Peachtree GAN400 Amplifier Review

[Vigovsky]

Would you please post 10kHz square response?

Also added (Sine waves) :
440 W 100 Hz 6 Ohm
551 kHz ..PWM pulse
These measurements were taken in 2022.
Maybe I'll do 10kHz later when have time for it.

Best wishes,
Ruslan Vigovsky

 

[Matias]

For an informed opinion about GaN technology in audio amplifiers. .

Thanks! Very interesting video.

I learned 2 new things:
- Using GaN in an amplifier would reduce 10 dB the distortion levels, while his feedback loops are reducing 80 dB with regular opamps and passive components, so the extra cost of GaN is not worth it.

- After the release of his current high powered module (I assume 1ET7040SA) they are working in a next generation of Eigentakt that further reduces distortions from -120 dB to -130 dB, and then he will start working on their own line of Purifi power supplies.

 

[AaronJ]

What would be the discriminator for someone to choose this over the cheaper one?

Darko likes it.

 

[Sokel]

Darko likes it.

Darko pays it then

(who's Darko?)

 

[Gadgety]

I tracked down the BAS tests, reported in their Speaker publication (Fall 2017). The material is of course copyrighted so I won't quote much. However for anyone interested, and for anyone with access to the publication, it is worthwhile.

A problem for manufacturers producing for the real world is cost to the consumer v intended application. Looking at a 'graph' printout has to be interpreted carefully, whether it's power, or distortion. In the BAS article, two designers (Bob Carver--then at Sunfire, and Tom Holman, audio engineering director at Apple, designer of the Apt electronics) discussed their opinions and reservations about consumers using something like the Power Cube for purchasing valuations.

Editor Alvin Foster wrote the following:

Not everyone is in agreement with AudioGraph CEO Lars Ohlen about the universality of all amplifiers outputting a perfect cube with the loads specified in the IHF-A-202 standard. Some well-known amplifier designers believe that test selection and performance required depend on how the amplifier will be used, especially where music is the ultimate signal. They believe that an amp need not pass all AudioGraph tests to be more than adequate for music playback. Passing all of the tests might be more appropriate for amps in certain industrial applications.

If ASR is going to provide AudioGraph measurements (which I hope will be the case), a discussion of its practical (to the consumer) use ought to follow. In any case, because it's an old design, I am attaching the Phase Linear 700 AudioGraph. Phase Linear was one of the first, to the consumer, high powered amplifiers. FYI

View attachment 271652

It will depend on the interaction with the speakers and the load they present, and having a perfect cube may be overkill, as well as add cost. The perfect cube isn't perfect either, as the phase degrees the loudspeakers present may go beyond what the power cube presents. That said it is a convenient, comprehensive and insightful representation of measurement data in one single image. It is a way to go beyond more simple measurements, usually presented by the manufacturers in their marketing. A great complement to SINAD.

 

[boXem]

... the release of his current high powered module (I assume 1ET7040SA) they are working in a next generation of Eigentakt that further reduces distortions from -120 dB to -130 dB...

I listened while working so I may be wrong but the high powered module to be released is the 1ET9040BA. And my understanding is that the mentioned progress concerns this module.

 

[Matias]

I listened while working so I may be wrong but the high powered module to be released is the 1ET9040BA. And my understanding is that the mentioned progress concerns this module.

I don't know, it still sounds like a 2nd gen Eigentakt to me.

Auto transcribed [and corrected by me]

21:08
what's next for you what what's next for
21:10
what do you see is the next big step for
21:12
you or your team or what can we expect
21:15
I'm taking a short I mean after this
21:18
after this this bigger amplifier
21:21
comes out and and and and and
21:27
I mean again compared to the to to the
21:31
current current a generation of [eigentakt] it it has it has significantly
21:37
better performance so I mean we are we
21:39
we are now now at [distortion figures?]
21:43
that are close to minus 130 than than
21:45
120.

 

[Dirk_67]

I listened while working so I may be wrong but the high powered module to be released is the 1ET9040BA. And my understanding is that the mentioned progress concerns this module.

I think you are right ...

and is the 1ET9040BA just (sort of) a bridged version of two 1ET7040SA circuits ?

