Apollon Audio complaints

[DVinylfan]

The lesson of this

 

[DVinylfan]

While have been tempted to close this this thread, as long as the vendor participates and the overall discussion is productive, it will remain open.

That said, need to post factually and avoid personal attacks. Moderators have plenty of other better ways to spend our time than cleaning up personal pissing contests. Just did a couple of rounds of cleaning on this thread. Please keep on topic and use the report feature before you make a heated post. Most reports are handled with a few hours or less. If you have been offended by another member, will usually be dealt with promptly if reported.

 

[Apollon Audio]

Many of us know it's hard for a small team to handle high order volumes and inquiries. if clear, reasonable reasons for delays are given beforehand (like sales spikes or supply chain issues), I think hobbyists would generally understand. rushing things and delivering a faulty product, even if quickly fixed, isn't what I call great after-sales support. I'd rather wait for a perfect unit.

To Apollon Audio: My amplifier's spot is ready. Please do your best. Looking forward to its arrival!

View attachment 460091

You forgot to update the picture

 

[Apollon Audio]

@Apollon Audio did you miss the question or didn't response for purpose, as being secret information? Would be ok, I just don't like to be ignored.

I’m truly sorry, I completely overlooked your question, and it wasn’t intentional at all. I’ll send you a direct message with all the details. Thank you for your understanding, and I appreciate your patience.

 

[TemploAztlan]

I got a message from UPS saying "Duties, taxes, and fees totaling 151.90 USD are due for this delivery. Additional charges may have been applied based on recent tariff policy changes."

 

[Golfx]

I got a message from UPS saying "Duties, taxes, and fees totaling 151.90 USD are due for this delivery. Additional charges may have been applied based on recent tariff policy changes."

Was about $56 before the tariffs. Just an expected price of doing business with another country to get good products.

 

[sushi_sensor]

You forgot to update the picture

Here is an update.

S

'My Experience Buying a PURIFI 6525sa Stereo Amplifier from APOLLON AUDIO'

Jul 5, 2025

I recently ordered a PURIFI 6525sa stereo amplifier from APOLLON AUDIO. I chose the standard model with a silver exterior.

After placing my order, I saw some rather negative forum threads about Apollon Audio gaining traction.

Seeing these, I felt it was important to share my own experience to reassure others who might be feeling uneasy.

First Things First
I am not a native English speaker; this post was translated by AI, so please excuse any awkward phrasing.

I'm just a regular customer who paid the full price (including a spring sale discount) for this amplifier.
It's...

• sushi_sensor
• Replies: 16
• Forum: Amplifiers, Phono preamp, and Analog Audio Review

• 

 

[Paffi]

I’m truly sorry, I completely overlooked your question, and it wasn’t intentional at all. I’ll send you a direct message with all the details. Thank you for your understanding, and I appreciate your patience.

Hi, didn´t receive anything yet?

 

[SKNG]

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-audio-class-d-amp-build-quality.7717/page-14
After giving my view on Apollon audio amplifier build quality on the above thread I would like to give some feedback to Apollon audio on the leadtime as well as communication,I hope that if possible they could change their leadtime on their website to "truly" reflex the actual time needed or informed customer when they placed their orders what the actual leadtime will be at that particular time, it's best to state it in months rather than working days as in some parts of this world it's 24/7 "difficult" to understand for some also by doing so will make it a little bit more "flexible" on delivery timing.IMO this will possibly eliminate some of the miscommunication issues as lesser customer email to answer regarding delivery "harder" to miss it.
As a long time customer I really hope that Apollon audio will do even better in the future,take positive feedback from members as a motivation to "evolve" further.

 

[muzak156]

Why I do not recommend anyone to purchase from Apollon Audio.

After reading the performance reviews on this forum and initial consultation with Tibor from Apollon Audio via live chat, I decided to buy 2 x Purifi 1ET9040BA Monoblocks and 1 x 12 channel Purifi multichannel with 1 channel upgraded to a 1ET9040BA module for the Centre speaker channel for a total cost of $15,000 Euro’s on the 14th of August 2024.

