Apos x Community Gremlin - Thoughts and Why I Will Buy Gremlin

Many thanks to Apos Audio for allowing me to try Gremlin, you can find more information here:

Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
02:43 My Objectives
06:55 TLDR
08:18 Core Tubes
10:53 Select Tubes
12:10 Mullard Tubes
13:41 RCA Tubes

[matthewhilty]

I liked the 6922 EH golds so much with this little guy that I have finished rolling tubes for it. They gave the sound more depth and punch.

[hazi]

For anybody that is upset that this is balanced only, I suggest they research tube amp designs a little more. It is very rare that an affordable tube amp is balanced. It isn't easy to do from a design perspective. Plus, there are way more options on the market that are single-ended only.

[maxt.]

Spot on and great review as always Paul! It's one of the best balanced tube amp at this price point. I would subjectively say it sounds better than some of the $500-$1000 amps. Love mine with Mullard tubes👍👍👍

[spamcan]

Looks good. My Xduoo was ok, but I returned it because of its noise, among various other shortcomings. I think it's a really good price and it's nice they include matched tubes.

[demondjackson]

Paul

Thank u for review!!

Where did u buy RCA tubes?

[Tregrense]

By balanced do you mean differential? That would be fascinating.

[ItsJustChase]

This would kinda match my geshelli dac if it came smoked. Looks cool, havent got into tubes before. Wonder if this would be the one to start with

[JohnClarkW]

Good review. I am running almost all SE gear these days, but for anyone looking to go balanced, this seems like a bargain. Of course you either need a balanced DAC to go with it, or spend some money on the cables to connect to it ( RCA to 3 pin isn't something I have lying around ).

[ArveKarve]

What it is? Can i use it as audio interface for my xlr mic?

[cherudge]

The Russian 6N23P tubes. Either Reflektor are Voskhod Rockets sound exceptional in my Gremlin. Better than either my Ray Selects, Psvane Arts or my Electro-Harmonix Gold tubes. Get the Psvane Art over the Ray Selects and save your cash. AI states the Selects are matched to less than 10% variation (although it’s a big “marketing” secret). The cores 15%. So someone must have leaked their matching criteria. The Psvane Arts are often more closely matched and can be better IMHO.

[arrowzen]

I have been considering a xduoo amp/dac - what model were you referring to that was noisy?…

[datdudeinred]

What would be a great balanced dac to go with this?
Smsl raw 1?