Unlike other audiophile channels that speak gibberish. Your review was refreshingly easy to understand as a newbie. God Bless your Sir. You gained a new subscriber.
the improved version Aiyima T9 Pro is out now. Worth a review I think. Uses the more powerful TPA3250 amp chip and better bluetooth qcc3031 and other chips.
Tripath developed this Class D technology over two decades ago and since went out of business due to mismanagement. What's amazing is that some of the basic stuff, like their model numbers, are the same. TPA3112 is Texas Instruments, I believe, which bought out a lot of Tripath (if not in whole). This chip is similar to the original Tripath TA2022, I believe. If you ever get a chance would love a mini documentary about the rise of chip amps. I think it'd be a good topic for your audience, and you could run through a lot of the chip amps you covered and a few head units like the old Panasonic head units running 60w RMS. I think some of the newer Sony head units are running 50w now. Anyway, really enjoyed the vid, and glad to see your channel is thriving!
I wonder if these compact class D chip based amps have any decent dynamic range compared to classic amp solutions used in high quality big box amps used in hi-fi systems. Does the sound get distorted and compressed on higher volume? I know that these chips were designed to be used in small and/or portable audio systems and car hi-fi for example. Not to make an audiophile come in his pants. 😅 I got some questions about how good are the specs of this miniaturised amps.
I have the Aiyima T9 version of this amp powering my Klipschorns. Teeny little amp / massive speakers... kinda funny.And, yes... it can get very loud without going much past 1/2 volume. But a couple of things that you didn't really cover is the presence, detail, and soundstage that this little amp produces; which is what really impressed me. I've played a lot of music that I know very well, and almost without fail have heard details that I never heard before. Janis Joplin's 'Summertime' is jaw-dropping. Curtis Mayfield's 'Pusherman' is a rediscovered masterpiece. Good live recordings sound exactly like that-live. Time and again it's been as if the band was in the room.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Ive had mine since the cheap audio man review. I dont care about distortion, it sounds great and kicks ass. I bought an emotiva TA1 for $550 at the same time, and the emotiva sucks with its shitty shrill sound. The Douk ST01 is nice, lush full and wet sounding
Great stuff. The output power was actually limited by the exhausted power supply unit 🙂Of course, it would be exciting to see the capabilities of this little guy on the 30V power supply allowed by the manufacturer.
I got this amp a couple of months ago and I would recommend to anyone upgrading from a base level amp. I'm not an audiophile, but my old pair of second hand speakers sounded heaps better, with more detail and range. I hooked it up to an active KRK 8 studio sub and a vintage pair of 100 watt passive 4 x 12inch tower speaker for Guitar / PA system and it powered them wonderfully. Plenty of volume, detail and versatility for combining with other amps too. What worries me about this amp the most, is that it may have set me on the path of the audiophile.
Tripath was way ahead of its time. Recently, Bruno Putzeys has improved upon class D, and many high end audio companies are now using UcD. One way to get closer to the rated power output of the chip is to add a bigger, beefier power supply. The supplied power supply is 24 volts so switching to a 30 volt psu should increase output.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
This amp rocks although I used aiyima t9 but looks almost the same. I work at hifi store and after changing lamps adding a decent dac it really can rival normal amps like Denon. Everyone of my coworkers was impressed that it can drive high end like rubicons 8 really well without much distortion especially with new dac. Its EQ is really well to because it doesn't feel fake like those normal eq from denon. On a set with included lamps plus smsl su9 it best denon pma900 in precived sound quality
This is a cool little amp. It will drive fairly efficient speakers surprisingly good! It did power Elac Uni-Fi UB5 ok, but not very loud or close to their potential. I swapped for vintage Advent Legacy speakers and the sound really came alive. Happy to have it, hope it lasts. Nice review, great info. Thanks!
These little class D mini amps are cool but you need to drive them with a high voltage and high amperage power supply, otherwise you need some high efficiency speakers.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Man i realy enjoy your content , me and my friend are in our late 40's and are big oldschool fans !!!! Good on you for it all keep grinding, and oh yah thanks for the youtube tutorial it help me understand better 🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻
I like the sound on this. I connected it to an Aiyima A07 amp and put a 36w 10amp power supply on the Aiyima and it sounds great and has plenty of power now. The Douk does run a bit hot so I put an inexpensive desk fan beside it and it stays cool.
