[Todd]

Hi All,
 
Here is the official announcement for the loaner program for the Apex Sangaku. The Sangaku is a hybrid headphone amplifier and preamp and will start shipping to customers in early to mid October. The loaner unit will ship out next week to the first person on the signup list. I received the unit today and am listening while I type this! It will have a little over 100 hours on it when it leaves here on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
 


 
 
You can sign up starting on Monday 9/12 at 1pm MST. I will not accept early emails. I am trying to make this available to everyone and not just those who are reading today... I am taking the first 10 emails for the loaner program. I cannot expand the program any longer than that at this time. I would like people who are signing up to be possible buyers. I will do another loaner program later for those who are more curious and less likely to buy. So for now, serious customers are preferred.
 
The loaner program rules are below. I am excited to let you hear this great new amp designed by Pete Millett! And I look forward to your impressions.
 
 
Loaner Program Rules:
 
Send your name and address as well as a telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me at todd@ttvjaudio.com. Do NOT PM me as you will not be included in the program without an email.
You will get the loaner for 1 week to use in your home with your system. After your one week is up, you must send it to the next loaner participant. Email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) the tracking info so I can pass it on to the recipient.
You MUST write a review and post it in this loaner thread. It must be posted in the same thread as this announcement for the loaner program. Please do not post it somewhere else!
Once you have received the loaner, email me to let me know you have it and I will send the address for the next person.
Our loaner programs are USA only.
 
I look forward to hearing from you on Monday!
 
Todd

 

[Todd]

Here is the current list of loaner recipoients who have signed up. I will take a few more if they want to join in... I have one more on the list but am waiting for his Head-Fi user name...
 

Sangaku Loaner Program
 
Headfirocks
Raybone0566
Joshmo
buffer
Dillan

Mhp_sd
 
The Sangaku will be shipping out today to Headfirocks! Please play by the loaner rules and have fun with our new amp!
 
Todd

 

[Todd]

HI All,
 
Sorry for the delay in getting the Sangaku out for the reviews. I will be receiving a new updated Sangaku from Pete on Friday and will send it out by next Tuesday. The original Sangaku that I sent out had a noise problem and Pete has since found the culprit and fixed the issue. So look for this program to get going full steam next week. I apologize for the delay and look forward to your impressions of the unit once you have had time to play with it in your system.
Also, The Sangaku is now ready to start shipping! If you want one, order now and we can get it shipped out later this week!
 
Todd

 

[Todd]

HI All,
 
The Sangaku is now in stock and shipping!!! The Loaner Sangaku is making the rounds and should be arriving at the first loaner participants home today or tomorrow. We are very excited and those who have heard it are giving us great feedback on it. We look forward to the impressions from this program and look to get many of these in the systems of audiophile headphone listeners. Order yours today and get free Fed Ex 2nd Day shipping!!!
 
Todd

 

[Todd]

The Sangaku is just about ready t head to the next loaner participant. Lets keep this moving and have fun!
 
Todd

 

[JoshMo]

Really looking forward to this. Excited to see what peoples impressions are. I think this is a pretty groundbreaking amp with the nu-tube. 

 

[JoshMo]

Update: received today and really really enjoying it so far. Starting to understand certain things about the amp, but much too early to give full impressions. Man this is a great pair with the hd800. I am also surprised at how cool this amp runs, after 1.5+ hours of being on, its still no warmer than the room - unlike any tube amp I've experienced for sure! 

 

[JoshMo]

Ok, without further procrastination...
 

 


As stated above I was fortunate enough to be part of the Sangaku loaner from the very kind Todd from Todd The Vinyl Junkie. Right up front this is a $2,000 amp, my expectations are high. Listened through my usual source, Gumby and Mutec MC1.2 DDC. 

I've been a Pete Millet and Apex audio fan for a while, building several of project on his DIY site. I was quite excited to try a high end tube amp using a new type of tube, the Korg NuTube.
 

 
 
The Korg Nutube runs cool to the touch, lasts 10,000 - 20,000 hours, and cant be rolled with other tubes (yet?), removing the biggest fear of most users new to tube amps. No more kids / cats / nervosa excuses fellas.

My "How to write a audio review for dummies" manual insists that I start talking about the physical characteristics of the amp before I start on how it sounds, so here goes... Sangaku is much smaller and lighter than I anticipated. When it arrived on my doorstep I was pretty convinced it wasn't a top of the line amp, just too light and too small of a package. Well I was wrong, Sangku is in fact a thin and trim amp. I was already getting clues that I haven't experienced a tube amp like this before.

