Review on 🔊 Bellari PA550 Preamp by Heather Coleman

The PA550 seemed like a good buy. Compact. Inexpensive. Headphone amplifier with phono stage. What more can you ask for? Actually quite a lot. The build is pretty solid, but the headphone jack itself doesn't live up to specs. The 3.5mm plug is loose in the port, resulting in crackling and audio dropouts during playback. In terms of performance, there is a sharpness that is quite annoying. Especially when the volume is turned up. The cymbals and tambourines shatter like glass, and the mid-range instruments are almost indistinguishable. Basically, you have fuzzy bass, soft mids, and punchy highs. It's a wash and definitely not worth the money. Charge up $40 and sell it as an iPad accessory and you could be on the money. Otherwise don't waste your time. Edited to add - Done for a while (3 months). This finally sucks. Nothing but an annoying hum from the left channel that goes away when you shake the unit and prod it so it's "just right". Absolute nonsense. For this price I should be able to use the device for more than 3 months. Behind the rear window, so all I can do is warn people about it.