I received my Apollon amp yesterday, their implementation of the Hypex NCx500 ST NCOREx Stereo Amp. No owner's manual nor power cord (I need 117VAC, US). It's probably OK since connecting to it is similar to other amps. I am using a 14 gauge cord that's good for up to 15 amps. But it is a bit strange.
I bought it as the backup for the ML #27, which is 30+ years old. The Apollon will fill this role nicely and for a fraction of the cost of a class A or A/B amp with a similar drive, $1.2K vs ??? The review of it at ASR by Amir was so good, I had to give it a try.
I listened to this amp today with my SP-6 preamp (fully refurbed at AR last month) and Revel f108 speakers (full range). I sit about 2m from the speakers. I normally listen about 85-90 dB at listening position. I've measured the voltage on the speakers in real time. I found the max power I'm calling for is around 10 watts. Not much. Comparison amp is my old and trusty ML #27 with new blue can capacitors in the PS.
Here's my impressions after only an hour of critical listening... The Apollon sounds airier than the ML, but there's no sibilance or accentuated highs. It doesn't have the same bass impact. But male voices were very clear and human-sounding. It's a good break from the darker ML sound. I'm running boh amps at the same gain, which is about 26dB. More listening definitely needed as the differences are quite small and may moderate after longer listening. I am assuming that there's no "break-in" involvbed. My overall impression is that this is a very clear and clean amp with a quite neutral presentation, but not cold and clinical.
I did have to pay an additional $140 for the new tariff. This is a big concern as a lot of gear is more expensive than the Apollon amp. Speakers for example.
