20 Best Vintage Tube Preamps (2022 Updated)

Had my doubts about this preamp and the price tag is on the higher side – but I will say it did not disappoint!!! Beautiful tube sound, details I had never head before in my music were revealed. Would highly recommend!!! – Technics SL1500C – Ortofon 2M Blue – Klipsch R-51p speakers – Klipsch SPL-100 Subwoofer – Yamaha RS 300 Receiver – Pro Ject S2 Tube Box Preamplifier.

Having many gain options easily accessible on the front has allowed me to keep my high-output Denon MC cart longer. The cart was a little too quiet for a MM gain setting & distorted with a MC setting.

I took the money I was going to spend on a replacement cart & bought the Pro-ject Tube Box 2 instead. It can do a gain setting of 50 or 53 but I leave it on 50. Only thing I’d like to see is an option to change the LED color.

Gave my albums mids. Johnny Cash’s voice rumbles like a nearby tank up the arms on my chair & through my bones. Stock tubes seem fine. Clear, noise free. This won’t hiss like your guitar amp. Silence until the needle drop.

Would by again.

Love the sound! Very airy and dynamic. I did some tube rolling and found the sound I was looking for! I’m in awe at the difference! Excellent choice for a phono preamp.

I’ve had 2 of these. The first one I bought brand new. I was planning on using it on bass but the compressor was so limp is the best way to put it. It is so sqooshy and all over the place. I does not accurately compress.

Because of this overwhealming issue and consumer complaints they started ffering a higher end commprssor mod if you wanna pay another $500 plus!!! So this just shows that the original compressor is faulty and does not effectively do it job! However I did buy a second unit with the compressor mod in it and it worked 50% better!!! The problem is.

every pro studio hs to have one! For some reson people do request them quite often. I will let the client think they are playing thru the unit (have it lit upand meters moving from sending a CD Player to it or something.

Lol. But actually I will have them going thru a Neve or API into a distressor. Also, the mic pres way to colorful. I like high end transparent mic pres that actually capture the sound of the instrument, not add sound.

The EQ’s are decent but who records with EQ anyway? No one. ammatures! EQ is for live applictions so maybe this might be a good hunk of metal for the stage but int the studio forget it!.

I use it with vocals an acoustic guitars, usually with a Neumann TLM49 or Rode NTK. I love the warmth of the tubes in the preamp. The eq is outstanding. The compressor section is very nice, but a little tricky because the attack and release times are a little bit slow and tends to sound too transparent.

I compress a lot the vocals and bass and I really like the sound of the optical compressors. If you are good sound engineer an musician, Youll love it.

This preamp sounds great for multiple recording applications- I own two 737s, they’re versatile and quite powerful when you understand all the functions.

This little beauty adds some nice tube warmth and volume to your mic, and it does so for a very reasonable price. It’s well-built and is actually pretty quiet. In fact, I use one on my acoustic guitar, as well.

The different “tone” settings on this particular version also give you some decent voicing options before you even get to your main mixer or EQ. A word of warning: these ART mic preamps use a 9V AC to AC (700-1000 mA) type power transformer, whereas most 9V pedal transformers are AC to DC.

Make sure any transformer included with a used ART mic pre has the proper configuration before you buy, and realize that if you have an old “wall wart” hanging around your studio, it probably isn’t well-suited for this type of preamp.

I use this preamp in a wide variety of applications on stage and off. Of course it does an amazing job of providing warmth to mics onstage and off, but it can do so much more than that! I also use mine for recording in my home studio with my condenser Mic, where it provides phantom power while (once again) ransparently giving it that wonderful warm tube tone.

Both onstage and in my studio, I also use it to warm up the tone of my bass, sometimes at normal output, sometimes giving it a little extra punch before the signal goes into the amp or mixing board. The versatility of this preamp is just AMAZING, and for the paltry price that AMS has it listed for, I highly recommend that you buy several.

You won’t regret it for one moment!.

If you have something like a helix run this In the fx loop with a sonic maximizer and you’ll remove the cloud of digital “fakeness” and wake it up with real tube saturation. I put my fx loop block between my amp head model and IR.

