Apex Peak/Volcano Review

[Audio-Omega]

Is the amp as good as Woo WA5-LE or Zana Deux SE ?

 

[Audio-Omega]

Is it necessary to warm up the amp ?

 

[purrin]

^ The Peak has a ~20 second timer for it to warm up. The LED over the headphone jack lets you know when the output is active. I almost always turn on the amp and let the tube warm up for a half an hour before listening.

 

[Audio-Omega]

I received mine yesterday, it's smaller and lighter than I thought.  This amplifier can generate some heat.  Do you think burn in is required ?

 

[purrin]

Congrats! I hope you like it - I think it's rather excellent, but you need to use a tube better than the Tung-Sol that comes with it.
 
Burn in will be required for the tube. Some tubes take ~24 hours, others can take 300+ hours. (The Shuguang Black Treasures take well over 300 hours for the bass to come out and treble to smooth out.) IMO, the caps in the amp and power supply will need time to burn in too.

As far as the weight, that my one big complaint about it. It's too light and I've found myself accidentally tugging the amp and moving it a few inches on occasion.

 

[Audio-Omega]

I use it to drive Sennheiser HD800.  It's a good match because it sounds good even though it's too early to say.  I'm not a bass person (not anymore) but I do like the extra bass it has.  

 

[Audio-Omega]

Sophia Electric 6SN7 has a bit more clarity and Shuguang Treasure Black Bottle has a bit more bass.  

 

[purrin]

After trying almost a dozen tubes, I've gone with running the Black Treasures too with the HD800. Those tubes took a long for the bass to come out and the treble to settle. I find the Black Treasure's interesting because they sound laid back yet have this almost solid state like treble extension. 
 
But who would have thought the HD800s would ever have some slamming bass?

 

[Audio-Omega]

Volcano power supply delivers more bass compared to the wall one.  

 

[Audio-Omega]

Music sounds tighter and a bit clearer with Volcano, the biggest change is in the bass, it has more.  However vocals remain very much the same.  

 

[Wedge]

Personally, I am not a fan of the New Production tubes so I went with Mullard ECC32.  I love this amp with a nice NOS tube its really something to reckon with.  I also own a Woo Audio WA-5, and I prefer to listen to the Peak/Volcano with my LCD-2.  The LCD-2 does want more power in general, which the WA-5 has with the K1K port, but this port on my amp is a little noisy and microphonic, where as the other ports have no problem so it leads me to believe there is just something wrong with my K1K port.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purrin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 

1. Only one tube to roll. Won't break your bank account by multiples.

This amp is seriously top of my list for a next headphone amp and preamp. I can't afford it right now. 

  But I will.... 

 
All these reviews are really intriguing me. The Leben is tempting but the comment above is key for me. Reliable NOS tubes (not fakes) aren't easy to come by over here. I have also been down the path of spending hudreds of dollars on special order top-end NOS tubes for my EMP. It was fun once but I don't want to go there again. The fact that so many like the Peak and Volcano best with the Shuguang Treasure - and that is the only tube that I might need - is really heartening.
 
Lastly there are good reasonably priced SS monoblock amps over here. It is something that the Chinese do well. So a pure preamp makes some sense too.
 
Hope to join you guys one of these days.

 

[purrin]

With most headphones, I prefer the early Sylvania chrome dome GT, GTA, GTBs over the Shuguang Treasures. In comparison, the Sylvanias have more bass impact, are more forward, and have just as much treble extension - the Treasures have more defined bass texture though. The Sylvanias are relatively cheap too. The Shuguang tube takes forever to break in. After it does, the bass comes out and it gets mellower.

 

[cooperpwc]

Good advice. I still love that it's just one tube per 'complement', even if I also go NOS.

 

[CEE TEE]

Hi purrin,
 
Is the Black Treasure/Apex Peak combo what I heard with the HD-800 + Horio's turntable + Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Lenny" at the Bay Area Mini-meet?
 
I didn't listen for very long or with different sources or genres but I had a positive impression of your Apex Peak that day...
 
For some reason I have this "eagle-eye" on your particular equipment choices (ATH-W1000X(modded and sold), Apex Peak, HP2, wanted to hear your Melos, will be envious of your BHSE).
 
Quote:

After trying almost a dozen tubes, I've gone wih running the Black Treasures too with the HD800. Those tubes took a long for the bass to come out and the treble to settle. I find the Black Treasure's interesting because they sound laid back yet have this almost solid state like treble extension. 
 
But who would have thought the HD800s would ever have some slamming bass?