Review on 🎧 FX AUDIO Bluetooth Tube Preamp & Headphone Amp & Bluetooth Receiver+ESS9023 GE5654 HiFi Bluetooth 5.0 Vaccum Tube Preamp (Black) by Antonio Gonzalez

Before deciding on this I bought four different tube preamps. All of them were from advanced Aiyima/FX/Fosi/etc. the family. They are all *very* similar, but each has a unique sonic/aesthetic quality. It has a great combination of a fully brushed aluminum body (front and sides), GE bulbs (which clearly sound better than the Chinese bulbs that came with others), Bluetooth with an unobtrusive antenna, warm and clear sound, and the dials are very beautiful the touch and movement good. The price for this (about $70) is really great considering what you're getting in terms of looks and performance, especially since it comes with upgraded GE bulbs that the manufacturer has to buy elsewhere. The LED on the front is too bright and directional. In a dark room, the LED will appear piercing when you are in sight. That's the problem with all those Chinese tube preamps. I added a small piece of white tape in the front but it's not perfect. The top LEDs (below the tubes) provide an interesting warm glow without drawing too much attention or throwing too much light. (I absolutely dislike electronic devices with large bright LEDs). The dials are beautifully finished and have nice tactile "stops" when you turn them. This unit (and all similar tube preamps)" beeps when turned on. This is annoying (and reportedly can damage speakers). The workaround is to simply turn on the preamp before the receiver/amp and then reverse (turn off the receiver first, then the preamp). This will prevent cotton from getting into the speakers. This is annoying, but not critical. The sound is really eye opening. I was skeptical that a small $70 device could add "magic" to a whistle, but it's true. The sound is cleaner and warmer. Bass sounds more convincing without sacrificing overall sound quality. The preamp also noticeably increases signal gain. The bass and treble controls do a surprisingly good job of attenuating/boosting the respective frequencies in a very pleasant way. In other words, the bass controls boosted the low frequencies just like I hoped, and the treble controls canceled out the overly bright high frequencies just like I wanted. units, as well as the lack of a preamp, and this has won or shared first place every time. Please note that the two tube preamps I tried actually resulted in a degradation in sound quality. So be aware that not all are the same, even if they look very similar on the inside. I wish I had bought one of these a few years ago. You will not regret it.