Note: spend the $15 extra bucks and get a nice tube.

Instant love for this Pre Amp. It looks beautiful, feels incredibly well built. I love the simplicity, whilst also covering all the bases for a solo Pre amp. Having tried a lot of Pre amps just under this price range – Black Lion, etc, I can say with confidence that I’m very pleased I bumped up the budget and finally went for the UA.

It sounds amazing, and the gain dial is spot on – even turned fully up I find it classy and subtle. Most of all I’m just finding it such fun to write and home record with.

This is by far the most versatile tube amp for multiple uses. I love how compact it is and the fact I can use it on my microphone and synthesizers. I’ve had it over a half year now, and use it on everything in recording.

UA is build solid!.

This is a great valve preamp. If you’re looking for a DI & mic inputs, this is the right choice. It adds a very unique color to your sound and distortion if you play with the gain and volume. Is very easy to use.

Highly recommend if you are looking for class A preamp to your home studio or recording studio. You can also use it in your concerts.

Purchased this to try to improve the sterile/cold vocal and guitar sound from my current solid state/digital setup. Wasn’t sure what it would do considering some of the skeptical reviews. Once I hooked it up and began playing with it I noticed a definite improvement in the live “tone” I was getting from both my vocal condensor mic which runs through a TC Helicon GXT and my semi-hollow guitar which is fitted with seth lover humbuckers and runs through an Ego compressor, Fulltone OD and Boss GT-1 effects unit.

I run all of my gear straight to a PA and use amp modeling from the Boss GT-1 and setup the ART in my signal chain right after my mic and second in my guitar signal right after my compressor. Then I changed out the tube for a Gold Lion and the sound quality improved even more.

The only way to explain what I’m hearing is all the sounds are smoother and more lush while also being clearer and more distinct. For example my vocals which tended to sound very midrange/nasal before now have more bottom end making them sound fuller and more pleasant.

My guitar sound is typically an acoustic simulator sound for rhythm work and an overdriven Mesa Boogie amp modeling sound for lead. In both cases the sound became less shrill. Low notes are much crisper and don’t get lost in a mush of harmonic overtones when using the acoustic simulation and high notes during leads are more saturated with great sustain and richer harmonic overtones.

For someone like myself who could never perfect the art or EQing my little PA system this tool makes it extremely simple by using the Variable Voicing and the impedance control. I know many people say your sound is a personal choice and there are skeptics who say this little tube doesn’t run hot enough to do anything and this is all a marketing gimmick.

But for my use as a solo musician I have found the ART to create a better sound quality which makes me feel more confident about my performance and so it was definitely a great value.

I was pleasantly surprised at the difference this made in my vocals. The improvement in the sound is nice to have at the beginning, resulting in less need to process afterwards. I did replace the original tube at the advice of many commentators for a slight improvement.

Personal taste I suppose.

I use it in a live performance rack in front of a power amp. Nice features such as the Variable Input Impedance, Balanced In/Outs, and Variable Tube Saturation make it able to handle a lot of different tasks and instruments.

I would much prefer the channel control layout be identical for both channels but luckily I use it in a “set it and forget it” application so I’m not constantly turning the wrong knob or pushing the wrong button.

If it turns out to be reliable it is well worth the investment.

The GAP Pre-73 is a great way to enter the external preamp arena. I can tell you with no reservations, this preamp is a HUGE upgrade from your interface pre’s. second you hook it up to your audio interface, plug a mic in and test it on a track you will be amazed at the results.

you will understand instantly why your tracks have been missing. Does it sound like a real Neve 1073 ? Yes and no. It’s a clone and while it’s circuitry attempts to mimic the extremely popular 1073, nothing can match it exactly.

different (while comparable) components, signal path etc can only try to get the 1073 musicallity. Don’t get me wrong, this Pre sound super clean, crisp and yes, you can actually hear the transients and I highly recommend it.

It has it’s place in ANY size studio. It is one of my goto pre’s for vocals and especially direct recording bass tracks. It’s a must have if you are on a tight budget and what professional sounding results.