I was advised by Tibor the turn around time for my order was 30 days.

I did not hear or receive Email’s any updates regarding the progress of my order. I decided to check in on their live chat app at around day 20 to check if everything was on track and confirmed the centre speaker channel upgrade. I was advised everything was fine including the upgrade.

A few days before the 30 days I checked in again as I wanted to be home to receive the goods and not away on business. I was told that it was 30 business days timeframe not 30 days “as I don’t work on weekends”.

Accepting the mis-communication I checked in again a few days before the 38 day turnaround to organise being home and not away interstate for business. I was told the order was on target to be shipped soon.

About a week later, still no communication. I check in again requesting a tracking number as I was advised the Amps were completed as per time frame but are now in testing phase.

Almost a week later I check in again as I still had not received an Email, I get another excuse that they are being prepared for shipping shortly and I will receive an Email soon.

Another week later, still no communication or Email, I check in Again and I get another excuse for the delay. It was really frustrating as I could have gotten work interstate commitments out of the way rather than hanging around at home to wait for the amps to arrive.

I check in to live chat about a week later and someone from Apollon said it had been shipped and gave me a tracking number. I put the tracking details into UPS and it said “shipping label created” with no other information. I check back into live chat to question why there’s no details other than “shipping label created” and I am told to “be patient UPS will have my amps to me in a matter of days”.

A few days later I call UPS who say there’s no shipment and to contact the Merchant.

I speak to Apollon once again, who say “sorry for the delay there was a problem with purifi parts” I was guaranteed it would be sent ASAP.

Finally, the tracking is updated and 1 Amp arrives, several days later the other 2 amps arrive

The amps, while safely packed in foam came in generic boxes, with no paperwork, manual, written guarantee of power or spec, or power cords. I had to drive to my local electrical shop to buy power cords.

My audio guy comes out to set up my amps and pre-processor and we couldn’t get a sound from 3 channels. After messing around and trying different channels my setup worked. We did not declare it an Amp fault at this point in time.

The next day I noticed my Centre speaker didn’t work. After phone consultation with my Audio guy, he formally diagnosed the issue to be my amp and not programming or the pro-processor.

After speak with Tibor, he advised that I had to turn my Amp off then on twice for it to work and it would eventually work normally after the Purifi parts settle. He was correct in turning the amp off and on the 2nd time fixes the problem.

Several months later I contact Tibor to advise the problem hadn’t been resolved and I had checked other channels that also had the same problem requiring the Amp to be turned off and on. Tibor offered to send new purifi parts to replace the 3 channels.

Several months later I am still chasing up Tibor with no success to the replacement parts being sent. Just excuse after excuse including the following:

“Hello Michael,

the module was sent in a small package as a letter, so in this case there is no tracking number.

Best regards

Tibor “


Given my experience in having a part faulty amp requiring it to be turned off and on twice and in particular, consistent lack of honesty from Tibor, I now question even if the Specs I paid for even exist or was I ripped off entirely and how far this dishonesty with Apollon Audio actually goes.

Based on the overall experience I would not recommend anyone buy Apollon Audio products as they simply can’t be trusted and aren’t honest.