Hey, I’ve been using a similar type amp in my office a Fosi T20. I’ve switched over to GE5654w tubes and wow that made huge improvement! I would suggest trying a set. Built in Bluetooth on these amps is a bit lacking. Try and external better quality Bluetooth receiver for improved quality. Or direct connect to PC or high end Dac. This is great content to add to Channel!
They should sell a 30V power supply which is far better imo. I upgraded mine to the 30V from the 24V. I forget the part number but the 30V adapter was around 40 bucks.
I'm sure it was $$ concern to provide the 24V power supply. Also it puts less stress on the chip. I'll try 30V but I doubt it will do much more power than I show here. Maybe 10-15W?
Hello. A couple years ago I bought a Nobsound tone, just for fun. It came with a 19v power. I then bought a 24v 5a power, just for fun. (Max v is 24v) It played noticeably louder! You try!🤓 On the negative side: the rca input could’nt take a the high level signal from a cd player. It distorted on the input! The led power vu meter don’t blink at all, when volume is low. Best Asgeir
I don't know where this myth came from, I have touched vacuum tubes with my fingers for years, guitar amps bass amps my Fisher integrated amp and many others. We are not talking about halogen movie and video lamps here, those you do not touch with oily fingers. I am thinking about buying one of these little amps, thanks for the video very helpful.
thx for the home audio reviews! ......it would mean alot for the home audio community if you could start to dyno emotiva and such brands...outlaw etc still waiting on that 18inch sub in house review :)
@@wal ya true some stuff is super expensive hit them up they might send a review unit ...idk just want some home audio dynos haha...i seen one channel tested emotivas lil 50watt amp on a dyno think it started smoking lol....i have there new pt1 a2 setup it seems decent would like to know the true power on these units tho 🔥🔥 love the content 🔊
@@kevinb_420 Years back, just for shenanigans, I abused the heck out of that little Emotiva amp when I hooked it up to two 8" subs all while gaining up the RCA input through a headphone amp to get even more output. It survived, was running pretty warm, but nothing alarming.
I read a review on YT and some chap was complaining about the Valves being for show, now I know they are Pre Amps. Cheers. I have a Denon, I want something Smaller for my mac. Dont need Hi Volume as I have Neigbours. Shame no headphone out.
@@V081WLBlue Not sure I want anything glowing or blinking like the VU. It's only for my computer, only live in a flat, so can't use any real volume. Open to any suggestions.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
The Aiyima uses different opamps. Great little amp! The Aiyima 07 and smsl sa-98e are both FANTASTIC as well! People really don't understand how good these pre mentioned models are. Its not what people expect.
@@justinbourne1122 to be honest you can have 2 amps with the exact same opamps and have different sounding amps. When i was looking into the Aiyima t9 vs Douk equivalent, believe that the opamps at the time were different. I bought the T9 and haven't hooked it up as of yet. I tried a few of the Aiyima products and like the A07 the best. I have an Aiyima t8 tube pre amp that's pretty good. I tried a few other Aiyima products that were pretty awful. I tried them due to so many positive reviews. I have tried so many different amps/speakers to reference all of the. I try to use that info to genuinely help people get the best product for the least money. If anyone wants help figuring out what works best for them, I am here to help. Its subjective BUT sometimes its blatantly obvious that something is either fantastic, ok, or trash.
You’re doing something right Big D. Your videos are becoming littered with ads. Then I glanced at the subscriber count. Holy Cannoli! 289k! You’re channel is growing like a weed
Should be at most 3 ads per video. One at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end. It helps pay the bills! You can also skip the ads if you have UA-cam premium for around 10 bucks a month. Totally worth it IMO
@@wal I’m not complaining…. I only see the commercials when I’m on my Crapple iPhone. I’m glad to see that almost 300k other people are interested to see amplifiers being “real world tested” I honestly thought I was the only bass head left! Lmfao!