Don’t let the gear snobs scare you away, this pre sounds awesome IMO and is worth every penny. Built like a tank, whisper quite and even has an insert. that is a great feature that some don’t have.

I was kind of reluctant to go down the external preamp worm hole, so I decided to start with a more budget friendly option. My interface is pretty decent, not extremely high end but not entry level either.

The Pre73 made a huge difference. There was an immediate tonal change when I bypassed my interfaces pre’s. I honestly felt like this was what was missing in my recordings. There’s seems to be more realness to the sound, as in, my tracks didn’t sound as “digital” as they had before.

Also, really love the DI function. I’m not a huge fan of the shape/size, it doesn’t fit in a rack without an extra holder, and it is only 1 channel, those would be the only faults imho. I would highly recommend this pre to home studio owners, while I’ve never recorded through and actual Neve, I feel it’s a huge improvement over an interface built in pre!.

I bought this unit on a whim while I was purchasing a couple overhead mics for an upcoming recording project. It would only make sense to get a dual preamp for a dual mic recording, especially if balance is a priority.

I read a few quick online reviews while I was waiting and was a little dismayed by the barrage of negative feedback. However, this feedback is almost always from people who don’t consider the application for the preamp and/or they judge everything against a Neve 1073 or something else in that price range.

I was on my own. I took the chance. First thing when I got it home, I hooked up the new mics and started recording a simple but all-inclusive drum beat. I tried 5 or 6 different settings and was blown away.

I tried 6 different 12ax7s and couldn’t really find a distinguishable difference, which I guess is good because replacing the tube in this unit is relatively difficult and unpleasant. Since I have an abundance of EHs that I don’t normally like, I decided to go with one of those.

Now, when it comes to micing drums, everyone has their own tastes, but I prefer clarity and balance. From crash, to ride, to china it was beautiful. Who would have thought that a little harmonic distortion on drum overheads would affect depth and balance of a drum kit so well.

I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. I WILL be buying more of these.

I was anxious to try out the TubePre V2 to boost my acoustic guitar signal, as well as add some tube warmth to vocals, and record some drum, bass and guitar tracks. Wow, what a giant dissapointment! All I got as I turned up the gain was hissing and humming.

Just horrible! I had to turn the gain down to 3 to make the signal OK not great, but the hissing and humming was lower. Not gone though, just not as annoying But not being able to go past 3 on the gain is unacceptable.

It makes barely any difference at all at that level. It doesn’t even register on the VU meter it’s so weak of a gain increase. I’ll tell you what did register on the VU meter. turning up the knob for the so-called tube gain.

The pot is such junk, that the noise created by just turning the knob sent the VU meter into the clipping level!!! I’ve had 30 year old amps with scratchy pots, and know how to easily get them to be noise free.

It’s really very easy. This pot won’t cooperate, it’s noisy no matter what I do. And the worst part of it is that I cannot tell one bit of a difference in sound with it all the way up or all the way down.

The manual claims it can change your signal to smokin’ hot and it can change your tone from subtle to extreme. Ok, I suppose that it does the subtle part well, very well. It’s so subtle I can’t even notice anything, at all.

And as far as the extreme, well. maybe the insane sounds from the junky pot is what they meant by extreme. Because it sure is. I’m not new to audio gear, and I’ve spent all day with countless cobinations of cords, five different amps and two acoustic guitars, two electric guitars, two electric basses and an acoustic bass, with no positive results.

It’s just beating a dead horse at this point. There is nothing I can do to make the sound any better. Oh ya, there was one thing I did that improved the sound dramatically. I put the TubePre back in the box, ready to ship back for a refund.

All of the sudden the tone of my guitar was great again, and the unwanted noises are magically gone. I’ve read countless reviews where people say you have to change the tubes because the Chinese tubes they use are noisy.

No thanks! I refuse to throw good money after bad on a product that even though it’s brand new, I have to replace things just to make it sound how it should right out of the box. That’s Presonus’ job to put working, good sounding tube in it when it’s being made.

