AIYIMA T8 6N3 Digital Tube Preamplifier Bluetooth 5.0 Hi-Fi Headphone Preamp Decoder Preamp PC-USB DAC APTX for Home Wireless Receiver Audio Stereo Amplifier + with Remote Control

I was trying to decide between this Aiyima T8 and the Douk P1, but this one won me over due to the remote control and optical in, which the P1 both lack. This (with the Aiyima A07 power amp) is replacing an SMSL AD18 that's going to my garage. I needed a versatile, inexpensive, and small preamp unit for my bedroom, and this is perfect for my needs. This and the A07 are currently feeding Emotiva B1+ speakers. My audio source is a Chromecast Audio connected to the T8 via optical in, and while the Sabre ES9018K2M isn't the newest DAC chip around, it is still very capable. I also tried the RCA, USB, and bluetooth inputs, and they all work well.One thing to note is that there's been a bit of confusion regarding the tube signal output. Some online reviews have stated that if you want the tube sound, you need to use the front 3.5mm headphone out only. After emailing with Aiyima, they confirmed that the tube signal also goes to the rear RCA out. In fact, there is no audio output at all if no tube is inserted. Anyway, I've been using a NOS 6N3P-E tube and am happy with the sound.Lastly, the bass and treble adjustments are nice feature. Since I'm using this in an upstairs bedroom where I do not want a subwoofer placed, a slight increase in bass EQ is all that my speakers need to sound more full-bodied when playing music. A slight negative though is that from what I know, the only way to adjust treble and bass is thru the remote control. If you lose or damage the remote, you're out of luck with EQ adjustments.Overall, I like this T8 a lot. I'm a fan of small budget hifi components, and this is perfect for my needs. This paired with the small and excellent A07 sound better than my outgoing AD18.

I had picked up this little dac amp to use primarily as a headphone amplifier. I has a unique upright design that fits perfectly on the limited space on my desktop. I was very impressed with the overall build quality when I first opened the box. The construction of the case is pretty thick aluminum with excellent fit and finish, and it has very attractive real wood rails that serve to protect the tube on top. The front red volume knob is made of aluminum and has a nice click to it and it has a very sharp blue green OLED mini display that display all functions. I was very pleased with the full function remote control ( something you normally don't get at this price point) - it controls all functions and has a very good range. I spent most of the day testing the amp on my collection of headphones. I sounded great on all of them - with that warm tube goodness and has ample power to power even my largest planar headphones. It really rounded out the sound some of my headphones with higher treble levels. The unit uses a standard size 12vt ac adapter ( not one of those giant ones some other tube amps use). I tested the Bluetooth briefly and the range was impressive - I was able to stay connected in all areas of my house and even into my yard. Overall, I am very happy with this amp and can't wait to relisten to my music collection with it in the coming weeks.

When I started my mission to look for a to replace my old tube preamp, I wanted to find something pretty much straightforward without spending too much money to insert between my PC and stereo. I was fortunate enough to discover the AIYIMA T8 6N3 Digital Tube Preamplifier. The price is slightly higher than your typical pick of tube preamps for a very good reason. This product is PACKED with features making it a perfect solution to gain high quality sound! I am highly impressed with the simplified and compact design employing a single tube for 2 channels, but furthermore the options to interface between a variety of equipment including audio sources through bluetooth, RCA, Fiber, and digital is what makes this unit a must have! The selling point for me was the fact I can plug this preamp into my PC and feed sound directly into the tube preamp guaranteeing the highest of quality with sample rates for A/D conversion up to 192khz/24-bit. I am not an audio expert or audiophile person by no means and can not give a product comparison with other tube preamps. I do highly recommend this amp for anyone seeking a starter solution to enjoy high quality audio, especially if your sound source is going to be your PC. The unit is extremely simple to operate with one button on the front to control most of the features, and a remote to control all the features including bass/treble settings. Even if you don't have an amplifier or an amplified speaker system (which is required for use with those setups), you can still enjoy an amazing experience by using the headphone jack as the unit can power headphones.If the headline caught your attention, there is a "but" and why the overall rating is 4 stars instead of 5. I will also add I doubt most people will experience this issue, but this is just a note so you are aware. I do have a problem when playing video games or opening any program that's resource intensive that sometimes using the preamp in the PC source mode (using USB from computer to deliver sound) that the driver crashes and I stop hearing sound. The only way I have found to recover from the crash is to restart the preamp by powering off and back on. I really hate doing this since I'm turning a tube off and back on uneccessarily, but only way I can make it work again. I generally work around this problem by connecting the preamp to my internal soundcard and not using the USB/sound drivers. The result is degraded audio since my internal sound card is not has good. This bugginess is disappointing but I chalk this problem up to potentially the fact I am running Windows 7 still (boo.!!!).I still overall recommend this preamp highly! I plan on buying a second one for experimentation for car audio soon and fingers crossed to achieve good results. It's worth mentioning the unit runs off of 12 volts DC and it's very hard to find 12 volt preamps! Thank you again AIYIMA, you have made an amazing product for today's needs without breaking the bank!