Three inputs on the back 1 bal xlr, and 2 rcas, with a rca pre amp out. On off switch is on the back, but on the front there is a power button that switches between ON and STBY for standby. Next three blue LEDs select the input. Lastly there is an output selector button, UNBAL LOW, UNBAL HI, BAL LOW, BAL HIGH, and PREAMP. No constant pre amp! As you can see in pic in previous post, each tube has 2 square while lights per tube that glow when powered on. High quality build, would expect no less from Apex.
 

 

 
 
HERE WE GO! GONNA PLUG A HEADPHONE IN I found myself tapping my toes, bobbing my head, getting lost in the music - Now that I got the big three audiophile cliches out of the way- ACTUAL IMPRESSIONS THAT MATTER - SOUND!

I started out listening to Sangaku with HD800 (sdr, cork, and rug liner - balanced, low gain). WOW. WOW Again. I'm getting a rush. This sounds like a tube amp!?! Not warm wet laid back BH Crack tube amp, and not dry etch of Schiit Valhalla2. This has great neutral sound, tiny bit of edge, but thing that popped out at me was the classic tube imaging and stage that only good tube amps can provide. Stage is forward, tall, and wide. Not unrealistic, not too in your face, feels natural. Several times I looked over my shoulder to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. This is good. I thought to myself this might just be HD800. Need to try something else. Natural choice? HD650.

HD650 (common mods -bal, low gain) - Yuk. What happened? This doesn't sound right. Stage, imaging and tube characteristics are still there, but now i have bloated bass that bleeds into the mids. Boomy. Try 4 or 5 more tracks to confirm. Yup. I honestly haven't ever heard a tube amp that doesn't do well with hd650. Next...

HE560 (bal, high gain) - My other newer addition that helps me determine amp characteristics. These sound fantastic. Best I've heard these sound to be honest. Speed, clarity, warmth, tight bass. This little amp has power to push harder to drive planars, and push them really well. Well if it can power HE-560 it can power....

HE-6 (bal high gain)- Nope. Nope. Nope. Doesn't sound terrible, kinda sounds similar to how HE6 sounded on the Jot. Headphone can get loud, but it doesn't have the air it should, sounds slow and veiled. Bass is a bit muddied. Something that HE6 owners are familiar with...

Late addition - forgot I have HD580's. Much better. Cleaner bass / mids. Sounds pretty good, but not great. I think these sound better with Black Widow. I think HD600 will be similar case. Bloomy bass is gone, tightened up. Weird. I don't have a good explanation for any of this.

Ok, back to common characteristics. Sangaku has power, enough to drive he-560 well. Should cover most headphones out there. HD800 sounds great, but HD650 doesn't. Conclusion is Sangaku is a a bit of a warm tone that can affect warm cans. Not warm and lush, but slightly leans on warm side. Gumby & HD650 was just too much. Again, pairs fantastically with HD800 and HE560, probably due to their dry or brighter nature. Amp is fast and clean, has an edge, but no fatigue. I listened to album after album for hours on hd800, which is not an easy thing to accomplish (as reference Elear's 10k spike killed me). The height and depth of the stage and precise imaging stole the show. I imagine this is what great tube amps have that SS can never replicate. Slightly mid forward, but not overly full, certainly not lean or dry.

There not much for cons, tubes are microphonic. I frequently swapped out cans, and the last click of the XLR pings the tubes just right and you get a bit of high pitch ringing for 4 seconds or so. Not a big deal, just strange and new. If this amp were lacking anything it would be sub-bass, would love a little more punch or thump on the low end. But I would say its full and tight throughout the bass range, just lacking a bit of subbass. I might also be coming from a amp with subtle subbass and its not a fair fight.

Apex has a winner on their hands. Thanks to Todd I can see this amp coming back to me in the near future.

 

[jelt2359]

After some hiccups, I finally received my Sangaku.
 
I concur with the review above although I have been just way too lazy to can-roll. Plugged in my Code-X, and that was it, bliss.
 
These are tubey smooth; yet fast, clear and clean. I really like its presentation. The way it does the tubey distortion is more on the spectrum of 'sweet' than 'lush'. Honestly, having owned a few Apex amps now (Teton, Sangaku, Glacier) this is the house sound I've come to love and expect from these guys.
 
PS I also have another Apex amp in the house, loaned that out to my friend since I've been indulging myself with the Sangaku. Do join us over at the P2X party, getting started a few years late but we're here now! Interestingly with the P2X, it only has a 3.5mm headphone out in the front- no 6.5mm. So naturally my friend is testing it with IEMs (with an adaptor + resistors in the chain to get more play on the volume know), though I personally did test it with an adaptor and it drives my Code-X just fine.