I too am having a similar issue with Apollon Audion. After waiting just over 45 days for my amp, I received it misconfigured with OPA1658 instead of the Sonic Imagery SI994. The options were to return the AMP via a prepaid label so then they could swap out the 1658 for the SI994 to then reship back to me, request a refund, or He said he would ship the Sonic Imagery 994 to me so he would instruct me on the amp and that doing so wouldn't void the warranty, as it was a simple process. Now I received the amp on August 14th, as you know his policy is they accept returns only up to 14days after delivery, but I never wanted to return the amp only wanted the op amps and reversal of the charge as he promised. I have emailed him 4 to 5 times and haven't received a single response as to whether the opamp has been shipped or when to expect them. If I don't receive confirmation/delivery of the opamps by August 22nd which I believe is reasonable amount of time. I will be returning the amp back to Mr. Marksel for a full refund which he will be responsible for since he admitted the order was improperly filled due to an internal production error and was given a week to ship a simple chip. I'm sorry to hear that others are going through the same thing, what company doesn't respond to its customers. These are not T-shirts he's selling; they are 1 to 2k amplifiers. Honestly, I twice disappointed, 1. in incorrect order fulfillment and 2. what appear to be avoidance of responsibility to his customers on an otherwise relatively well-constructed amplifier: -And all I wanted was an email confirmation, how hard is that?

 

[amirm]

I too am having a similar issue with Apollon Audion. After waiting just over 45 days for my amp, I received it misconfigured with OPA1658 instead of the Sonic Imagery SI994.

Not related to your issue but I would just ask for a refund of the cost difference and stay with OPA.

 

[Jerry Sobel]

I have been waiting a month for black paint and I was told it would soon ship out. It is a very disorganized company

 

[JSmith]

Not related to your issue but I would just ask for a refund of the cost difference and stay with OPA.

Exactly what I suggested in the other thread. FWIR Tibor has already replied to @muzak156 there a few times as well.


JSmith

 

[jpslittleworld]

I had that same issue with the op amps. I finally got my Sonic imagery op amps. I ran them for about a day and I put the OPA 1656 back in I thought they sounded so much better.

Those opa op amps sound pretty good

 

[Apollon Audio]

I too am having a similar issue with Apollon Audion. After waiting just over 45 days for my amp, I received it misconfigured with OPA1658 instead of the Sonic Imagery SI994. The options were to return the AMP via a prepaid label so then they could swap out the 1658 for the SI994 to then reship back to me, request a refund, or He said he would ship the Sonic Imagery 994 to me so he would instruct me on the amp and that doing so wouldn't void the warranty, as it was a simple process. Now I received the amp on August 14th, as you know his policy is they accept returns only up to 14days after delivery, but I never wanted to return the amp only wanted the op amps and reversal of the charge as he promised. I have emailed him 4 to 5 times and haven't received a single response as to whether the opamp has been shipped or when to expect them. If I don't receive confirmation/delivery of the opamps by August 22nd which I believe is reasonable amount of time. I will be returning the amp back to Mr. Marksel for a full refund which he will be responsible for since he admitted the order was improperly filled due to an internal production error and was given a week to ship a simple chip. I'm sorry to hear that others are going through the same thing, what company doesn't respond to its customers. These are not T-shirts he's selling; they are 1 to 2k amplifiers. Honestly, I twice disappointed, 1. in incorrect order fulfillment and 2. what appear to be avoidance of responsibility to his customers on an otherwise relatively well-constructed amplifier: -And all I wanted was an email confirmation, how hard is that?

I need to correct several false claims you’ve made in your recent post.

You stated in another thread that your amplifier took “60 days.” Which was the first false claim from you. The order was placed on June 30th and delivered on August 14th. That is 44 calendar days in total (32 business days), including customs clearance and shipping.

The payment for the Sonic Imagery upgrade was refunded last week as a goodwill gesture, in addition to us sending you the op-amps themselves free of charge. Depending on your bank/payment provider, refunds can take up to 7 business days to appear in your account. This has already been processed on our end.

You also claim we have not responded to your emails. This is not true. We have replied promptly to your correspondence, and I have the records to prove it. To suggest we are “avoiding responsibility” is unfair and misleading to readers here. I have attached proof here, so that readers can see how many emails we have exchanged. It may occasionally happen that we are not able to respond to every email within 24 hours, but certainly nothing resembling the lack of communication you are describing.

