Premium Audio Mini GaN 5 Review (Stereo Amplifier)

[antcollinet]

Have to agree. Incompetence does not mean fraudulent. I know I deal with both with offshore companies. Often you think they are fraudulent but they are just incompetent .. and vice versa.

Never ascribe to malice that which can better be explained by incompetence

 

[daniboun]

Hi amigos

ClassDaudio shared a new User Manual with all the measurements inside (hear specifications... in Page 6)
I remain perplexed and I wait for them to send a new amp to Amir

https://premium-audio.com/documents/User%27s%20Manual%20Mini%20GaN%205.pdf

 

[rdenney]

Health and safety are a bigger priority I suspect. Also it’s not that large or essential an industry with far reaching side effects, relatively speaking.

Cynicism would be presuming every company is willfully fraudulent and idiots all the time. Extreme Circumspection is responsible to convey if a device does not work right at first, may or may not have issues with standard testing equipment (suggesting a problematic design perhaps or maybe creating issues for standard measurement practices), tests well below stated specs, is not the cheapest thing out there, is produced by a small company relatively new to making this sort of thing, and which seems to not understand how heat sinks work.

As to FTC targeting, they targeted a couple of wristwatch companies who were saying "Made in USA" when they bought hairsprings and mainsprings from a Swiss company. Those items were considered too fundamental to the design to be allowed as incidental items, or something like that I've forgotten some of the details. But it certainly falls away from anything related to health and safety, nor did it have any effects outside that one company, let alone in that (tiny) industry. So, I just don't know what captures their interest and why.

Rick "but, the manufacturer is aware and can decide out to respond" Denney

 

[antcollinet]

Hi amigos

ClassDaudio shared a new User Manual with all the measurements inside.... (Page 6)
I remain perplexed and I wait for them to send a new amp to Amir

https://premium-audio.com/documents/User%27s%20Manual%20Mini%20GaN%205.pdf

They are specifications - not measurements.

They might be derived from measurements, or may just be design targets which have not been met.

 

[daniboun]

Insufficient data to draw either conclusion. Another sample from the OEM would clarify things either way. If the unit you tested was a fluke, another one - if I were them I would verify functionality before shipping - would be helpful. If they react to this in a positive manner, they may find ASR did them a huge service.

This is what I have been defending from the start .... thank you for specifying it in the right terms!

 

[daniboun]

They are specifications - not measurements.

They might be derived from measurements, or may just be design targets which have not been met.

Agree... let's wait for them to publish the measurements, as announced in their response which I shared beforehand

 

[GimeDsp]

This is what I have been defending from the start .... thank you for specifying it in the right terms!

This is not really accurate.

1. test sample, 1 unit
2. 1 owner of that unit
3. For this 1 owner of this 1 sample the bad results are 100% valid.

From a consumer standpoint the percentage of good units they put out doesn't matter here. For this owner who would have spent almost $1000 the fact the amp doesn't perform to spec is all the data you need.

Amir is not a QC tester trying to get bad products limited to a certain percentage, he is testing real world purchases and showing us what real world buyers should expect.

 

[PeteL]

They are specifications - not measurements.

They might be derived from measurements, or may just be design targets which have not been met.

Sorry but specifications may not be measurements, but at least one need to do some sort of measurements to come up with them. Maybe not in the same testing conditions, maybe with much more rudimentary methods, but in all cases you don't publish specifications that are just design goals.

 

[daniboun]

This is a reasoning ... which leaves no chance for error then? What if by chance the first tested amp was defective and the second contradicted what was measured?

As consumer: I always have the choice to send back the amp, don't I? For me this is a sufficient guarantee, for example : I often buy from Thomann because I can take pleasure in testing new products without taking any risks.

 

[DanielT]

Hi amigos

ClassDaudio shared a new User Manual with all the measurements inside (hear specifications... in Page 6)
I remain perplexed and I wait for them to send a new amp to Amir

https://premium-audio.com/documents/User%27s%20Manual%20Mini%20GaN%205.pdf

Page 6 according to specification:
THD + N <0.02% 8 Ω, 20 Hz-20 kHz, -9 dB

-9dB?

 

[antcollinet]

Sorry but specifications may not be measurements, but at least one need to do some sort of measurements to come up with them. Maybe not in the same testing conditions, maybe with much more rudimentary methods, but in all cases you don't publish specifications that are just design goals.

Sometimes documentation is completed before testing is. A competent organisation won't release that until the testing confirms it. I think we've already learned that the organisation is not yet fully competent.

 

[PeteL]

This is a reasoning ... which leaves no chance for error then? What if by chance the first tested amp was defective and the second contradicted what was measured?

As consumer: I always have the choice to send back the amp, don't I? For me this is a sufficient guarantee, for example : I often buy from Thomann because I can take pleasure in testing new products without taking any risks.

Yep, It is fully possible that defective amps gets released from small, or even big compagnies. And yes, Some don't have the QC ressources, As the Chinese saying goes: Chi Tapen.

 

[antcollinet]

Page 6 according to specification:
THD + N <0.02% 8 Ω, 20 Hz-20 kHz, -9 dB

-9dB?

Probably -9dBFS (9dB down from full power?)

So 25W if full power is 200W?

 

[daniboun]

In my opinion they did not reread the manual lol
Hmmm that says a lot about the company ... too bad for them ...

 

[sarumbear]

They are specifications - not measurements.

They might be derived from measurements, or may just be design targets which have not been met.

You really want to think again what you said...

 

[sarumbear]

Yep, It is fully possible that defective amps gets released from small, or even big compagnies. And yes, Some don't have the QC ressources, As the Chinese saying goes: Chi Tapen.

If you don't to QC you are not a manufacturer in the sense that we understand in the Western world. The Wild West happened a long time ago...

 

[sarumbear]

Sometimes documentation is completed before testing is. A competent organisation won't release that until the testing confirms it. I think we've already learned that the organisation is not yet fully competent.

Incompetent or using falsehoods to market their product? 300W to 4Ohm published spec but measured just 127W, less than half! This is not a small difference. It basically places the amplifier to a different (lower) league.

 

[AudioJester]

If you don't to QC you are not a manufacturer in the sense that we understand in the Western world. The Wild West happened a long time ago...

Speaking of which, would you send one of your co-designed monitors to Amir to measure. Generally curious how it would measure on the NFS.

 

[antcollinet]

You really want to think again what you said...

Don't think so. We've no idea how they've generated that data - other than it doesn't match the product tested.

 

[sarumbear]

Speaking of which, would you send one of your co-designed monitors to Amir to measure. Generally curious how it would measure on the NFS.

I would love to as well, but I am in the UK and shipping them will be too large.

Besides, they are a 30 year old design