Apollon Purifi with Project Tube Box DS2

[gaburko]

Hi Forum Gurus,
I'm contemplating the purchase of the Apollon Purifi Mini power amp and I was wondering if the below setup would work.
On the balanced inputs of the Apollon I will be hooking up my RME Adi-2 DAC, so no issues there, the RME will be the volume control. However, I also have a Turntable with a MC cartridge hooked up to a Project phono stage which I was planning to hook up to the RCA inputs of the Apollon. The problem is that the project has a max output of 500 mV and the Apollon required a minimum of 1.5Vrms. So i was thinking of getting Schiit Saga S to sit in between the phono and the power amp.
First question: do you guys think this would work?
Second question: are there other alternatives to this? I am looking for something simple and small to be able to amplify to 1.5Vrms?
thanks!

 

[litemotiv]

First question: do you guys think this would work?

Technically that should work, but it's likely that the Apollon doesn't allow XLR and RC to be connected at the same time (assumption, i could be wrong), so are you prepared to switch cables when you want to change the source?

Second question: are there other alternatives to this? I am looking for something simple and small to be able to amplify to 1.5Vrms?

One option would be to remove the RME and look for an alternative product (DAC+preamp) that has both digital inputs and a phono stage. Or one with at least analog inputs together with a separate phono stage that is used as an input, like the RME ADI-2 Pro.

 

[gaburko]

Technically that should work, but it's likely that the Apollon doesn't allow XLR and RC to be connected at the same time (assumption, i could be wrong), so are you prepared to switch cables when you want to change the source?

Thank you for the reply. Technically, this should work as the Apollon has a switch at the back to activate either the Balanced or the RCA unbalanced inputs, so it would mean i need to activate the RCA input when I want to listen to the turntable.

Re the RME, I am really hesitant to remove that DAC from my digital path as it's an incredible device and for me it's an "endgame" re DAC

 

[litemotiv]

Thank you for the reply. Technically, this should work as the Apollon has a switch at the back to activate either the Balanced or the RCA unbalanced inputs

That's good to know!

I am really hesitant to remove that DAC from my digital path as it's an incredible device

Yes i understand, with the ADI-2 Pro you would have the same product (plus analog inputs) so that could be interesting, but it will be a bit more expensive obviously...

Good luck!

 

[Gorgonzola]

I think the robust solution would be to route both the RME and Project phono through a preamp that will handle both XLR and RCA inputs and convert the single-ended inputs to balanced differential on output, and hence the Apollon. Candidates would be a Schiit Freya S or Topping Pre90