To make this right, we refunded the full cost of the Sonic Imagery upgrade, shipped the Sonic Imagery SI994 op-amps to you free of charge, and confirmed that swapping op-amps does not void warranty, as the amplifier is designed with socketed op-amps specifically for rolling.

It is disappointing to see repeated false statements being posted when we have already acknowledged the error, explained the cause, refunded the cost, and sent the correct parts at our own expense.

I am confident that once the Sonic Imagery op-amps are installed, the amplifier will meet the configuration you ordered and deliver the performance you expect. But I must be clear: continuing to post untrue claims about shipping times, refunds, or lack of responses is not constructive and does not reflect the reality of our communication or actions.

 

[Apollon Audio]

I have been waiting a month for black paint and I was told it would soon ship out. It is a very disorganized company

To clarify the situation for readers: the correction paint was not for a production defect, the amplifier’s finish was damaged because it was not mounted correctly in the rack by the customer. Despite this being outside our responsibility, we agreed as a goodwill gesture to provide free correction paint. We even offered, entirely free of charge, to professionally repaint the amplifier should the customer ever decide to sell it, in order to help preserve its resale value. All that would be required is to ship the scratched part back to us.

We had to order this special paint from our supplier, and due to the summer holiday period it took longer for them to prepare and mix the correct batch. That was the only reason for the delay.

Your paint has now already been shipped, so you should receive it shortly.

It is disappointing to see us described as “very disorganized” in this context. We are handling a large volume of orders, and in this case went out of our way to help correct damage that was not caused by us. A bit of acknowledgment of that goodwill would have been more appropriate than criticism.

 

[XpanD]

May be good to remove his name info from the screenshots and post itself, that feels like an unnecessary violation of privacy given he hasn't shared that on here before. (and the post stands on its own merits without that, too)

Post was edited, no longer relevant.

 

[hat28]

It might be worth sharing my own experience of buying an amp from Apollon Audio. I paid extra for a 'lux' model because I figured my hope was that I was going to live with it for many, many years, and so looks came into strong consideration. Looks was actually the deciding reason for why I went for an Apollon amp too, as opposed to one from its few peer competitors that sell similarly specced and priced amps (an entirely subjective judgement on the looks then, and the Apollon was more expensive than other similar boutique outfits). Seeing a picture on a website is a bit risky but when the amp arrived, it surpassed my expectations. I think it's gorgeous! The feel of the amp as well is high end - the binding posts exude quality and are a pleasure to operate (even if this is going to be a rare occurrence), as is the on/off switch. There is a real attention to detail on the visual and tactile aspects of the amp that is very pleasing.

Plenty of posts here will talk about the inaudibility of differences between amps if they are used within their operational capabilities. Well clearly my previous amp was not used within its limits (Amir has spoken about how many people underestimate the power they need - my listening position is 6m away and I had the sense of my previous amp's bass 'not keeping up' as the volume increased); the music is a joy to hear with the Apollon amp - to the point that listening to known tracks is like listening to remixes (in fact, with a few well-played pieces the effect is initially jarring as they don't sound how I previously heard them; this disconnect fades though).

Like others have mentioned, shipping times slide and there isn't communication from Apollon about this as the estimated shipping date passes - so if you buy from Apollon then temper your expectations here. It ain't Amazon. Also know that the amp does not come with a power cord (probably a good thing as the world has enough of these - but not everyone has a spare lying around) or a manual - I'm not sure if these omissions are on Apollon's website but I had read about this on a post here on asr; making this clear to customers would help.

If you are happy to have low expectations concerning the softer aspects of customer service issues (shipping time communication, power cord etc), then know the product itself will bring joy.

