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Premium Audio Mini Gan 5 Balanced Power Amplifier

0hm357aW

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Just got one and it sounds fantastic paired with a SMSL M200 DAC.

Best my speakers have ever sounded.

Love the small footprint too.

Got them set up temporarily on a bed just for testing with RCA cables and a notebook. Making some balanced XLR cables for the DAC to the amplifier.
 

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Kachda

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Just got one and it sounds fantastic paired with a SMSL M200 DAC.

Best my speakers have ever sounded.

Love the small footprint too.

Got them set up temporarily on a bed just for testing with RCA cables and a notebook. Making some balanced XLR cables for the DAC to the amplifier.
You know what’s doing to come next - please send to @amirm for a test
 
OP
0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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You know what’s doing to come next - please send to @amirm for a test

Sorry I'm not willing to part with my new amp. It would be neat to see how it stacks up against the other amps that have been tested by amirm though.

The only scientific testing that I know of that has been done is listed in the photos on the manufacturer's WEB site.

From the manufacturer's WEB site:

"We added a few photos showing some of the specs of this amazing little amp. You will see it putting out 600W RMS Into 8 Ohms at 0.01% THD+N - Right and Left Channel. You can see 1KHz and 1W with 0.006% THD+N with No Weighting, and 0.004% THD+N with A Weighting. We're still putting specs and documentation together for this amp, but wanted to show what it's capabilities."

https://premium-audio.com/mini-gan-5-balanced-power-amplifier.html

It's a very nice modern small and powerful Gallium nitride class D amplifier that has no problem driving my tiny Tang Band W4 1879 4" speakers like well made musical instruments. The speakers enclosures are IWISTAO HIFI 4 Inches Full Range Speaker Empty Labyrinth Birch cabinets.

The sound reproduction that my ears experience are precise 3 dimensional harmonically clear frequencies that are juicy and soft with no sting. Very easy to listen to my ears. Immersive and enjoyable.
 

Kachda

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It may be pretty powerful (mostly becaues the distortion does not go up very quickly after the 'knee') but it doesn't seem particularly clean compared to Hypex or Purifi based solutions.

1618932880129.png
 
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0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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I tried out my 100W Klipsch RP-250F speakers and they can drive them no problem and sound great as well. :)

Photo for reference with the Klipsch RP-250F speaker set up. You can really see how nice and tiny the foot print of the Min Gan 5 amp is. A standard size Denon X2200W receiver is in the same photo next to it for comparison.

Edited to add a photo of rings next to the S.M.S.L. M200 and Mini Gan 5 amplifier to appreciate the small foot print of this technology. Though small in foot print these electronic devices do a fantastic job of reproducing music.







PremiumAudioGanAmp5wKlipschRP250F100WSpeakers.jpg
CrossroadsMinGan5.JPG
 
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0hm357aW

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Another update.

After some brain storming for a stand for this gear I came up with the following.

1x Besign LS10 adjustable aluminum laptop stand with the arms remounted for inside clearance to fit the S.M.S.L M200 below. Color choice black.

1x Monosaudio SP401OG (set of four nice metal feet for the base for air flow and appearance. Look nice in gold. I'm mounting them with sticky adhesive tape. They can be screwed in but I don't think it's necessary for my application and require drilling into the stand and less placement options on bottom for feet do to the stand side arms mounting.

I think this looks good and is functional for compact space management and better air flow to help cool. The Mini Gan 5 amp on top is best location due to the heat it produces. The little S.M.S.L M200 doesn't seem to heat up at all and seems fine underneath. The aluminum stand does have some heat dissipation natural properties as well. Seems like a nice option for a DIY affordable stand that is easy to assemble.


Some photos from the front view and side with a 500Ml water container and a AAA battery for size reference. Still sounds good.



BesignLS10-MonosAudioSP10401OGsidewithbattandwaterforsizereference.jpg




BesignLS10-MonosAudioSP10401OGFront.jpg
 
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0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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One more update.

Premium Audio was kind enough to email me a photo of the PCB + separate power supply guts of the Mini Gan 5 amp. There is a warranty void sticker for removing the screws for disassembly on the Mini Gan 5 and that is why I didn't share a photo of mine. Looks very simple and clean with isolated power supply.
Mini GaN 5 inside.jpg


Again this amp sounds great.
 

mononoaware

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The speakers enclosures are IWISTAO HIFI 4 Inches Full Range Speaker Empty Labyrinth Birch cabinets.

Is it this enclosure?

Edit: I found the photo, it was dark so I missed it. Very beautiful looking enclosures !

WHFSC-FR3T4WLC_8x8_l3.jpg
 
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0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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Is it this enclosure?

Edit: I found the photo, it was dark so I missed it. Very beautiful looking enclosures !

WHFSC-FR3T4WLC_8x8_l3.jpg


Those are them. Mine sound great. I think they could possibly use a good outer finish to fill in all the gaps. As is the enclosure breathes alot and sound beautifully natural to my ears.

I'm thinking about finishing them but I think it may change the pleasant sound.
 