I remember all tube amplifiers...and a few Class A power amps. To me the best sounding amps to this day. The pre-amplifiers were dead silent (no THD...or so low, unmeasurable). Then we went to Class A/B. They had some interesting ways to achieve high power using toroidal transformers and high current. We started seeing amplifiers become expensive, powerful, and heavy as hell. Class D was nothing new and weighed a fraction of Class A/B, but never got a good footing until several years ago. Their distortion levels are much better, low enough for "most" not to hear. But, they are still basically high frequency light switches. Then these small "digital chip" amps came along...similar to Class D, but packed with power in a small footprint. When you measured the Op Amp with 6.5% THD...got me thinking, why? How hard is it to make a small IC chip with 1v that produces 0% THD? Something is amiss here. I own a lot of digital chip micro amplifiers from Douk, Aiyama, Fosi, etc. Some sound perfect...and quite "warm" like a tube or Class A. And some sound cold, un-lifelike, and pissed off at the world. The market is full of these little amplifiers and I am glad you are out there testing them for us.
I love mine. Regarding the distortion you measured. I can't "hear" any distortion at all sounds great. I think it is one of those measurements can only detect with equipment like you are using. I use the line level out and run it to my NOBSOUND G2 sub amplifier. The VU meter only works on the left channel.
The distortion is even order harmonic. Great sound. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Thanks for your review and channel. Need some advice: Current State: Pair of B.I.C. America DV62si 8ohm passive bookshelf speakers, 1994 Sony STR-D315 integrated amp/receiver, Sony CDP-CX53 50+1 CD player, Pioneer PL-7 TT (forgot the cartridge used), and finally a FiiO BTA30 Pro BT Transceiver DAC. What I like: Recently replaced my Sony 5-Disc CD changer that did not have digital SPDIF out, only analog. So now I feel my CD listening experience has improved by feeding the digital signal from this slightly newer (2000 vs 1994) CD player using optical (TOSLINK). I like how I can xmit BT from the DAC to my Sony WH1000-XM4 headphones and listen to my new DAC converted CD playing. What I don't like and what I "think" is the only thing missing from the mediocre yet very satisfying setup for me, is the ability to listen to my Phonograph TT over my BT headphones. So I've come here to vet my own research solution. Tell me it's bad, good, or okay. And if bad then how would you augment/update my system on somewhat a budget. See this interesting thing is most class D full-featured amps/DACs that feature BT only do so on receive, not transmit (xmit). My researched solution: Buy a Phono pre-amp to connect my TT to, then use the RCA out of that and input it into an Analog-to-Digital converter. Then use COAX digital out of that device as an input to the FiiO BTA30Pro, then RCA analog out of that back into my Sony integrated amp. Then switch inputs on the BTA30 for amp/speaker listening, or BT xmit for wireless headphone listening (of course while selecting the digital input, either optical (CD player) or COAX (TT). Thoughts? I'm worried taking an analog TT signal, pre-amping it to only re-digitize it might nuke the quality? Thank you
I think with a tube preamp you are always going to get a lot of THD at high settings. It's desirable in a guitar amp but not so much in audio. I've never bench tested that on a McIntosh though and I would think that would be the standard by which we would judge.
Fyi: this is simply a tube preamp. The power out is solid state. Those 6K4 tubes would give you about 2W on a good day. As far as audiophile use: cheap Shuguang tubes with BT is a no-go. And yes, you can touch the tubes. Just wiggle them a little when putting them in and taking them out so as to save your tube sockets.
The 6K4 tube needs 6.3. Volts. Heater Voltage (AC or DC) +10%. Maximum Flate Voltage. 250 Volts. 90 Volts, what on that board is going to generate those voltages?
Thanks Big D for homing in on these little gems. I almost pulled the trigger on this one until I saw the AIYIMA Tube T4 Audio 6J1, which fits my purposes which includes the qualcom 5,1 Bluetooth, but more importantly it has the ability to interchange OP Amps...Minor differences in these amps can have major results for US users. None of my tube amps (which include a 4 channel Leslie 102) have no subwoofer out...with Subs I'm prefer the high level way...
The t9 sounds better than the T4. You can also use the "sub out" and daisy chain another amp dull range. The smsl sa-98e and the 07 are perfect if you are able to bi amp
@@ufarkingicehole By using the word "sounds" do you mean you actually heard and compared the 2? I was pointing out these units are having a variety of interchangeable parts. I'd take the T10 over the T9 because it has the Qualcomm Bluetooth APX...
