Does it glowwww?

The Ocean doesn't glow, but it glares at you with its bright red LED

nice review man

Thanks for the informative review on this amp.

This was my first HP  Tube Amp,Nice write up BTW........

Nice review thanks. Any power output specification from Bravo, or measured by a third party?

Thanks for the review and excellent comparisons section! Eager to try this or the Vali, win/win I feel!

Great review and thanks for the tip about the LED. Just done that myself now and I think you should post that in the Bravo thread if you haven't already! Thanks!

30 dB Gain? Wow thats a massive boost, no wonder you can't pass more than 9 o'clock the volume knob. I bet only a Hifiman HE-6 will be a challenge for that amp

It's funny that because I find this amp distorts before I reach my required volume on a number of my harder to drive headphones, such as K240 DF, HE560 and even HE400! I've tried rolling tubes but still the same issue.

My perception of the lower priced Chi-Fi products is bunk. I want to believe, I really do, I've browsed the goods at SHENZHEN audio one hundred times. Like the YAQIN PH-5L 6J1 for $179, I like the way it looks but how does it sound? I don't want to be first guy to find out it that it looks cool but sounds like poo-poo.
 
♪♪ but it feels so good and before I die I'll crush this world with both my feet and fly, yeah the talk was so cheap, I bought five ♫

I have this amp and used it for a few months. I bought six tubes for it and found three among them that I liked. Never had any problems with it but I never really got into the tube sound signature. 

Nice review. I purchased a used Bravo Ocean earlier this year. I bought some new tubes and a HD650 that will be arriving today. One of my new tubes is a 12ax7. Is that tube ok to use with the Ocean?

Stereocilia,
I would not be so down on Asian products until you have a real bad experience yourself with one. I own a Little Dot Mark 3 tube amp and love it. I just got a Topping NX1 yesterday that I paid a whopping $26 for new and can't believe the quality. If I saw it in a local audio salon I would not have blinked if it had a $100-$150 price tag on it. It drives all my 22 headphones cleanly to deafening levels (no orthos). If you want to "dip your toe in the Asian waters" start with Little Dot. Check the net for reviews. 

I'm not down on "asian products" in fact I prefer asian made electronics. When it comes to extreme high quality, high end, state of the art electronics, Japan needs no introduction. I hold Korea in high regard as well. I'm a big fan of China too, especially HiFiMAN the lesser known lower priced Chinese brands I can't say. The Little Dot was on my short list but I ended up going with Schiit instead.       

12au7 only. It's an awesome amp. The Russian Gold Lion us an awesome tube for it but it doesn't glow as much.

This is why I asked about measured data. Gain doesn't equal power , that just simply compensate for low level input.Tube rolling certainly won't do anything to have more power either, if one having distortion problems, you simply need a more powerful amp, and not just voltage but current too depending on the load from the HP..

Great review! 
I got this little amp last year for Christmas and I really do like it,but the stock tube is not very good IMO.I replaced the original with a Sophia Electric and wow what a difference-very detailed and clear.I also bought a Mullard and an Amperex Bugle boy,and all three had a distinct sound,It really depends on what headphones you are using in tube rolling.
I believe the output is 1/2 watt or 500mw-and yes it does power most headphones,but not the planers.
After listening to this amp through Sennheiser HD598's I decided that I needed more bass,so I purchased the HiFiman HE-400,and again wow what a difference.Unfortunately the Bravo was not able to power the HiFiman's to the decibel level I enjoy so a new Schiit Lyr 2 was this years Christmas present.
I usually have to sell a piece of equipment to fund the new headphones,amps,etc, but I just could not get rid of this amp.I especially like it paired with Audio Technica solid bass headphones and the Sophia tube. 
PS-I used a little electrical tape on the power light to dim it 

I made two mistakes when buying one of these. I bought second-hand, and I bought from a seller in another country.
 
The one I have is unreliable to the point of being useless. It's been on the shelf for a while, so I can't remember exact symptoms, but, iirc, they include distortion and channel drop out. Bad buy and too much hassle and expense to ship it back to the seller.
 
When it worked, it was good. Buyer beware, but might well apply to earlier examples.
 
Gets very hot and goes very loud.

Very good review.