Not after the consumer buys it. After 27 years of buying and using audio gear, I’ve yet to encounter that problem. If the tube is one of the major selling points of this tube preamp, and it needs to be replaced because the quality is so poor, what other parts in this unit are just as cheaply made? I’ll bet quite a few.

I’ve never bought something new, and told that I need to immediately replace a major part just to get it to do what it is already supposed to do, Hey Presonus, use quality parts and the poor consumers that buy this junk won’t have to spend more money replacing parts that you should have used in the first place.

Pathetic quality control. I’ll never touch a Presonus product again. It is just a headache. I should have known better. if someone says it sounds noisy unless you replace the tube should have been a serious red flag, Lesson learned.

You get what you pay for, sometimes (in this case) much, much less. I wouldn’t pay $20 for this. I wouldn’t even use it if it was given to me free. It’s that bad. Maybe I got a dud? But I am just not impressed at all with this.

I’ll just run the signal through my mixer with built in preamps and I’ll be better off. It keeps my signal crystal clear without all the headaches of trying to get a good sound out of it. Plug and play.

Just like I thought the TubePre would be. Plug and troubleshoot for two solid days with no positive results was my experience with this overpriced paperweight. Hey Presonus. use quality parts to begin with and the poor consumers that buy this won’t have to replace them with actual quality parts.

That is your job. But I guess it isn’t? Pass it along to us to take care of. Stay away if you value your money. I would give it zero stars, but it’s not an option.

One of my friends wanted something that would suffice for his home studio vocal recordings, so i recommended this unit to him. This is in no way a high end pre, but for the price it outdoes itself! I had never used the TubePre before I recommended it to my friend, but after using the Presonus Bluetube a few times I concluded that the sound and quality would be very similar.

I set everything up for him and found that the TubePre actually sounds better in my opinion. The reason may be that both of the channels in the Bluetube run through the same tube. The TubePre is one channel running through one tube.

For the price and for what my friend is looking to do, which is mostly songs to put out on YouTube (which destroys audio quality anyways) this product is great. It sounds clear yet warm and doesn’t sound muddy.

It also has alot of headroom for a cheaper mic pre. Box is sturdy and well made. I would recommend this unit to anyone looking to use this for demo-quality recordings.

I received in August 2022. Very pleased with the help from the Pros from Parts Express on the phone. I received the Tube-03, Dayton Audio Grade resistors, the straight green ones, Janson inductor coils and Audtek splitter.

All items sound fantastic. Way better than I expected. Very happy with all of the items that I received. Without the help from Parts Express on the phone, I would have ordered the wrong items. I highly recommend Parts Express and calling them before you order so you get the correct item for your needs.

I will order from them in the future.

This preamp is exactly what I wanted it to do. Smooth out the highend on my Koss electrostatic headphones from Massdrop. The tube sound warmed up the highend. Also,the feel of the switches & buttoms is great.

MY rating is 4. 5 out of 5.

Ive been used to record guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, vocals in my studio and the sound its always great, warm and fat in all situations. I really like to have a Tube Preamp with EQ and Compressor, I can setup the whole tone using this avalon.

Sound: Quiet Features: Compressor is dawg Ease of Use: simple Quality: 8/10 Value: yes Manufacturer Support: never used it The Wow Factor: a little over 60% wow factor Overall: Have used exclusively in a home studio, cabled into Channel one via TRS into a line in on an ONYX 2-2 Producer interface.

We have 8 Focusrite OctoPre preamps, and and an amazing Digitech preamp/FXLive pedal with Gold channel plus stellar vocal effects. The Art Tube MP C mic preamp compressor works some solid majic if you use it lightly/subtle.

Holds up to it’s end of the “colour” preamp we nneded. Decent compared to the ONYX and Scarlett’s. Two year of soldid use, had to open it up and reset thr switch for setting comp/limit. Worth the $ for budget colour/drive.

Replace the tube.

Bought this preamp to operate our stage mic. our mic was connected to a high tech sound board with output to a USB adapter. The sound quality was ok at best. With this preamp we now connect to the computer line in and WOW, the sound is excellent on our broadcasts.