@@4LED I have. I've been through a lot of these type amps. The best I've found was the 07 and the smsl sa-98e for a cheap amp. I haven't heard the t10 yet but own the t9. I've also had a few like the smsl 0200 as well. Played with countless dacs all the way to a Pegasus dac and the smsl 0400. I hope to save people money and help people get the most for their money. I am moving on to buying a mini dsp next. I believe that's probably a necessity for anyone serious about audio. I have a good friend that wanted a killer system with a lot of bass on a budget. I got him to buy a Aiyima t8 pre (upgraded tube), Aiyima 07 to drive the highs and smsl sa-98e to drive the bass (bi amped). I talked him into getting a pair of jbl studio 590s on sale. This worked really well. Infact I challenge anyone to piece together a better system for the same budget.
@@ufarkingicehole Like you, I've tried the SMSL AO200 and prefer my A07 with its TPA3255 chip best, over my SMSL SA-98e with its TDA7498e. I'm interested in trying the Aiyima T9 or similar Douk ST-01. How would you compare the T9 to your A07? And have you tried your A07's 32v power supply with the T9 to boost power?
The TPA3221 can take up to 30v and the measurements in the datasheet seem to be based off this max voltage input. it should hit at least 50w at 8 ohms with 30v and 1% thd. the supplied power supply isn't enough to bring it up to spec.
You need only to listen to this amp to know it's one of the most revealing, musical and entertaining amps under $1000. I've owned Cambridge, NAD, AMC, and others. I added a DAC to my AMC and still feel THIS little amp brings music alive better than any of them. I can't address its' longevity but sound quality is stellar and build quality is very good. I played the Titanic soundtrack, Ron Sexsmith, McCartney, Johnny Cash... all showed more detail right down to the quietest sound as songs fade. I'm hearing details in the arrangements that are amazing. Bass extension was better than my AMC, the tone controls are very musical... bottom line, for under $200 Canadian it's a steal. DONT consider it a "little, desktop amp." Mine is paired with a pair of Monitor Audios. This amp belongs in an "audiophile" setup.
I'm seriously thinking of grabbing one I've been through amp after amp always having problems. My latest was a gift and tjr phone sounds terrible even through a stage box. Just want something that simple thats plug In play sounds great
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Honestly I think I’m going to order one just to use in my shop since it looks interesting 🤔 doesn’t need to be insanely loud just something to throw on my bench & look rather different nice video thanks for sharing!!
Lol. Had to grab some popcorn for these comments. Listen, its cheap and cool looking and provides amplification. I'll run anything and everything thru stuff like this until it dies. Life's too short to be so damn precious about this shit. HAVE A GOOD TIME!
the high distorsion is normal this come from the glas tubes . and you whant to have that tube sound so you need that high distorsion. if you have a real tube amp you Will understand wy the sound of a tube amp is so Nice to hear. no sound try to make IT with a digital end chip and use the tube for the input to make IT more tube sound . again if you change the tube for russia tube the sound go up and Will be more lower / mid sound.
Tubes are not like halogens. You can touch them, and people did all the time before and after the transistor came along. Also, some guitar amps and mic pre-amps feature them and they can be handled without concern.
Regarding the THD on the pre-amp output, I wonder if the tubes were warmed up when you did the test? Tubes need to get to operating temperature before they work well, so if it was not quite there it may explain the higher THD and better sound quality when connected to the sub.
Preout for a sub is ok. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Needed a small desktop amp for my desktop speakers with RCA and USB input, and a line out for my powered sub. This was a neat option, but settled for the M100 Pro since I can't stack my Schiit Magni+ headphone amp on top of it. Check out the Douk H7PRO!
Olá nobre amigo ! Muito interessante seu conteúdo é demonstração muito detalhada . Achei fantástico sua apresentação é fez o desmonte do amplificador é mostrou os principais pontos do hardware. Parabéns. EXELENTE vídeo. E um fortíssimo abraço do BRASIL !!
The one thing I hate about exposed vacuum tubes is that they never come with a cover to keep dust off them while not in use. Tubes collect dust that interfere with heat dissipation and can cause damage. And as mentioned, it's not a good idea to touch them either. And that also includes cleaning them. The less you must touch or disturb them for any reason, the better. For internal vacuum tubes, you can cover the box with a cloth or whatever to keep them clean. But exposed vacuum tubes need a dust cover - one that does not touch them is greatly preferred. Edit: also notice the amp power input is rated up to 30v, while the adapter in only 24v. So buying a different adapter could boost this amp a little bit, probably at the expense of overall life span.
