Ampapa A1 Vacuum Tube Phono Preamp, Headphone Amp, Hi-Fi Audiophile Preamplifier for MM Turntable Record Player with Tone Control for Home Stereo Audio System

What a great product! My old preamp was creating feedback at about half volume. I basically stopped playing vinyl because of this. Sure, it was half the price of this but there's a reason why. My albums sound pure with zero feedback. I really like to be able to adjust base and treble settings as well as the input volume. It did take me a while to tweak the settings between my receivers inputs in an effort to find which one worked best for my system. I don't have an RCA phono input which creates a problem. There's very few RCA inputs in today's receivers, specifically the Denon that I have. Very heavy on multiple HDMI inputs. The one that actually worked best for me was the Blu-ray RCA input. Hope that helps someone. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this preamp. It does what it's supposed to do and it does it in spades. I really like the on/off switch on top of the unit. It's very well laid out and very well thought out. For the price, you just can't go wrong. It's also very pretty to look at...

Absolutely a game changer. I tried a similar product that would only work via USB to my turntable, and immediately returned it due to an even lower sound platform. This pre-amp nothing sounds excellent with Independent bass, treble and volume controls, it also looks fantastic with the ability to change the tune lights from orange to green. In my opinion this is well worth the price if you are a mid-tier vinyl fan.

I bought this to power dual mono block fosi V3s from my old Kenwood turntable into large Advent bullnose speakers. It sounded horrible. I only listen to vinyl, so I hoped this would be a very clean and direct method for improved sound quality. The mid range was too boosted and the entire sound was tinny...horrible! I plugged the Ampapa A1 into my Kenwood KA-7100 integrated amp and I couldn't believe how good it sounded. The bass response is a gigantic improvement, sound stage is wide and sometimes unbelievably amazing (Pink Floyd DSOTM), and is a huge boost in clarity. I send the mono blocks back and kept the Ampapa. I am listening to my entire catalog again as it is so improved. I love the LED function. It adds a bit of zest to my vintage look without overpowering it. The bass, treble and volume controls are very high quality with noticable effect. The whole package is perfect!! If you are in a similarw situation of wanting an improved phono preamp, do yourself a favor and buy this. My previous phono stage in the Kenwood was very good, by the way, but this blows it away.

There's only a couple of reviews so far and most of us buying here rely on these to make purchases, so here's my take on this phono amp relative to the reviews that existed at the time of my purchase. 2 star review-Too bright? Maybe, but the criticism lacks context when there are so many other factors that go into the sound. Starting with your stylus/cartridge all the way through to the quality of your speakers. Review mentions a study I am absolutely not going to ever read, but fails to mention you can roll the tubes. You need spares anyway, so skip the reading and have some fun with different(but compatible) tubes. Worst case you add a Schiit EQ after it for around $150. One of the 4 star reviews mentions the issue through his phones is likely his cord...huh? Hard to ding the amp for that. Runs my Bose (and no- I don't know the model number) headphones just fine. The other 4 star seems to love it and never mentions why it deducted a star. . That only leaves the 5 star reviews, of which this is one. Just understand that it's 5 stars in it's class, or price point. Face it, you get what you pay for and this integrates the phono preamp, some EQ, and it's also a headphone amp. So what I really wanted to know is does it outperform it's cost relative to others? Absolutely! I have a $500 Fluance Rt85 with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, this ampapa amp, and Fluance's Ai61 active speakers ($300) I have pretty good RCA cable linking everything and it's all properly grounded. No feedback or ground loops in any of my configurations, and between the Fluance PA10, a Gogroove EQ, headphone preamp- both around $100, this thing blows them both away. Not only is the noise or hiss almost completely gone, the sound was measurably better, and trust me I have been struggling to determine if one thing sounds better than another and this was really, really noticeable. My verdict, if your whole setup is in the thousand dollar range this thing is excellent. If your looking to spend two grand then your options really open up and this may not be your best purchase, though I can't say for sure that it wouldn't support a better turntable/speaker combination than mine and let you free up cash for those other components. Though they advertise a connection to Washington State, this is a Chinese made product. Nothing wrong with that at all... I opted to not go with 3 separate Schiit products to get the same capability and saved around $300. Wish I could hear them side by side to give my impression in case anyone else is wondering which way to go, especially because I already appear to be spending that savings on other tubes...

