC perfection at an affordable price.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see manufacturers pushing the amp envelope, but do existing products essentially meet the need of 98% or the market?

Is the transparent, powerful, affordable amp race really a solved problem?

 

[fpitas]

This is all really interesting but last June, I bought an S400ET (Audiophonics) amp and that’s an end-game amp for me. (To be honest, I don’t know what to do with all of its power but hey, I know it’s there.)

Like the great DAC race, we have reached DAC perfection at an affordable price.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see manufacturers pushing the amp envelope, but do existing products essentially meet the need of 98% or the market?

Is the transparent, powerful, affordable amp race really a solved problem?

It has been solved for a while, really. I could argue that the original Hypex amp modules like the UcD180 etc. were good enough.

 

[boXem]

I agree. The new 1ET9040BA module is better at everything, so I think so far GAN is hype.
But it would be interesting if the Purifi team tried to see if they could do something with it, which will probably happen sometime in the future.

A lot of them come from TI. They already tried if something could be done .

 

[roog]

This is all really interesting but last June, I bought an S400ET (Audiophonics) amp and that’s an end-game amp for me. (To be honest, I don’t know what to do with all of its power but hey, I know it’s there.)

Like the great DAC race, we have reached DAC perfection at an affordable price.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see manufacturers pushing the amp envelope, but do existing products essentially meet the need of 98% or the market?

Is the transparent, powerful, affordable amp race really a solved problem?

I suspect so, especially for the home HiFi market, I am guessing that this is why Purifi seem to be most interested in loudspeaker drivers where 'problems' are still ever present.
The other issue for me in my home is horrible room acoustics where economic room correction would come in handy, now there is a topic I would like to see Mr Putzeys address.

 

[Ra1zel]

Is the transparent, powerful, affordable amp race really a solved problem?

Yes, for few decades now.

 

[fpitas]

GaN will only get cheaper and better. Maybe some day it will become a good solution.

 

[muslhead]

While it may get cheaper (it may not) there is not enough volume in the products (not speaking to audio) to warrant a large semiconductor company to commit Billions of dollars to a new fab which would, eventually, drive the good solution. The economics does not make sense. Until that changes, it will always play second fiddle to the mainstream processes.

 

[BergeHiFi]

A lot of them come from TI. They already tried if something could be done .

That is true

So, when are you coming out with a 1ET9040BA amplifier?
I am volunteering to be a tester, just ship it! haha

 

[fpitas]

While it may get cheaper (it may not) there is not enough volume in the products (not speaking to audio) to warrant a large semiconductor company to commit Billions of dollars to a new fab which would, eventually, drive the good solution. The economics does not make sense. Until that changes, it will always play second fiddle to the mainstream processes.

There's quite a market in microwave, as well as in some swirtching applications, and that may drive the technology. It's not a matter of a new fab so much as becoming proficient and comfortable with the unique processing. Also, in time larger single crystals may become available.,

 

[JohnnyNG]

I recall hearing an interview with Putzeys, (sorry can't find a link, oh have I looked), where he was asked about the use of GaN fets and his answer was along the lines of: 'any gains would not warrant the extra cost'. This seems quite believable for me given their relatively recent appearance, especially as he spent his early years with Philips where the use of fancy pants devices that cost lots of $$ wouldn't have washed. Good training!

This one has some info:

PURIFI Audio and the Audiophile Style reader's Q&A with Lars Risbo & Bruno Putzeys

Q&A with Purifi Audio's Bruno Putzeys and Lars Risbo.

audiophilestyle.com