Thoughts on this - Gold Note PA-10 power amplifier

[facefirst]

For no real reason at all, I am toying with replacing my Uniti Nova with a pair of power amps and some sort of pre-amp / streamer / DAC.

Gold Note makes a very cool-looking bridgable power amp called the PA-10. I have seen them for £1k each. I have their PH-10 phono stage and it really is a lovely piece of kit.

The specs are listed as:

POWER OUTPUT - 75/150W @ 8/4Ω per ch. in stereo to 600W @ 4Ω per ch. in mono (BTL)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE - 10Hz-30kHz at +/-1dB
TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD) - 0,05%
DAMPING FACTOR - Selectable HIGH/LOW

I like the idea of adjustable damping factor, and they have plenty of power in bridge mode. You're probably all going to tell me that a Purifi amp is betterer but beyond that, what are your thoughts?

 

[RayDunzl]

What's in the box?

 

[facefirst]

What's in the box?

Honestly, no idea. Here is a snippet I found in a review:

'I asked Gold Note directly “What Class of amplifier is the PA-10?”. Here is the response I got – “ The PA-10 features quite an interesting design. It is not a Class D amplifier but it leverages a new technology that uses MOSFETs for the output stage, in common with the Class D, featuring an output oscillator (GaN Mosfets with Gallium Nitride), a proprietary design that actually doubles the power of the amplifier when reducing the impedance – exactly as a pure Class A but with extremely high efficiency to deliver great amounts of energy.” So there you have it.'

I am going to go ahead and guess that it is like the Devialet in that a small class A amp to deliver the signal to the class D outputs.

 

[Berwhale]

 

[MaxBuck]

I'm not enamored of the noise that cooling fans entail. Plenty of excellent amps don't require them.

 

[mononoaware]

If you are looking for something with similar dimensions. . . I put to use “Little Dot D300 Monoblocks”.
They are Class-T with no fans required.
I purchased just the D300 Monoblocks, the optional D300 Preamplifier uses tubes but I was just after solid-state amplification.

Goldnote PA-10: 200mm x 80mm x 260mm

Little dot D300: 175 x 70 x 300mm

 

[polmuaddib]

What would that damping factor switch mean in the real world? When would low setting be advantageous?

 

[mononoaware]

What would that damping factor switch mean in the real world? When would low setting be advantageous?

It’s basically an impedance matching switch like those commonly found on Yamaha amplifiers.
If you have any basic knowledge you will leave it in one position permanently to prevent risk of damage to amplifier and/or speakers.
I think such a switch is put there by manufacturers so in event of damage there can be an excuse that it was due to improper use.

Excerpt from Yamaha Amplifier user manual:
“To avoid damage to the amplifier or connected equipment; your Receiver / Amplifier has a protection mode inbuilt which will turn off your unit if it detects an issue.
Please note: Try and avoid as this can cause damage to equipment”

 

[J Ricci]

Hello,

Coming into this quite late, so my apologies here. Just wanted to chime in about the GoldNote PA 10 that I've now had for a while and remember reading this thread upon consideration of purchase. Didn't know which direction you'd decided to go, but love this amp. Responds very well to most preamps, dynamic, clear, fast, surprisingly powerful, rich without ever being cluttered. Also, the fan only comes on (very briefly) if you turn it off and then back on after it has been operating a while. But never during constant use, never in the middle of playing music (at least I've never driven it to a point where it would need to turn on). Highly recommended for the price.

 

[Gwizz]

I also have the goldnotes, they are fantastic very musical and powerfull. Bargin price. Only negative is a very low hiss if you have sensitive tweeters..