Apos x Community Gremlin Tube Amp - Pre-order Now on Apos Audio

[Apos Audio]

Hear ye, hear ye! The time has come to summon the Apos x Community Gremlin Tube Amp into thy possession—if thou darest.



The Gremlin may be small but it’s a monster of an amp with a ferocious output power of 1250mW.



It comes with matched Ray Tubes 12AU7 CORE vacuum tubes that give you monstrous warmth that solid-state amps just can’t match.



With a Class A design, it keeps the current constantly flowing to avoid the distortion-prone sound of lesser amp designs.



With a fully-balanced design from input to output, the Gremlin cancels out the kind of hums, buzzes, and interference that can creep in with unbalanced systems.



Explore the world of sound by swapping out the stock Ray Tubes CORE 12AU7 for any other 12AU7 or 6922 tubes.



Here's the link to the blog for more info: https://apos.audio/blogs/news/behold-the-gremlin

 

[erics75]

I heard this little beast at CanJam SoCal. Very impressive for such a little unit. For such a low price I couldn't resist. Will it replace my Stratus or Aegis? No. Will I set it up either next to my bed or somewhere else for a simple secondary system? Hel yeah! And it pairs really well with the Apos 70X headphone. I was really impressed by that combo. Warm, smooth, and relatively fatigue free, at least in the brief demo I had.

 

[AstronomerXI]

I heard this little beast at CanJam SoCal. Very impressive for such a little unit. For such a low price I couldn't resist. Will it replace my Stratus or Aegis? No. Will I set it up either next to my bed or somewhere else for a simple secondary system? Hel yeah! And it pairs really well with the Apos 70X headphone. I was really impressed by that combo. Warm, smooth, and relatively fatigue free, at least in the brief demo I had.

Can you expand on the sound? Tubiness? Bass? Mids? What did you like about it? I moved my Schiit Freya N down to my speaker stack, and this one caught my eye for my reading room headphone stack because I like tubey goodness and miss that sound with my headphones.

 

[erics75]

Can you expand on the sound? Tubiness? Bass? Mids? What did you like about it? I moved my Schiit Frey N down to my speaker stack, and this one caught my eye for my reading room headphone stack because I like tubey goodness and miss that sound with my headphones.

It was a brief demo with open headphones in a loud auditorium so it was hard to truly get a sense of the specific sounds. But my immediate reaction to the amp and 70x (Apos gold variant) was it reminded me of the HD650 on a bottlehead crack. Bass was more potent and present than expected. It had very decent speed, though I'd say it might have leaned SLIGHTLY on the slower side, so boominess could be an issue, assuming i'm correct. Vocals were clear and forward. I forget which tracks I listened to but they were all standard classic rock staples like Hotel California, etc. And in all the tracks I heard, I did not have to raise the volume or concentrate on the vocals to bring them forward. No recession at all. Highs were hard to describe as it didn't stand out to me, but maybe the songs were not really treble intensive? I just remember walking away thinking yeah i gotta more time with that setup. I kept thinking how easy listening it was, how warm and engaging. There's a chance the treble is recessed, i honestly couldnt tell from the one demo, and would need more time to test. Hey @Apos Audio how about sending a few demo sets with the 70x variant and amp to the Headfi community for a test tour? It can only increase your chances of more buys!

That's all i can really add, the demo was so brief, and my audio memory so poor. I just remember immediately liking it and associating it with an HD650 on tubes. That's the best way i can describe it. If you like the 650 on tubes IMO this is worth exploring, especially for the price.

 

[AstronomerXI]

It was a brief demo with open headphones in a loud auditorium so it was hard to truly get a sense of the specific sounds. But my immediate reaction to the amp and 70x (Apos gold variant) was it reminded me of the HD650 on a bottlehead crack. Bass was more potent and present than expected. It had very decent speed, though I'd say it might have leaned SLIGHTLY on the slower side, so boominess could be an issue, assuming i'm correct. Vocals were clear and forward. I forget which tracks I listened to but they were all standard classic rock staples like Hotel California, etc. And in all the tracks I heard, I did not have to raise the volume or concentrate on the vocals to bring them forward. No recession at all. Highs were hard to describe as it didn't stand out to me, but maybe the songs were not really treble intensive? I just remember walking away thinking yeah i gotta more time with that setup. I kept thinking how easy listening it was, how warm and engaging. There's a chance the treble is recessed, i honestly couldnt tell from the one demo, and would need more time to test. Hey @Apos Audio how about sending a few demo sets with the 70x variant and amp to the Headfi community for a test tour? It can only increase your chances of more buys!

