Review on Enhance Your Audio Experience with the Stereo LINE PRE-Amplifier: Boost Sound Quality by 15DB at 12VDC by Reid Rickerson

This amp has high gain for a linear amp. It's not normally boosted to insane levels, but it will boost the sound enough to solve most low volume situations when used as a preamp rather than an amp. It cannot work as a main amplifier. It is designed to connect two linear RCA devices. One side of this box is stereo input and the other side is stereo output. It also uses AC wall wort for power, but much less than most. It has a rotary knob to adjust the amplifier's gain from 0 to 15 dB. I use this amp to amplify my TV's line output that is too low to become a stronger input for my amplified stereo speaker. The reinforced speaker bar now produces a much louder sound and offers a wider volume range thanks to the ability to set the speakers at a lower volume. When installing for the first time, make sure the gain control is turned all the way down. Set the volume controls of any speakers or amplifiers to low to medium. Begin by playing a test piece of music that does not vary greatly in volume. Then gradually turn that preamp gain knob until you get the normal volume level, and make a note or jot down where the preamp gain knob is for future reference. (I used a tiny white blob on the outer ring of the display so I can reset the preamp back to that level if I accidentally change it later.) You can now use your regular device to increase and decrease the volume , without having to do this Adjust the preamp again. Also, with this method you now have a wide range to increase or decrease the tone. If you turn the preamp knob up too high and the device you're outputting to can't handle high-level input signals, it can burn out. Your gear and this box. So start again with a low preamp control and work your way up until you are satisfied. If your audio starts clipping or sounds like garbage, you've exceeded the input level that your device is safe to accept. In this case, turn the preamp down slightly until distortion or clipping is gone, and mark that point on the preamp as the maximum gain your unit can accept. Some cheap audio gear, or those that already have a lot of gain, just can't accept the high level of gain that goes into the gear. You will have to experiment to find the best position to adjust the gain control depending on the volume of your amplifier/speaker. You should only use the preamp control to get a good average volume level and then only use your output device for normal volume control. This is a neat little amp that's easy to hide behind other gear. Once you set it to the right level, you don't need to set it again. I am very satisfied so far. If this doesn't last long I'll come back here and update the review accordingly. I love this improvement in volume on my TV and soundbar. Also, don't buy this box if you're trying to amplify old phonographic equipment. Most of these phono stages used RCA connectors but had very low signal levels. If you want to do that, they make phono stage preamps that amplify the signal much more than this box and better match the impedance of those old phono stages. This device is designed to boost line level (typically 1-2V peak) RCA signals by 15dB or less only. I recommend this preamp to boost the volume of a stereo line level signal. Note: If you are a very picky music lover, you may not be satisfied with this. This is not the best dollar instrument. You can buy one of these for a few hundred dollars. It's cheap for the rest of us.