The OG? Who is the original GaNgster? In my little black book of hifi acquaintances, I first came across GaNFets with Merrill Wettasinghe's Element amplifiers. Or was it Alberto Guerra's AGD Vivace mono? I can't remember. Since then Argent Pur, Hifi Rose, Java Hifi, LAiV, Mytek, Orchard, Peachtree, smsl and Technics have added themselves to the list of class D circuits executed with non-silicon output devices which depending on whom you ask, can switch from 10 to 100 times faster.
Already my first exposures to Merrill and AGD review samples had signalled that class D had hit a new plateau. It was head-on competitive with my Swiss-sound Kinki Studio class AB amps of DC-coupled 2.5MHz bandwidth. LAiV's Harmony GaNM monos had performed nearer class A whilst their smaller Crescendo Chorus modelled closer to Goldmund again to become part of my permanent inventory.
HighEnd Vienna 2026 added Ixycore to the 1.2MHz-switching GaNg but these French guys were so new as to have no final product to show so merely chatted it up in the Newcomer's area. Hifi Rose meanwhile made an actual splash with their forthcoming RA80, this portrait-mode GaN mono amp of 500/1'000W into 8/4Ω hulk juice which claims 2kW peak stability into 2Ω. Setting itself apart from all others is a high-res 11.2" OLED screen with various display modes including virtual meters in different colour choices. With dims of 27cm wide, 31cm deep and 52cm tall, this is a chunky 12.5kg tower.
Elsewhere in the X halls, Eversolo sub-brand Luxsin showed a new ~€2.5K DAC/headfi amp combo where the DAC's magnetically affixed control knob with embedded small touchscreen à la Canor pulls off to then work as a compact Devialet-style remote.
Back on today's G topic, Ixycore believe that so-called dead time as the delay between on/off states is a producer of THD; and that much shortened dead times for GaNFets significantly lower that distortion. Elsewhere we learn that unlike the more-makes-merrier NFB credo of Bruno Putzeys, GaNFets are so linear as to need no global feedback at all. It's what the bigger LAiV amps practice.
Does it explain their aural A-classiness? I haven't the foggiest. Proper cause-effect diagnostics are for actual engineers who can selectively isolate certain circuits, parts and processes to determine which does what. Reviewers face a holistic end result and can only speculate – unless, on the negative feedback score, a switch allows us to determine its potency, even defeat it outright.
But all that is far beyond the scope of today's brief. This feature merely points at the two interesting GaN launches of Ixycore and Hifi Rose which I noticed from afar at the just concluded Vienna show. I firmly believe that this here/now technology has the potential to alter the high-performance audio landscape with its extreme power density, very low distortion, minimal self noise, ultra-high efficiency and compact footprints. It's why learning of two more entrants to the sector was personal cause for joy…
