[gugguson]

S....t I ordered the amp one hour ago.

I don't know the efficiency rating of the speakers (don't know what it is).

 

[charlesyu]

I own the 09' version of the little Glow Amp One and just bought a pair of Sovtek EL84. Anyone has any other recommendation for tube rolling?

 

[Skylab]

Supposedly you have to use Russian EL84 tubes with the current Glow, so your only real rolling options would be some vintage Russian EL84's - not sure if that would offer different sound or not though.

 

[charlesyu]

Do you know any place online where I can get them?

 

[tosehee]

Sorry to resurrect this thread.

I have 90db efficient speak at 6ohm (monitor audio gr60) and I listen moderately. Does this have enough power to drive it ?

 

[ambchang]

I am looking at the Glow One Amp, and the Aperion 5T Tower speakers, but I am having serious doubts that the little amp can drive those speakers, and I am not willing to dish out almost $700 for just a headphone amp.

For those who have tried the Glow one with speakers with similar efficiencies as the Aperion 5T (87db), is it acceptable?

 

[SillyHoney]

The DAC still uses the 16 bit C-Media chip in 2009 Glow Amp One.

 

[DoReMi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SillyHoney /img/forum/go_quote.gif The DAC still uses the 16 bit C-Media chip in 2009 Glow Amp One.

On their site they state the DAC has been improved in the Glow Amp One 2009... does anyone know better about it ?

 

[charlesyu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoReMi /img/forum/go_quote.gif On their site they state the DAC has been improved in the Glow Amp One 2009... does anyone know better about it ?

The DAC on the Amp One is not very good. Use an external DAC instead.

 

[Morpheus33]

Not really impressed with the build quality of this amp.  Loud hum when no music is playing, but I have dealt with it.  Now, my headphones plug won't seat correctly in the jack.  It's like a spring is in there which keeps popping the plug back out-like a cigarette lighter.  All in all it feels cheap-very unlike the jack on my Beresford TC-7520.  I think the volume knob feels cheap also.  Still the build quality is better than their customer service.  Like others here, many, many emails go unanswered.  Thinking of Woo or Decware now.

 

[Pipps]

It hums? How strange. Every professional review I have seen proclaims it to be among the quietest tube amps ever found. Interesting to hear an unbiased review.

 
Here's a thought - has the performance improved since it's been run in?

 
And what colour did you buy it in?

 

[Kouzelna]

As for the headphone jack, I have the same problem, but a simple .5 rubber o-ring attached to your 1/4" headphone jack solves the fitting problem.  I bought 5 of them for 30 cents at Home Depot.
 
The hum I don't know about.  I have a very low level one, but I've had that on other tube headphone amps and it was always repairable. I assume a little tweaking with this one will solve the problem as well when I get around to it.
 
The amp's awesome, to me!  
 
Best tube headphone amp or headphone amp period that I've ever owned, and I owned several Peter Millet creations and a Grace 901.  I Loved them all, but the Glow just has the magic mix of SS accuracy and tube richness and smoothness, with no coloration.  Only tube amp I've ever heard that doesn't color the sound.  I like tube coloration, don't get me wrong, but I think after hearing the Glow I like accuracy better: less fatiguing over long-term listening.  
 
You can check out a pretty full review with several headphones (MD2000, AD2000, K701, HD650, ER-4S) here:
 
 
[size=medium][size=9.5pt]http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/504316/review-glow-audio-one-w-denon-d2000-lawton-mod-k701-hd650-er-4s-audio-tech-ad2000#post_6847202[/size][/size]

 

[Kouzelna]

Patrick at Glow let me know the headphone jack issue was solved starting with the '09 model year.  Mine is an '08.
 
Additionally, I solved the hum problem by first moving the Glow to a different wall socket, which greatly lessened the hum.  Then, I attached a cable to bump up the K701's Ohm rating from 65 to 155.  Problem solved, hum went completely away after that.
 
As I understand, the Glow is designed to work with higher Ohm cans.
 
 
BTW, he sent me a very precise and detailed explanation of the issues they had their '08 year, and how they solved them, which I posted (by permission) here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/504316/review-glow-audio-one-w-denon-d2000-lawton-mod-k701-hd650-er-4s-audio-tech-ad2000/15#post_6870652

 

[falis]

I have an 08 version that I had the DAC upgraded on by AudioMagus when they were still doing that.  Also got a tube upgrade and few other things.  I don't think the internal DAP is as good as the HM801 I usually feed it from.  I've never been able to get the headphone jack sorted out.  Sent it back to AudioMagus and it didn't do it, used the O-rings etc.  That's really my only complaint about it, but I had the HM801 around, so I can just plug the headphones into that.
 
- Ed

 

[Kouzelna]

 
[size=medium]

Falis,

 

I'm really sorry your headphone jack issue is more complicated than mine, the .5 rubber O-ring solved it fully with all the headphones I've used that have the problem.  Some don't, some do.  Don't want to make you mad, but can you try different sized O-rings?  My headphones work perfectly without issue with the right one (.5 for mine, on several different cans).  I've had no issues since then, and there is no problem with the jack seating poorly or the plugs getting loose, even with the O-rings attached.

 

As Patrick I guess told you, these guys have tons of experience with the Amp One and it's where Glow sends their warranty work:

 

 

hrsrecords.com - History of Recorded Sound
8517 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California 90232 U.S.A.
Phone/Fax (310) 204-4911

 

 

I've been dealing with Len over there, (len@hrsrecords.com) and he's been awesome.  But yes, it costs money, which is why I did not send it in.  Again, I solved my problem with the headphone jack using the simple O-ring for all my headphones that didn't fit right (some do), and it made no sense to spend money to fix what essentially worked fine with a cheap fix.  Sorry yours seems more complicated than that.

 

 

I've never personally had any issues with Glow getting back to me via email, or Patrick being uninterested in any way, though it can take several days for him to get back as he is a full-time working professional who travels back and forth to China doing quality control, and thus is not always available to answer immediately.  But he always gets back to me, and takes a lot of time to write very comprehensive emails openly explaining their problems and solutions in full, and providing lots of helpful info and advice.  I bought my amp direct from Glow for that reason, and they've never let me down.

 

The reason I went with Glow instead of Woo, which was my original first choice, is because whenever I wrote Woo I got a short email response if any - many times I got none at all.  I may be mistaken, but I got the impression that it was a kind of elite company that has enough business that it doesn't have to worry about its small customers.  That may or may not be true, but what I do know is that I wanted a company that would be willing to work with me personally, and help me get the most out of what, for me, was a pretty large investment.  It turned out well, as I feel that I know Patrick and he's always available to help me get the most out of my Glow and is always looking out for my best interests with the product. 

 

Also, for other thread posters, by attaching a homemade cable from another Head-Fier that bumps my 65-ohm K701 to 295-ohm (155 as previously listed), I have zero hum whatsoever at all volumes.  Glow does specify 300-ohm minimum for best results.

 

As for the DAC, I never use it, but that info you posted on your other thread, Falis, is good to know.

 

Hope that helps, d.

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