 

[Apollon Audio]

It might be worth sharing my own experience of buying an amp from Apollon Audio. I paid extra for a 'lux' model because I figured my hope was that I was going to live with it for many, many years, and so looks came into strong consideration. Looks was actually the deciding reason for why I went for an Apollon amp too, as opposed to one from its few peer competitors that sell similarly specced and priced amps (an entirely subjective judgement on the looks then, and the Apollon was more expensive than other similar boutique outfits). Seeing a picture on a website is a bit risky but when the amp arrived, it surpassed my expectations. I think it's gorgeous! The feel of the amp as well is high end - the binding posts exude quality and are a pleasure to operate (even if this is going to be a rare occurrence), as is the on/off switch. There is a real attention to detail on the visual and tactile aspects of the amp that is very pleasing.

Plenty of posts here will talk about the inaudibility of differences between amps if they are used within their operational capabilities. Well clearly my previous amp was not used within its limits (Amir has spoken about how many people underestimate the power they need - my listening position is 6m away and I had the sense of my previous amp's bass 'not keeping up' as the volume increased); the music is a joy to hear with the Apollon amp - to the point that listening to known tracks is like listening to remixes (in fact, with a few well-played pieces the effect is initially jarring as they don't sound how I previously heard them; this disconnect fades though).

Like others have mentioned, shipping times slide and there isn't communication from Apollon about this as the estimated shipping date passes - so if you buy from Apollon then temper your expectations here. It ain't Amazon. Also know that the amp does not come with a power cord (probably a good thing as the world has enough of these - but not everyone has a spare lying around) or a manual - I'm not sure if these omissions are on Apollon's website but I had read about this on a post here on asr; making this clear to customers would help.

If you are happy to have low expectations concerning the softer aspects of customer service issues (shipping time communication, power cord etc), then know the product itself will bring joy.

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experience. It’s true that on forums it is usually those with issues who speak up the loudest, so it means a lot when a happy customer also shares their impressions.

You’ve pointed out exactly what Apollon is all about, build quality, craftsmanship, and long-term enjoyment. We put enormous attention into the details, from the machining and finish to the high-quality connectors and wiring, because we want every amplifier to look and feel as high-end as it performs.

We also take your constructive comments seriously, especially regarding lead times. This is an area we are already improving, and feedback like yours helps us refine the experience further.

Thank you again for trusting us with your purchase, and for highlighting the qualities that define our work.

 

[Jerry Sobel]

To clarify the situation for readers: the correction paint was not for a production defect, the amplifier’s finish was damaged because it was not mounted correctly in the rack by the customer. Despite this being outside our responsibility, we agreed as a goodwill gesture to provide free correction paint. We even offered, entirely free of charge, to professionally repaint the amplifier should the customer ever decide to sell it, in order to help preserve its resale value. All that would be required is to ship the scratched part back to us.

We had to order this special paint from our supplier, and due to the summer holiday period it took longer for them to prepare and mix the correct batch. That was the only reason for the delay.

Your paint has now already been shipped, so you should receive it shortly.

It is disappointing to see us described as “very disorganized” in this context. We are handling a large volume of orders, and in this case went out of our way to help correct damage that was not caused by us. A bit of acknowledgment of that goodwill would have been more appropriate than criticism.

It has been shipped already? I have not received a shipping notice. Why not?
I was originally told that the “paint shop” had to prepare the paint. Now maybe the paint shop is not part of their company I do not know.
As far as me damaging the paint, Tibor is correct. But what he is not telling you is that the amp did not fit in my rack and I realized this as I was trying to put it in and a few scratches happened. He sent me a message that he would tell me how to get it in but after waiting several hours for a reply I got advice from another member. I sent him several messages. He got back to me the next day.
I own two other multichannel amps and according to the website all three of the amps have the same width and relative depth. So I assumed that this one would just slide in as the other two did and without damage. After I scratched the paint on the new one I decided to measure them all and wouldn’t you know the multichannel amps are a few millimeters narrower. But the website has them all the same size. Would you not assume that the new one would just slide in? I would and did.

The owner’s go to answer is always to blame the customer or at least it seems to be. It is frustrating. With that said I love my amps and am glad in the end that I purchased them