 

[Jimster480]

Stand Alone – AudioGraph

www.audiograph.se

It is an eval unit. Have to decide if I am purchasing it. Will probably do a stand-alone review for it.

Looks awesome! Probably not very "affordable" either.

 

[boXem]

I think you are right ...

and is the 1ET9040BA just (sort of) a bridged version of two 1ET7040SA circuits ?

View attachment 272182

From what I know about it, it is in principle a pair of bridged 1ET7040SA but with a lower voltage power supply. And with a lot of work done to improve measurements...

 

[Matias]

IMHO they are missing out on prioritizing their line of power supplies, and then expanding to integrated amp+PS boards like NCore MP. Should boost sales a lot more than a bridged 1ET7040SA, but hey, what do I know? Better mind my own business.

 

[Dirk_67]

From what I know about it, it is in principle a pair of bridged 1ET7040SA but with a lower voltage power supply. And with a lot of work done to improve measurements...

ah OK, thanks, very interesting

1ET7040SA
1ET9040BA

1 = number of channels
ET = EigenTakt
70/90 = volts
40 = ampere
S/B = single ended / bridged
A = amplifier module

 

[goryu]

Talking with a few people in the know, the new module will be a bridged version offering higher power across the load range, rather than just mainly highly power into lower impedance loads. My understanding is it hasn't been released at all yet and no outside vendors have heard it yet.

 

[AndreaT]

One of the discoveries from ASR: small, well built, it works and weighs < 1/2 of the original that came with the MacBook Air.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

For 2.500 USD we should expect more. Well maybe not in this business but I ain't buying it and when I read something like this, I find it that the manufacturer really have their head at another place. Perhaps it smells more like money where their heads at?

There is no pop on power up but there is when you shut it down

The new Power Stress Test is good.

 

[nagster]

The overall look of your amplifier is excellent. I really like the instrumentation style volume pot knob and the shaft driven motorized Alps (or replica). Reminds me of the Teac Reference range from the late 90s.

View attachment 271890

Large toroidal TXF and 20,000uF per rail is a bit light IMO. I don't believe you will get anywher near the ET400A's capabilities with that PSU, but the completed amp looks better than just about any other Purifi-in-a-can I have seen- well done.

It's nostalgic.
I bought it for my office because it looked small and easy to use. I think it's the late 90's. It shouldn't have been 2000.
I didn't expect the sound quality at first, but I remember being surprised that it sounded surprisingly good.
The shape of the volume knob and the feeling of turning it were also good.
I continued to use it until I moved, but yesterday I went to the warehouse for the first time in a while, so I excavated it.
I'm going to try cleaning it first.

 

[C. Cook]

Amir, sorry if I missed it scanning the thread but do you recommend a specific make and model of GaN USB charger?

 

[Demon3]

The Peachtree GaN1 power DAC / DACless amp is interesting. Way cheaper and sounds better than the GaN400.

GaN 1

It’s the easiest and most cost effective way to get true high end amplification from a streamer. No separate D to A needed. No integrated amp needed. Just plug in the Bluesound NODE via coaxial digital, use the App for control, and get outstanding sound at half the price you’d expect.

www.peachtreeaudio.com

I have one and it sounds ultra transparent and better than the GaN400 I tried.
Hope Amir gets one in to test.

 

[Julf]

The Peachtree GaN1 power DAC / DACless amp is interesting. Way cheaper and sounds better than the GaN400.

"Sounds better" sounds like a subjective taste/preference thing.

 

[Steve Dallas]

The Peachtree GaN1 power DAC / DACless amp is interesting. Way cheaper and sounds better than the GaN400.

GaN 1

It’s the easiest and most cost effective way to get true high end amplification from a streamer. No separate D to A needed. No integrated amp needed. Just plug in the Bluesound NODE via coaxial digital, use the App for control, and get outstanding sound at half the price you’d expect.

www.peachtreeaudio.com

I have one and it sounds ultra transparent and better than the GaN400 I tried.
Hope Amir gets one in to test.

The product "photos" are renderings, and there are no specs on the product page. Does this actually exist?