I have a pair of amperex made in holland orange globes ECC88 tubes myself and yeah they sounded pretty good in the gremlins, however I prefer them still in my old lyr 2. I think I did find a good pairing though, with an adapter and the gremlin set to 6922 I ended up finding JAN GE 5670W to be the best cost appropriate tube. A Smooth and warmer set of tubes that can be had for like $45 matched or less on ebay and they they glow more than any other tubes I've felt like they were a pretty good match for the gremlin's dry and bright leaning solid state stage and they ended up balancing each side out. The only thing I'd say is it's not going to replace my lyr 2 with orange globe tubes but I didn't expect it too. I wanted it because it looked fun and got me into 12au7 tubes I got exactly that and maybe a bit more, hell with the orange globe tubes it is very good it's just the lyr 2 is doing something I like a touch bit more but it makes sense because of that price difference but with those military tubes in the gremlin I found that enjoyable too. I like it a lot. I think it's going to make people who are looking to upgrade past the gremlin shoot for something notably higher end like the fireflies. I know if this was available when I bought my lyr2 there is a really good chance I'd not be talking about my lyr 2, even though it has better smoothness, dynamics and layering in it's depth. The gremlin with good tubes does punch up a bit and when it's time I mean you can keep the tubes and buy a higher end amplifier at a later date. As for the stock tubes, no there is definitely something going on with them and the amplifier and I could hear it too, just glad to know now that it is just that combination and not just the tubes themselves being that bad.
Like all your reviews dude...I mostly concur on gear I have heard that you review....extensive info ! DC-Elite would work as a balanced 'DAC' in, in the way a Hugo2 is used as a DAC with likes of Cayin C9....it has such purity on tone already...the potentiometer does not reduce micro-detail as volume reduces to find the input sweet-spot...this can also adjust bite/attack up the chain up or down..unconventional but it will work.
To add to your DAC option commentary, there are many very affordable dongle DACs that would work nicely. The only issue is that APOS did not recommend a 4.4mm to 4.4mm jumper and dongle combo when you add the item to your cart. Also I rolled the tubes on my unit to matched 6922 EH gold pin and the grain goes away and adds more holography and punch.
Very much agree, the 6922 Electro-Harmonix gold pins have great staging and spacial qualities in the gremlin. Do your's sound a hare off of natural as well? I've only really listened with EH gold pin and Genalax Gold Lion 6922 and which I like more is really headphone dependent.
I liked the Midgard amp, but it died. That's the impetus for me, along with the Drop-version of the Topping A90D amp being $400. It's definitely a big upgrade imo. Better highs and just more impactful sound. I got the Edition XS headphones about the same time I got the a90d, then splurged on the Topping D70 OCTO DAC. Still listening, but so far it's a close match up with the Schiit DAC. What I haven't tried yet is a headphone tube amp I got years ago from Monoprice. It's the big one they sold for about $300. I got one when they discontinued selling them, though they brought them back briefly. Another impulse purchase @ $200, but the thing is a bit too large even for my large L-shaped desk.
Now, is there a difference in quality, for example, if he boosted the bass? Will the top by raising it from EQ become the same quality, and are the tubes something similar to IQ or just impedance plugs, or will they give you something that no IQ gives you?
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I have a pair of amperex made in holland orange globes ECC88 tubes myself and yeah they sounded pretty good in the gremlins, however I prefer them still in my old lyr 2. I think I did find a good pairing though, with an adapter and the gremlin set to 6922 I ended up finding JAN GE 5670W to be the best cost appropriate tube. A Smooth and warmer set of tubes that can be had for like $45 matched or less on ebay and they they glow more than any other tubes I've felt like they were a pretty good match for the gremlin's dry and bright leaning solid state stage and they ended up balancing each side out. The only thing I'd say is it's not going to replace my lyr 2 with orange globe tubes but I didn't expect it too. I wanted it because it looked fun and got me into 12au7 tubes I got exactly that and maybe a bit more, hell with the orange globe tubes it is very good it's just the lyr 2 is doing something I like a touch bit more but it makes sense because of that price difference but with those military tubes in the gremlin I found that enjoyable too. I like it a lot. I think it's going to make people who are looking to upgrade past the gremlin shoot for something notably higher end like the fireflies. I know if this was available when I bought my lyr2 there is a really good chance I'd not be talking about my lyr 2, even though it has better smoothness, dynamics and layering in it's depth. The gremlin with good tubes does punch up a bit and when it's time I mean you can keep the tubes and buy a higher end amplifier at a later date.
As for the stock tubes, no there is definitely something going on with them and the amplifier and I could hear it too, just glad to know now that it is just that combination and not just the tubes themselves being that bad.
Like all your reviews dude...I mostly concur on gear I have heard that you review....extensive info !
DC-Elite would work as a balanced 'DAC' in, in the way a Hugo2 is used as a DAC with likes of Cayin C9....it has such purity on tone already...the potentiometer does not reduce micro-detail as volume reduces to find the input sweet-spot...this can also adjust bite/attack up the chain up or down..unconventional but it will work.
To add to your DAC option commentary, there are many very affordable dongle DACs that would work nicely. The only issue is that APOS did not recommend a 4.4mm to 4.4mm jumper and dongle combo when you add the item to your cart. Also I rolled the tubes on my unit to matched 6922 EH gold pin and the grain goes away and adds more holography and punch.
Very much agree, the 6922 Electro-Harmonix gold pins have great staging and spacial qualities in the gremlin. Do your's sound a hare off of natural as well? I've only really listened with EH gold pin and Genalax Gold Lion 6922 and which I like more is really headphone dependent.
Am I missing something? Aren't there several dongle DAC's that are balanced that can be used in this scenario? Cheers!
Love the compact size and minimalism. Wish it had pre-amp outs..Wwhat is the downside of trying to use the headphone outputs to feed a power amp?
I liked the Midgard amp, but it died. That's the impetus for me, along with the Drop-version of the Topping A90D amp being $400. It's definitely a big upgrade imo. Better highs and just more impactful sound. I got the Edition XS headphones about the same time I got the a90d, then splurged on the Topping D70 OCTO DAC. Still listening, but so far it's a close match up with the Schiit DAC.
What I haven't tried yet is a headphone tube amp I got years ago from Monoprice. It's the big one they sold for about $300. I got one when they discontinued selling them, though they brought them back briefly. Another impulse purchase @ $200, but the thing is a bit too large even for my large L-shaped desk.
Now, is there a difference in quality, for example, if he boosted the bass? Will the top by raising it from EQ become the same quality, and are the tubes something similar to IQ or just impedance plugs, or will they give you something that no IQ gives you?
NOS tubes getting harder to find? Huh?
Professor, thank you for another wonderful amplifier review! 👌
Reverend Dr. Thomas,
✝️ The Vegan Vicar 🌱
I have an xDuoo MT-602. Could you compare it with Apos?
👌👍
For the algo