That's all i can really add, the demo was so brief, and my audio memory so poor. I just remember immediately liking it and associating it with an HD650 on tubes. That's the best way i can describe it. If you like the 650 on tubes IMO this is worth exploring, especially for the price.

Thanks for this - I sincerely appreciate it - and I have a 650 and I do like its sound via my tubed pre. I have a Schiit Lokius and Loki Mini + i can use to tweak the sound where need be, so not terribly concerned about treble. I've placed my order! This one will be paired with a Geshelli Labs J2 DAC, but I'll also give it a go with the Schiit Gungnir Multibit and Freya Pre for fun.

 

[erics75]

Thanks for this - I sincerely appreciate it - and I have a 650 and I do like its sound via my tubed pre. I have a Schit Lokius and Loki Mini + i can use to tweak the sound where need be, so not terribly concerned about treble. I've placed my order! This one will be paired with a Geshelli Labs J2 DAC, but I'll also give it a go with the Schiit Gungnir Multibit and Freya Pre for fun.

It's hard to pass up for the price. I love the open DIY look to it, and the bright tube glow. Reminds me of the excellent Garage1217 amps, looks-wise.

 

[AstronomerXI]

It's hard to pass up for the price. I love the open DIY look to it, and the bright tube glow. Reminds me of the excellent Garage1217 amps, looks-wise.

I was thinking the same about its looks! The price is very sweet. I'm hoping for a very pleasant surprise when I listen to it. I have some amazing new PSVANE Horizon series 12AU7's that are shockingly good, as well as some NOS Brimar tubes from 1956 that I'll be rolling into it. This should be fun.

 

[erics75]

I was thinking the same about its looks! The price is very sweet. I'm hoping for a very pleasant surprise when I listen to it. I have some amazing new PSVANE Horizon series 12AU7's that are shockingly good, as well as some NOS Brimar tubes from 1956 that I'll be rolling into it. This should be fun.

Those Horizon tubes are really good, I have a bunch for my amps. I need to try some Rays to compare, i'm curious how they stack up. The new production game is stepping up. I used to hate new production tubes, but the new lines have all been really good so far that i've tried.

 

[AstronomerXI]

I took a chance on the Horizons despite my own bias against new-mde tubes and was blown away enough that I bought more, figuring they'd sell out quickly and/or the price would jump. Some of the long-time tube aficionados on the Schiit Happened forum tried them and were impressed, giving them a high rating. I'd love to try some native Telefunken's in this amp, but not at the current prices of them. I should look into an adapter pair so I can roll my ECC88's into it.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

Hear ye, hear ye! The time has come to summon the Apos x Community Gremlin Tube Amp into thy possession—if thou darest.



The Gremlin may be small but it’s a monster of an amp with a ferocious output power of 1250mW.



It comes with matched Ray Tubes 12AU7 CORE vacuum tubes that give you monstrous warmth that solid-state amps just can’t match.



With a Class A design, it keeps the current constantly flowing to avoid the distortion-prone sound of lesser amp designs.



With a fully-balanced design from input to output, the Gremlin cancels out the kind of hums, buzzes, and interference that can creep in with unbalanced systems.



Explore the world of sound by swapping out the stock Ray Tubes CORE 12AU7 for any other 12AU7 or 6922 tubes.



Here's the preview link to the blog for more info: https://lrfn04q95hysrzy4-22527213642.shopifypreview.com/blogs/news/articles?preview_key=95708c21230a1c932b54fdf0190200e8

Neat tube hybrid and the price is right. Looking forward to reading some reviews!