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0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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Update. Put the M200 and Mini GaN Amp 5 stack behind a monitor.

My corner of the house.

Nice and clean with a good sound and view to the world.
mINIgAN5BEHINDDISPLAYCORNER.jpg
cORNERAUDIOVIDEOWINDOW.jpg
 
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dfuller

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It may be pretty powerful (mostly becaues the distortion does not go up very quickly after the 'knee') but it doesn't seem particularly clean compared to Hypex or Purifi based solutions.

View attachment 125228
Interesting distortion behavior, sort of along the lines of a lower feedback amp in that the onset is gradual and not a hockey stick clean clean clean CRACKLE that we usually see.
 

toddverrone

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Thanks for sharing!

I was shopping for an amp this past November and this was on my list of contenders along with the purifi module amps. I then found out about the Benchmark and ended up going with that. The GAN amp was crossed off the list after multiple attempts to contact the manufacturer via email (the only way to contact them, no phone# listed on their site) went unanswered while Benchmark picked up the phone within 4 rings.

Happy listening!
 
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0hm357aW

0hm357aW

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Thanks for sharing!

I was shopping for an amp this past November and this was on my list of contenders along with the purifi module amps. I then found out about the Benchmark and ended up going with that. The GAN amp was crossed off the list after multiple attempts to contact the manufacturer via email (the only way to contact them, no phone# listed on their site) went unanswered while Benchmark picked up the phone within 4 rings.

Happy listening!


I had been emailing Class D Audio for months about their TPA3255 DIY amp board and then in February I saw the Gan Amp 5 on their Premium Audio WEB site and emailed them and then I began to get good communication with Tom the owner and from there its been very good communication and service. It serms like they are a small shop. No excuse for them.. I know they were very slow to follow up with my product inquiries at first.
 

toddverrone

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I'm very interested to see this amp measured at some point. The promise of a higher switching frequency with the GaN transistors, thereby pushing PS noise further out away from the audible band seems very promising.
 

gingerbeer

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I'm very interested to see this amp measured at some point. The promise of a higher switching frequency with the GaN transistors, thereby pushing PS noise further out away from the audible band seems very promising.

The manufacturer’s own measurements aren’t anything amazing (see post #4), so independent measurement would only be to confirm they are not even worse than this.

Price is low for the power on offer so it has a place in the value chain, but are you hoping the amp measures even better?
 

toddverrone

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The manufacturer’s own measurements aren’t anything amazing (see post #4), so independent measurement would only be to confirm they are not even worse than this.

Price is low for the power on offer so it has a place in the value chain, but are you hoping the amp measures even better?

I'm just curious. The measurements shared here, from the manufacturer, don't go up to 50kHz. That's what I'm curious about as many of the complaints against class D involve noise above the audible band, but close enough that some claim it affects the audio band. The promise of GaN was that it allowed much higher switching frequencies so the PS nose would be so far above the audio band that it wouldn't affect it.

I'm not interested in a new amp. I'm just a curious guy and have been reading about the possible benefits of GaN transistors in audio for a couple of years now. It was always on amps way to expensive to consider, so this one just seems interesting.
 

daniboun

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Hi,

I share some measurements about this amp :
I asked about the Loop gain but got no response from the manufacturer... the Purifi has an High loop gain (>75dB) and a Gan amp should be able to reach about the same.


So you can compare in the meanwhile :


Mini GAN
THD+N 5W , 1Khz : 0.004%
THD+N 10W 20-20Khz : 0.005%
THD+N 100W 20-20Khz : 0.008%

SNR: 108dB Unweighted 110dB A-weighted

PURIFI :
THD+N 5W , 1Khz 0.0006
THD+N 100W 20-20Khz 0.00017
THD+N 10W 20-20Khz 0.00029
Sinad 5W / 4R : 108
SNR : 131DB (ASR shows 128DB)

BOSC Starkrimson Gan :
THD+N 5W , 1Khz : 0.0004%
THD+N 100W 20-20Khz : 0.0092%
THD+N 10W 20-20Khz 0.0025%
Sinad 5W / 4R : 105
SNR : 121DB


ALLO TPA3255 (to be confirmed) :
THD+N 5W , 1Khz 0.00014
THD+N 100W 20-20Khz 0.0097
THD+N 10W 20-20Khz 0.0091
SNR : about 117DB
 
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daniboun

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It may be pretty powerful (mostly becaues the distortion does not go up very quickly after the 'knee') but it doesn't seem particularly clean compared to Hypex or Purifi based solutions.

View attachment 125228


Hi,

Where did you get this graph ? The Mini Gan is about 200W / 8R and 300W / 4R max....
How can you achieve 600W / 8R @ 0.01% THD+N ?
 

Kachda

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Hi,

Where did you get this graph ? The Mini Gan is about 200W / 8R and 300W / 4R max....
How can you achieve 600W / 8R @ 0.01% THD+N ?
From the website of the product
 

daniboun

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From the website of the product


Thanks... quite weird this graph ) I probably missed something when I read the spec )
 
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