Set up some compression in OBS and now I can work the cameras without messing with the sound.

I purchased this to power my XLR. Right out of the box, the port for the 9 volt power broke. The 9 volt power didn’t even fit properly. Then, when attempting to rig the power supply to fit properly, many other small internal pieces broke as well.

It’s incredibly poorly constructed, breaks right out of the box, and now I doubt I can even return it since the thing crumbled fresh out of the box. DO NOT purchase unless you want cheap trash that will fall apart immediately.

The ART TUBE MP Project Series Preamp for Microphone and Instrument can also make your voice sound fabulous, warmed and made silky smooth by the genuine 12AX7A tube inside. A makeover of the popular original, the Tube MP features an ultralow-noise discrete mic preamp front end that has an extremely flat, wide frequency response and can handle very low and high signal levels with minimum coloration.

High impedance instrument input bypasses the mic preamp circuitry for a shorter signal path. External power supply minimizes AC line noise and hum. Input gain control and switch maximizes dynamic range of input and lets you control how hard you drive the tube.

Switchable input impedance on the XLR in optimizes mic response. Bessel switchable low-cut filter removes rumble and wind noise. Set at 40Hz, it won’t overly affect bass tonality. XLR input features phantom power of +48V DC from a very quiet internal high voltage power supply.

The Tube MP Project Series Preamp has an FET limiter with fast attack and musical release times that protect other gear in the chain without compression. This allows you to maximize the dynamic range of your signal before converting to digital.

A phase invert switch lets you switch signal polarity at the source to minimize cancellation. Output control after the tube and limiter matches output level to a wide variety of systems. Added output section at the end of the signal path has enhanced signal drive capability to both output jacks.

I use this for all instances where utilizing a condenser microphone. For recording, I keep the gain at about two and set the output at around -11. It really brings out the ambiance of the vocals, moving them to the front of the mix.

While I am not a podcaster, I would highly recommend this for spoken word applications as well using a dynamic microphone. very clear. For live applications, this is great for micing any acoustic instrument, (guitar, violin, piano, etc.

). It can produce a little bit of a hiss on live applications, but its hardly noticed over the other instruments running through the board. By comparison, I have three mixing consoles with phantom power, they can’t touch this little baby as far as output and clarity.

Connected through the signal chain on a DI this really warms up the sound.

I went in search for a phono preamp that would give the best synergy with my Hana Cart and Prima Luna integrated. I went through and sampled nearly a dozen units including some more expensive ones over twice the price.

I ended up with the Tube Box because it simply gives me the best of both worlds. It is a hybrid unit but the choice of tubes is also a path to an upgrade and I ended up with some NOS Telefunken smooth plates.

The sound is outstanding- detailed, transparent but with a harmonically rich mid band and deep, impactful and fast bass. It’s difficult to beat this unit without shelling out considerably more cash. I’ve been listening to my collection of around 800 albums all over again and discovering a sound that gets me much closer to the original event.

I would recommend this unit to anyone that is looking at or above this price range.

I love the equipment but didn’t like at all the fact that the salesman had no clue what I was talking about when I told him that One tube was dead on arrival and he had not looked inside this unit to explain to me what the weird casing around the tubes was.

In fact it am Mailing the tubes back to your store. But I like the product. I’ve always bought tubes from you and am more accustomed to better service.

Sounds great. Still breaking it in have about 10hrs so far. Have only used it with moving coil Cartridges will try moving magnet next. Best thing is the ability to hook two turntables at the same time.

You can adjust the phonostage while it is playing to dial in the sound great feature.

Had a Art tube Mp years ago and it hummed. Took a chance on this one and it still has a hum at certain settings. All this is a glorified amplifier with beautiful knobs that I overpaid for. I paid 150 plus tax when you can get one new for 100 if I didn’t go for a payment plan.

I’m not saying don’t buy or its trash. Im just saying its noisey and some setting may be invisible to the ear or all in your mind. I’m just saying make sure its what your looking for.