 

[MakeItWain]

It was a brief demo with open headphones in a loud auditorium so it was hard to truly get a sense of the specific sounds. But my immediate reaction to the amp and 70x (Apos gold variant) was it reminded me of the HD650 on a bottlehead crack. Bass was more potent and present than expected. It had very decent speed, though I'd say it might have leaned SLIGHTLY on the slower side, so boominess could be an issue, assuming i'm correct. Vocals were clear and forward. I forget which tracks I listened to but they were all standard classic rock staples like Hotel California, etc. And in all the tracks I heard, I did not have to raise the volume or concentrate on the vocals to bring them forward. No recession at all. Highs were hard to describe as it didn't stand out to me, but maybe the songs were not really treble intensive? I just remember walking away thinking yeah i gotta more time with that setup. I kept thinking how easy listening it was, how warm and engaging. There's a chance the treble is recessed, i honestly couldnt tell from the one demo, and would need more time to test. Hey @Apos Audio how about sending a few demo sets with the 70x variant and amp to the Headfi community for a test tour? It can only increase your chances of more buys!

That's all i can really add, the demo was so brief, and my audio memory so poor. I just remember immediately liking it and associating it with an HD650 on tubes. That's the best way i can describe it. If you like the 650 on tubes IMO this is worth exploring, especially for the price.

Agreed on the combo with the Little Gremlin + R70x Refine.

It was a great combination - warmed up very well and, honestly, hit way above for sound than I anticipated. Could be the Gremlin, could be the R70x carrying all of it but it was a killer combo. Plus, need more D&D marketing @Apos Audio

 

[Apos Audio]

It was a brief demo with open headphones in a loud auditorium so it was hard to truly get a sense of the specific sounds. But my immediate reaction to the amp and 70x (Apos gold variant) was it reminded me of the HD650 on a bottlehead crack. Bass was more potent and present than expected. It had very decent speed, though I'd say it might have leaned SLIGHTLY on the slower side, so boominess could be an issue, assuming i'm correct. Vocals were clear and forward. I forget which tracks I listened to but they were all standard classic rock staples like Hotel California, etc. And in all the tracks I heard, I did not have to raise the volume or concentrate on the vocals to bring them forward. No recession at all. Highs were hard to describe as it didn't stand out to me, but maybe the songs were not really treble intensive? I just remember walking away thinking yeah i gotta more time with that setup. I kept thinking how easy listening it was, how warm and engaging. There's a chance the treble is recessed, i honestly couldnt tell from the one demo, and would need more time to test. Hey @Apos Audio how about sending a few demo sets with the 70x variant and amp to the Headfi community for a test tour? It can only increase your chances of more buys!

That's all i can really add, the demo was so brief, and my audio memory so poor. I just remember immediately liking it and associating it with an HD650 on tubes. That's the best way i can describe it. If you like the 650 on tubes IMO this is worth exploring, especially for the price.

The Gremlin made its wishes very clear to us about being part of the Head-Fi tour.

Translation: "We've some demo units out and we've plans to offer it for a Head-Fi tour as well."

- Kunal

 

[Apos Audio]

Agreed on the combo with the Little Gremlin + R70x Refine.

It was a great combination - warmed up very well and, honestly, hit way above for sound than I anticipated. Could be the Gremlin, could be the R70x carrying all of it but it was a killer combo. Plus, need more D&D marketing @Apos Audio

We are working to give you what you ask for - Kunal

 

[MakeItWain]

We are working to give you what you ask for - Kunal

 

[jsabini1]

Hear ye, hear ye! The time has come to summon the Apos x Community Gremlin Tube Amp into thy possession—if thou darest.



The Gremlin may be small but it’s a monster of an amp with a ferocious output power of 1250mW.



It comes with matched Ray Tubes 12AU7 CORE vacuum tubes that give you monstrous warmth that solid-state amps just can’t match.



With a Class A design, it keeps the current constantly flowing to avoid the distortion-prone sound of lesser amp designs.



With a fully-balanced design from input to output, the Gremlin cancels out the kind of hums, buzzes, and interference that can creep in with unbalanced systems.



Explore the world of sound by swapping out the stock Ray Tubes CORE 12AU7 for any other 12AU7 or 6922 tubes.



Here's the link to the blog for more info: https://apos.audio/blogs/news/behold-the-gremlin

A couple questions on some of the bundle options...

1. How long is the XLR cable?
2. Can you say a bit more about the "Select" tubes? In what ways do they sound better than the "Core" ones, and does the amp scale enough to justify them?

They do kind of make what is something of an impulse purchase (amp only) a lot more expensive. Thanks!