Hi Jamie,
thanks for the update. "UPS expedited shipping" is one of UPS' services which typically is 3-5 days and includes UPS' customs processing fess, vs paying UPS 9-18% for processing the customs broker. This is just UPS' fee not customs or taxes. So its best to have this UPS expedited shipping service vs just UPS standard on items over USD$2,000. I just went thru this with Starke Sound two weeks ago on shipments to Canada, learnt lots along the way.
Im suspicious you dont have a shipping number. You can call UPS and tell them you cant find your tracking number and see if they can find it by address.
Hi WozzaDog,
I finally received my Apollen around 1 week ago (2.75mons in total...)
So to get the negatives out the way first, their order times frames are a joke. Honestly, I would have ordered a similar product from Nord if I had known!
Visuals/Build Quality
With the negatives out of the way, the Apollen unit is beautifully built, excellently painted and simply looks and feels like a proper high end product. Packaging is basic, and no power cord included. I'm not a huge fan of the light up logo badge on the front. I just find the branding a little old fashioned, but is my personal taste.
My system
Goldenear Triton Reference - Front (exceptionally good speakers. by far the best purchase in my system)
B&W HTM2 D3 - Centre - (excellent speaker and actually a nice match the the Tritons IMO)
B&W 704 side surround
B&W 705 Rear surround
Velodyne DD12+ sub
Bose double cubes - used as middle+rear heights (Yes I know they are sh_t! Just recycling old kit as not much gets played in height channels anyway to warrant spending more, although their crapness does bug me now!)
Denon X-8500HA Receiver doing surrounds + heights & Apollen 3-Channel Purifi 1ET7040SA (front LR +Centre)
Before adding the Apollen
In terms of sound quality, given I had to wait 2.75 months for the Apollen, I had time to experiment with using the Denon in both a 5.1, 7.1 and then a 7.1.4 system. Upgrading from the 5.1 B&W system to the the 7.1 system with Tritons honestly blew my mind. The Tritons are so much better than the 704s! Truly amazing speaks. Adding the height speakers reduced the wow factor, but I think that was overstretching the Denon running 11 channels. Anyway, I digress LOL!
In 2-channel Pure Direct mode from the Denon (this mode switch off all fancy trickery, display, audessey and allows more power to to LR since other channels are switched off), the Denon actually did a great job. When I added all 11 speakers from the Denon, It was still very good but films with high intensity scene had deteriorated from the 5.1 system. The main issue was getting good high quality sounds and dialogue through the HTM2 at normal volumes levels, which didn't sound crazy loud in actions scenes. I tried tweaking volumes on the center channel to solve this with limited success. This was less of an issue with dedicate Dolby Atoms films, but for decoding Dolby Digital content, I literally had to keep the volume in hand during certain movies and increase/ decrease volume between dialogue and big action scenes!
Denon (2 channel pure direct mode) vs Apollen 2 Channel.
The difference is actually quite subtle unless you play very loud, in which case the clarity and depth of the sound is improved. It's wasn't the smack in the face improve I was expecting, at least at lower listening levels. I put this down to how easy the great and easy the Tritons are to drive (FYI they are a true full range speaker going down to 20hz due to power built in subs). Anyway, they literally shone with both.
Denon doing all 7.1.4 channel vs Denon/Apollen combo - AV
The problem with volumes during quiet scenes and sounds scenes is gone and the B&W HTM2 became much cleaner. I put this down to the B&W's been much harder to drive, and thus benefitting from the extra power/amps available from the Purifi 1ET7040SA models (and the surround channels getting more power as the fronts and centre now removed).
So if you have an underpowered/overstretched Amp and/ or hard to drive speakers then the Purifi will definitely improve the situation IMO. If you aren't, maybe stick with a good quality AV amp, which will do most of what you want in a 5.1 or 7.1 system (chase incremental improvements in HIFI is definitely subject to the law of diminishing returns!).
The Apollen 3-Channel uses 1 larger PSU for all 3 1ET7040SA modules rather than 3-channel mono designs. Since I can't A/B test both options, I can't comment on which is better. All I can say is there was no audible distortions or clipping I could detect at all levels. This would be a better question for Amir : )
Note. specifically to Denon owners (or other av amps that can individual Amp Assign channels).
Unlikely the lower Denon models, the flagships models allow you to individually turn off individual amps via Amp Assign (not just the speak setup page, which will leave power to the amps even if not speakers connected). The benefit of switching off unused channels is more power can then go to the other channels. The Denon unfortunately doesn't have balanced pre-out, so I'm use the RCA pre-outs. I don't know if there is any audio benefit of going to balanced. Balance was orignally intended for concerts etc where cables might be 50m+ long (hence subject to noise environment). over 1m, I can't see this being an issue. Also, getting a AV processor with 11 balanced pre-outs and then separate amps + cables is crazy expense.
In short, this the Denon/Apollen hybrid solution suits me just fine. Just remember to do a Audessy/room correction calibration after switching amps as it made a big difference!
Overall
I am crazy happy with my system now, which sounds cleaner and more defined at any level during AV. You need to push the volumes higher to hear significantly better performance than a good 2 channel (at least in my opinion, but that depends how easy your speakers are to drive like my Tritons. If I had harder to drive speakers such as the B&W 8002D I would definitely suggest getting a better/additional amplifier, at least for the main channels, which are the most important.
One final point I wanted to share... Since upgrading, I've started listening to a lot more music and music videos in Dolby Surround mode (yes I know this is sacrilege to the 2 Channel hardcore LOl). However, on certain tracks/ videos, particularly live performances, it can honestly be amazing! If you haven't tried, search for "
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters 2007 Live Video Full HD" via Youtube an give it a try! Close your eyes and you feel like you are in the stadium with a good surround system and Dolby Surround. My friends comment on this effect most than 2 Channel when I showed it off. Go figure!
I've been trying a lot of Dolby Atoms recorded tracks from Tidal also, with less success. Some great stuff, but a lot of average tracks. I guess this audio class is still maturing.