Whether you use this tube unit for vocals or for miking a guitar, you can’t go wrong. It will interface with any amp, has enough phantom power to run virtually any mike, and you can adjust and contour your sound to your liking with it.

I particularly like the fact that it is small and unobtrusive, will fit into my cable/mic bag easily, and it is plenty rugged. It’s not overly sensitive to anything, but I recommend not using cheap microphone cables to interface, it doesn’t like bad connections any more than I do.

I’m running an MXL 67v and a Shure through it, outputting to 2 amplifiers, and this device has performed flawlessly.

I wanted to get something to warm up and smooth out my vocal signal through a Shure KSM27 for recording. I found that the mic just sounded a bit dry by itself. I decided to try out a tube driven mic preamp to see what kind of difference it would make.

My budget was around $100 so I went with the ART Tube MP/C after seeing decent reviews for their preamps in that price range. The bypassable compression circuit seemed like a bonus as well. The intended effect of the tube gain on my vocals is definitely there.

The tone just cuts into the mix much more effectively and has a nice warmth. The gain control ranges from clean and subtle to fully overdriven, giving you that “telephone” sort of sound often heard in blues-rock.

I also ran some instrumental stuff through it (drum & bass loops, guitars, etc. ) and really appreciated the added punch and clarity it provided when ran directly into my Tascam digital 4-track. I was pleasantly surprised by the live application of the unit as well.

I run a Shure Beta 58 through it on the way to the board, essentially replacing the mixer’s preamp with the ART Tube. The tube gain provides a warmer, more responsive vocal tone and the compressor is great for limiting the signal when I get loud.

Design and construction are good as well, especially in this price range. The level knobs are “dented” and stop at determined spots as you turn them, a nice feature for keeping track of your settings.

LED meters for gain, compression, and output level work great for seeing what your signal is doing. The chassis is metal and the connected elements all seem sturdily mounted and of high quality. Make no mistake, this is definitely in the entry level category of preamps and compressors.

You will find far better tone and capabilities as you move up in price range (which quickly gets into the thousands). However, for a cheap and portable unit that provides basic tube gain and compression, I doubt you’ll find better.

Overall: The problem with writing a review like this is that you can’t describe musical experiences in words. But I thought it might interest some people like me to hear my 6176 story. People like me, that would be singer-songwriters who record themselves at home.

Does a $3000 expense really make sense for someone like that? Of course not. I have read and dreamed about this device for over a decade. I’ve watched all the YouTube reviews, googled the term “affordable alternative” a hundred times without success.

I’ve also spent a few hundred bucks on plug-ins that promised to recreate the magic. Can they? Who knows! I guess the most honest answer is that a first rate engineer could coax the 6176’s sort of complexity out of a few pieces of software after a long, tedious process of tweaking virtual buttons.

In other words: For a simpleton like me with limited time it amounts to a crapshoot. A few times I thought I had “it”, then it was gone again. Enter an unexpected little windfall, three glasses of Malbec, and you got yourself a late night impulse buy.

(What really made me go for it is zZound’s interest free installment plan, to be perfectly honest. ) And now I have “it” at my fingertips, packed in a shiny, heavy, solid box with those impossibly cool huge dials.

What is “it”? I can’t describe it in technical terms. Let me give it a shot in musical terms, then. The 6176 sort of holds you. It catches you. It props you up, makes you feel like you can do no wrong.

Especially as a singer. It controls the dynamics of your voice in such a way that you find yourself whispering or belting, feeling in control in both instances. And everything in between. That overused word “warmth” seems to be the only apt one to really describe what this tube preamp achieves.

It’s similar to what happens to your voice toward the end of a gig, when you’re nice and loose, and it all becomes effortless. There’s a bit of grit, or a lot of it, if you so chose. The very simple EQ does all you need to do, given you’ve found the perfect mic for your purposes.

In my case, that’s a U47 clone, or sometimes a simple 57. The compressor is a legend for good reason. I keep the ratio low, the attack fast and the release pretty quick as well. That’s all I need. In closing, the answer to the question whether you’ll be happy or not about dishing out the big money on something your interface can, in theory, already do … depends.

