Review on 🎛️ Douk Audio T3 PRO: Mini Stereo Vacuum Tube Preamplifier with MM Phono Stage by Samuel Hansen

Although both my player (Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB) and my receiver (Onkyo TX-NR555) have phono stages, I decided to use an external one Trying tube phono preamps I bought a Douk Audio P1 pre/DAC/headphone amp and was happy with its performance. I'm happy with my decision. Pros: Small size Adjustable gain Good sound Cons: The blue light on the power supply Set up was easy - plug in tubes, plug in player cord, plug in AUX out on my receiver and it was good to go. The tubes went in easily, but as with any tube element, YMMV is based on tube pins etc. The sound out of the box is decent. I found the included 6A2 tubes to be too bass heavy. I have a decent pair of Boston Acoustics speakers so they handled that, but I can see how it can sound messy on speakers with a different woofer and/or subwoofer configuration. While listening to some "old standards" I noticed a different sound from the built in phono stages on both the TT and the receiver, especially in the mids - I heard something I hadn't heard before (at least didn't hear ). heard well). While the bass was a bit high, the mids and highs kept up. A few days later (when my tube replacement order arrived) I bought a pair of GE5654W tubes which provide better bass (more balanced with the rest of the sound) and very good mids and highs. A very good buy if you want to color your turntable sound without breaking the bank on a quality tube phono stage. I just wish they could use the power supply without that blue light. It's very bright, and if it wasn't behind my entertainment center I would definitely tape it off.