 

[Todd]

Thanks for the reviews! Glad you like the Sangaku! I kind of thought you would...
 
I will be able to add 2 more folks to the loaner program so if you want to get on board, email me and the first 2 to sign up will be included. Be sure to read the rules for the loaner program before you sign up.
 
Todd

 

[Currawong]

If anyone wants to post a review, I just added it in as a product here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/apex-high-fi-audio-sangaku
 

 
The big and small of things on my gear rack.

 

[mhpsd]

I just wanted to thank Todd for the chance to experience the Sangaku.  It was truly an amazing experience - one that made me totally rethink what my current headphones (Sennheiser HD800) were capable of achieving.
 
I would second everything that JoshMo has said previously.
 
This was my first experience with a "tube" amp for any prolonged period of time.  Having young children and vacuum tubes in the same house just doesn't seem to make any sense.  After listening to the Sangaku, I can begin to understand the allure.  
 
My only comparison for the Sangaku was the Sennheiser HDVD-800.  In order to try to keep the comparison more straight-forward, I used the balanced outputs from the HDVD's DAC to provide an input for the Apex amplifier.
 
Initially I listened using a Microsoft Surface 3 Pro as a source through USB.  I was truly blown away.  All of the harshness that I had felt was a limitation of the HD800 headphones vanished when powered by the Apex.  I've always liked the soundstage of the Sennheiser amp, but the Sangaku is better.  You can insert whatever audiophile positive comment you would like here, but the instruments seemed more real and better located in space.
 
At this point I started to rethink my system and try to figure out how to how to buy a new DAC and a Sangaku.  In that experimenting, I did find that improving my source (Sonore microRendu) made a huge difference with the Sennheiser DAC/AMP.  Somehow the Apex had been much more forgiving of the noisy source than the Sennheiser had been.
 
I'd highly recommend the Apex Sangaku to anyone looking for the convenience and form factor of a solid state amp with the sweetness of a tubed amp.
 
Thanks again Todd.

 

[jelt2359]

I just wanted to thank Todd for the chance to experience the Sangaku.  It was truly an amazing experience - one that made me totally rethink what my current headphones (Sennheiser HD800) were capable of achieving.

I would second everything that JoshMo has said previously.

This was my first experience with a "tube" amp for any prolonged period of time.  Having young children and vacuum tubes in the same house just doesn't seem to make any sense.  After listening to the Sangaku, I can begin to understand the allure.  

My only comparison for the Sangaku was the Sennheiser HDVD-800.  In order to try to keep the comparison more straight-forward, I used the balanced outputs from the HDVD's DAC to provide an input for the Apex amplifier.

Initially I listened using a Microsoft Surface 3 Pro as a source through USB.  I was truly blown away.  All of the harshness that I had felt was a limitation of the HD800 headphones vanished when powered by the Apex.  I've always liked the soundstage of the Sennheiser amp, but the Sangaku is better.  You can insert whatever audiophile positive comment you would like here, but the instruments seemed more real and better located in space.

At this point I started to rethink my system and try to figure out how to how to buy a new DAC and a Sangaku.  In that experimenting, I did find that improving my source (Sonore microRendu) made a huge difference with the Sennheiser DAC/AMP.  Somehow the Apex had been much more forgiving of the noisy source than the Sennheiser had been.

I'd highly recommend the Apex Sangaku to anyone looking for the convenience and form factor of a solid state amp with the sweetness of a tubed amp.

Thanks again Todd.

Awesome. I hope you bought it. I have a few other amps in the price range and when people come over to audition this is one of the clear standouts, regardless of taste!

 

[mhpsd]

Haven't bought it yet, but it is high on my list of ways to short-change my childrens' college fund.
 
 
Two other thoughts on the Sangaku:
First, out of the box, I was unimpressed.  I had only given it about a 1/2 hour to warm up.  Leaving it on, I came back later in the day and was blown away.
 
Second, Todd supplied a Cardas power cable.  I swapped it out for a generic power cord and could hear a difference.  If you are going to buy this wonderful amp, I would not recommend skimping on the power cable.

 

[JWahl]

I received the Sangaku Loaner today. Did some brief listening for a little less than an hour before going to work. First impressions are positive with the Focal Elear using Chord Mojo as source. Seems to enhance the inherent strengths of the Elear, with exceptional speed and midrange clarity, with just a touch of sweet tube harmonics. More to follow at the end of my allotted week.