It depends on how much of your idea of hearing music is really about FEELING music. Depends on how sensitive (or crazy? Or both?) you are. Depends on whether or not the rest of your rig, especially the mic, is already perfect for what you need.

Depends on your years of experience. Guitarists know that there are magical guitars out there, instruments that make you play better. Well, this is like that.

I’ve owned this channel strip for over 10 years. This is what great audio sounds like. A lot of people put a lot of money into mics, but I would suggest spending money on a great preamp/channel strip first.

I’ve used the following mics with it: AKG414, Neuman U87 & TLM103, SM7B, and several dynamic mics usually used for live applications (SM57 & 58, e935 etc) This unit realizes the potential of all mics.

I’ve even recorded vocals with less expensive dynamic mics and the quality has always been warm, present, and professional. If you haven’t put a good preamp between your mic and interface before, you will have a “I was deaf, but now I hear” moment.

Every studio should have at least one of these, even a small studio. Knowing what the “best” sounds like sets the bar or standard for everything that follows. I can’t believe the “vintage” tones and shapes these UA Pre-amps and compressors can produce.

Like the Records of the past and today on the radio. A great feeling to have that POWER in my hands. Should have bought them years ago!!!.

Just received it a couple of days ago, including the Sbooster, so this is more of an initial impression. It was an upgrade from a Vincent PHO701 with upgraded tube (Telefunken ribbed plate, or Brimar), which did have a bit of radio station pick-up.

I use it on a VPI Super Prime Scout with ADS and a SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC* (0. 4 mV) cartridge. Right out of the box, no burn in, it sounds much more detailed with better defined soundstage. Adjustability is certainly a plus with 600/1.

2 kOhm sounding the best to my ears and set-up. Switching any adjustments has about a 1-2 second quiet delay. The EAT permits even “weird” adjustments such as capacitance on a MC/MI-type cartridge, which *should* not matter.

But I can try it, and that is great. I have not tried it with the stock wall wart, so cannot comment on improvements with Sbooster. I run everything through Furman Power regulator-conditioner combo, and everything is indeed very quiet.

Finish is exquisite, and build quality is rock solid. Both the Vincent and the EAT are European made, but the EAT has much more of a European quality feel. The “user manual” consists of three laser printed A4-sheets (5 pages), rather than a glossy booklet.

I find this refreshing, as they put the effort into the phono stage rather than glossy advertisement. For tube rollers, I tried to figure out what the stock tube is in the EAT, but EAT has not returned e-mail inquiries, and UA did not know.

One problem is that EAT glues their metal microphonic dampeners & heat sinks to the tubes, so I cannot simply slide off the metal sleeves and read the tube markings. Access to the tubes is best by taking entire top cover off, rather than just the two UFO rings over the tubes.

Taking cover off requires rather small metric (3 mm) Allan/hex keys. Bottom line, a very nice upgrade, still wondering about the tubes, and with all the adjustment options, it will take a bit longer to really get to the bottom of this little marvel.

I have an eglo petit and has exceeded all my expectations. 5 star product for sure. This is more in reply to Daniel Geiger and not receiving responses from EAT. EAT of course is, depending how one looks at it, Czech Republic/Austrian based.

The people are reserved by nature. After many media social comments over an entire year that I left for EAT, the main lady herself, Jozefina, FINALLY responded to one of my comments with a simple “Glad you are enjoying”.

Early on in ownership I had a question too— and what the trick is is to let the US importer pose the question to its factory contact. That seems the best way to get a response. So best to address questions to VANALTD.

A really nice phono amp. I was using my Yamaha A-S2200 phono stage with a Rega Ania MC cartridge on a Rega Planar 6. Frankly, it sounded damn good, better than most external phono amps in the thousand dollar or so range, but everyone was telling me I needed more gain.

So, I got the EAT E-Glo based on many glowing reviews. The higher gain was welcome and some of the adjustability is nice. It now sounds a little better than the Yamaha but not by much. But then, few integrated amps come with a discrete internal phono stage as good as the Yamaha.