One thing about many Audio Review journalists across the years is that they never ... really ... had the product in their room, just a number of photos around which they'd make an article that included everything that ... the manufacturer wanted ... to say about their product. So ... yeah, they never listened to it (or you know held the remote control but the photo looked liked plastic, even although it was actually aluminum) but these (you know clowns) gave a review as if they'd very carefully, done all the work by themselves, of course, the main point of the Billie is its claimed match with Magneplan LRS Plus and we only need to find a demonstration place of the two products to see if they do measure up, and they will.

It's still incredibly cheap looking....like an Apple TV remote that costs 20 bucks. Thinks like that are a deal breaker for me.

@@robertbrody4032 No we get flashy remote controls that learn from the cheap handset output frequencies and they control our whole system, not just the amplifier. This cheap control is just you know, for programing these 'learning remote controls'.

@steveguttenbergaudiophiliac Would you recommend the Billie amp paired with the Klipsch RP-600M. Trying to put together my first stereo set up.

You can book a session to do just that at Third Man Records in Detroit.

Class D does sound dry and sterile, but you can fix that with tubes. 😉

@@seanb3303 not in this case

@@jackfalco5351 you find the Billie sterile even with the tubes?

@@seanb3303 well, sounds like a class d amp.

Well, Steve reckons it works best with Magneplan LRS Plus and using the ECC99 (that was made to work as a driver with 300B tubes). The 12BH7 is an old ... surplus television component but made in the tube era, when superior materials make it sound better than the modern ECC99.

Thank you so much, you got a try new music to keep it fresh.😊

Magic

wait till you try some vintage glass on it. jj's and modern tubes in general were never considered the best at anything ,no matter what your taste is ,there is a vintage tube that will sound a lot better .i like using old mullards brimars ge's and siemens tubes but each has a specific tone, they will also last longer. enjoy

You mustn't have this Billie, it hasn't been around for several years, you must have the first version

​@@crazyprayingmantis5596 yep. I have Gen 1.

@@yaniv-nos-tubes va-jay-jay sounds better than the NOS in this amp

Sure!

TRY a 5814A RCA .......( when lukcky you could find a triple mica /black plate ) .........sounding great, full , warm and very dimensional like in a great sounding concerthall . IF you like more up and go and energy of the music, try a 12BH7A GE ............ And if you listen trough the cleanest window with a inequaled transparancy and fine " timbre " ( tone) ..........choose a ECC82 Telefunken flat plate....... The last choice in tubes being my personal experience and taste are those current production tubes include the JJ tubes......I live, work,build, repair and listen with tubes for more than Sixtie years. Have a nice day..................this amp may sound ( very ) good and give you listening pleasure for some years but ..........not for decades..

I ordered DW6 after falling in love with the sound at a bar/breakfast spot near Petco park in San Diego. They were being driven by a McIntosh MAC6700 and sounded amazing. In a bar! Looking for something to drive them and this looks like it fits the bill. Did you get one?

I have the sphinx v3 paired with LRS and would like to know how this compares.

There is some noise/hiss audible. A very small amount. If you want dead silence better stick with solid-state. I certainly didn't find it intrusive

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac thanks Steve! Rock on.

Have you heard this with nos tubes?

Sounds best with gold pin jjs ecc99

@@jackfalco5351 No ... gold pin were a British ... military tube thing but you know, home tube amplifier users are able to clean up the standard pins regularly with some fine emery paper, ground glass paper. The gold pin was only to preserve the connection in hard to reach service places.

@@keplermission ? Heaven 11 sells gold pin ecc99. My experience is this sound better than N OS tubes in this unit.

@@jackfalco5351 Yeah but ... Steve already said that, you know, we don't add something Steve already put in. You know ... 'N OS tubes', ... I'm an 'old cowhand from the Rio Grand' (like Herb Reichert) and you know, N OS tubes that aren't modern ... have tolerance issues. You know they all sound different until ... you get a service tech to change your under-chassis elements to best match any particular N OS tubes. But as Nelson Pass would say, 'under the same conditions' you know N OS tubes would sound the same. But 'tube rolling' does apply to some tubes like EF86, but most are a tolerance/ 'transfer characteristic' issue.

I'm sure it sounds great.

You're right, but I found the ramp up, ramp down volume speed just right.

They do

That's not true of all DW6s, pretty sure the one I have is 8 ohms. too high impedance is not at all likely to harm an amplifier. Too lowl, pushed really hard, that would be a problem.

You press and hold the source knob while on standby to make the switch between the two

@@jackfalco5351 Ah! Super. Thanks for your reply. 👍🏻

If you used to AB, like I am, you may be disappointed with this amp. But the preamp with my amp was a good combination.

😂 😂 wow. Really?!?

Gold

Within a month or so, I am waiting for two sets of power-hungry speakers to use in that review.

​@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac nice, i can't wait

If you have one, how about some feedback please. Thanks.

I think that should be good

One more question. Currently driving the speakers with a older Yamaha AV amp outputting 60amps. I am hoping that the Billie additional power and tubes will make a significant step up in performance. Thoughts

Well, since I've never repeat your amplifier I have no idea. Sorry

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac ok how about compared to the Hegel h95 or h90 I believe you reviewed on of them I think

The Hegel especially the 360 is on a different level all together. Hegel has huge dampening factor which is great for driving inefficient speakers. As far as the 90 or 95, I’d also say it’s on another level. The 95 You get a lot more options, streamer, much better dac class A/B which 99.9% always sounds better than class D. If you wanted a hybrid, I’d look at Pathos which sounds better than Hegel and the Billie. If you care where stuff is made in, Pathos is 100% made in Italy. Built like a tank, gorgeous to look at and gorgeous sound. Hegel China, Billie made in Canada. Pathos for sound quality, Hegel for an all in one unit.

With high sensitivity Zu speakers here is an acceptable amount of hiss. Not audible when music is playing.

Preamp best part of this unit

Yes, it is an integrated amp. Yes it would run your speakers.

@Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac I was wondering do you think 🤔 it would sound better than my parasound 2250 v2

No