Let's start by admitting we are all shopping for Cheap Phono Preamps. Second, I don't even need one. So why bother and why do I love this one? My cheap audio sound system consists of a Fluance turntable running into Klipsch The Fives powered speakers, both of which already have built-in preamps. The Fives preamp is the better of the two, extremely clean, accurate and full sound. However, this system lacks tone controls and a headphone out, both of which Ampapa A1 provides. As a bonus there is a switchable RCA input, which is perfect for adding a CD player, as the inputs on the speakers are all in use from my TV (HDMI), an Amazon Alexa puck (Aux in) and Wiim Mini streamer (Optical in). Plus let's face it, those funky glowing tubes are just cool! But what about the sound you ask? Decent, but not perfect. The first thing I noticed was when switching to the A1 is that the overall volume is lower than with either the Fluance or Klipsch built-in pre-amps. However the speakers have sufficient power to overcome this minor quibble, just crank 'em up. The background noise is zilch, so you lose nothing, unless you need max volume at 11, I don't, this system cranks plenty loud enough to rattle the room. The second thing I noticed is the sound quality is very different. The Fives have a very broad, detailed and airy soundstage. The Ampapa sound is more intimate, less airy, and adds a richness in the bottom to mid range, curtailing the highs. For example symbols and snares are very muted, but the rest of the drum kit has more visceral punch. The tone controls are very sensitive, give me some nice options for tailoring to my tastes, but those highs and airiness are just gone. On day one I didn't really like it. I don't know if the A1 needed burn-in time, or my ears just needed to adjust, but I stuck with it for a few days and have to say I really do like the sound. Imperfect? Yes, but still very enjoyable. It's staying in my system because, well it make vinyl sound more like vinyl, and the loss of those highs actually help a bit to dampen the flaws of less than perfect records. Oh, did I mention the glowing tubes look cool? The headphone output is just okay, definitely not high quality. My Meze 99 Classics have adequate volume, but the A1 is not even close to the detail and quality I get when using the 99s with an Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt streaming Apple Music from my iPhone or iPad). Plugging in the headphones also do not cut off the RCA outputs, so you can play DJ if you want. For me the headphone out sound quality was a real let down, but at least now I have an option for late night vinyl listening. Lastly, the build quality for this Amp is impressive, the switches all have nice tactile feel. The retro cool tubes and LED lighting options, all add a nice retro vibe. The cheesy Designed in Washington marketing is kind of funny, if not disingenuous, as the lousy English translations on Amazon and in the directions make it all too obvious that this comes from China. Not even sure why they bother with the Ampapa brand, as the product ships from Douk Audio Direct, so I suspect that's the real manufacturer. But who cares really? We're all shopping the cheap Chinese preamps and I do think this is one of the best. My recommendation is buy one while you can, preferably before the tariff threat boosts the price.

I just started my Turntable journey this year and I chose my first purchase to be the Fluance RT85 based on many positive feedback reviews and competitive price point. When selecting a preamp, I figured I might as well get the Fluance PA10 model that also has great reviews. Upon receiving the products, I was impressed with the quality and look of the RT85 but not actually blown away by the sound output. So I went back and starting digging deeper into similar price preamps and I stumbled past this bad boy. It had everything I needed with the volume, treble and bass controls, and I loved the tube look with the LED backlights so I decided to give it a try and boy am I glad that I did! I immediately noticed the sound difference coming from the RT85 after hooking this up. The volume output was louder, the sound was more vibrant, and the ability to control the bass was really the game changer for me. I love the fact that you get more freedom to tweak the sound settings more to your individual preference instead of settling for defaults of the PA10. To me this amp is better hands down and I'm glad that I did a little more research before settling based on Brand name. My advice is to not hesitate and buy this! The ability to customize your sound is great and the LED's make it even nice to put on display. Night and day difference and I look forward to many years of great use and quality turntable sound when listening to my vinyl collection.

Hooked up this awesome piece to a Juson JTA 35, which is a very good tube hybrid integrated amp which just, for me, wasn't QUITE there yet. One thing that was holding it back was the phono stage which was just too quiet, I instrument separation was somewhat poor, as well as a hard to discern center image.. iI decided it was time to try it out with a good phone stage / line level preamp. The Ampapa A1 was just a the medicine it needed. It now has a WIDE soundstage and imaging and clarity and is absolutely astoundin!g! The Ampapa added much needed clarity and detail. Rich and deep bass, well defined highs and natural sounding mids. With tone controls to attenuate the sound to my liking. It took my Juson from sounding like a $180 amp to something that can compete with a $500+ amp. I would give it six stars if only it were possible to! I LOVE this thing!😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

I haven't played my records in about 30 years, my daughter made me drag them out of the garage and set up our old turntable. My amp has no phono in, so I ordered a cheap $12 preamp to be able to hear something. Worked fine for that experiment. Little did I know that this "can I look at your records" is going to turn into a new hobby, she already has 10 new albums to add to my 30+ year old pile. Well, that cheap preamp didn't cut it, too muffled, so after some poking around on Amazon I ordered this one. What a difference! Much 'warmer' sound and being able to adjust bass and treble really helps too, my system is set up for movie surround more than music. With this little preamp I can get fantastic sound out of my old and her new records, and I have to say, I love the old nostalgic big record, take out of sleeve and put on player interaction, I forgot how much I missed that. Such a different music experience from telling Alexa what to play on spottify. If you're looking for a great preamp that doesn't cost crazy money, give this one a try. I've played everything from metal to classic through it so far, and everything sounds great. Of course, every system is different, but I think this little pretty unit will work just fine unless you're a super anal audiophile. But then, you'd not be looking at this to begin with. The only downside, why is the on/off switch in the back of the unit, instead of the front? All the other switches are set once and forget, so I'd have put the on/off to the front. It's a tiny unit, so no big deal, just odd.