So, when a tube fails, you just throw the whole unit away? Ummm- no. You have to touch vacuum tubes, don't you? Some, high power ones should be thoroughly cleaned to avoid etching, according to some "experts", but I have never actually seen an etched tube, or one that spontaneously cracked. If you couldn't touch tubes, the tube tester industry would never have existed.
@@jdlech Calling my a fool, makes you smart? You don't know what you're talking about whether it's me, or tubes. I'm an EE, for decades. You- Internet stranger.
@@ENGLISHISBEST That would work, in a hillbilly kind of way. I've seen tube amps come with velvet covers. Quite elegant looking. But it's been decades since I've seen them come with dust covers.
Until you showed the back, I didn't know (with one meter) that this was a stereo unit. You should specify at the start, because it's so small. Good video.
the high THD on the pre-out is kind of expected after running it through the tubes. however, it is a bunch of even harmonics that sound 'warm'. it is like mixing in dirt that looks very nice. i would bypass the tubes and add two high quality opamps to do a better job. then you would instantly get more resolution. also, i would check the power buffering circuit on the lower board and might add a better main capacitor with more capacity and lower ESR or add a smaller cap with a very low ESR to it. maybe pimping the output filters with better inductors.
I have the idea that there amplifiers are all made in the same factory,thus the similarities between the douk audio and the Aiyilma T9. They are not quite if not exactly the same. Strange enough we kind of love that distortion. And changing out the tubes won't change the overall quality of sound.
Bought one of these some time ago. Took it apart and fond the tubes had nothing to do with the circuit. Only the heater was used to make it appear the tubes were in use. Be aware!
Then you got a fake. Proof; Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
I'm no familiar with theese mini amps. But the lack of output transformer and a 105 W class-D transistor IC amplifier. Does that means that the tubes are only for decorative purpose?
It makes a click sound when input is on RCA and the music stops. Every ten seconds a click sound when music is stopped. Also another problem, the output for the subwoofer is very low.
I has the Devialet bluetooth speakers, because they perform. Not for pink cloud magic. They do sink lots of amps from the feed by design 😆 it's pretty insane 😆
The output power is limited by your power supply. The included power supply is rated at 24V@4.5A, that's 108 watts. You can't get 100 watt per channel output from the 108 total input wattage. If you use a 30 V (max. spec) supply with enough current, you will get closer to 100W/ch, but I wouldn't do it continuously because that little heat sink is going to overheat.
Getting your fingers on audio tubes is not a problem. That issue is only a problem with things like halogen light bulbs that run super hot and have a very thin glass envelope
In the path. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
i’ve been loving the videos and wondering if you could do a dyno test on the precision power PC 250, i saw you did the video on the bigger version a while back, it’s just a cool classic amp and i’m about to run mine in my classic miata, cheers
The Elac Debut speakers look similar in construction to my vintage Optimus Pro LX-7 speakers. But I'd put my LX-7 speakers up against those any day. Linaeum tweeters can't be beat. ;-)
The oil from your fingers will make spots on the tubes heat up, making it not as efficient but eventually will crack the tube, assuming they heat up THAT much, nice vid, thanks
I’ve always wondered how tubes are integrated into cheaper amplifiers like this one. From my basic knowledge about tubes i’ve gathered that they require high voltages to work properly. I looked up the specific specs for those tubes and it would seem that without some kind of step up power supply in the case, the only thing that those tubes are doing is warming up. The glowing part (the heater) will work on 6 volts while the anode has a working voltage of 200v. Still a neat little amp though.
Nice video! Thanks for doing the review of this tube amp! Been eyeing this unit and with your review it really helped me decide to get this one! What kind of cable did you use to connect the amp to a subwoofer? Can I buy from Amazon? Thanks!
Most of these Douk amps do not actually use the tubes at all. They just run a line through them to light them up. But the amps are completely solid state.
I want what you been smokin... Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
I've got a couple old school amps sitting around. How can I send them out to you? This was an interesting review by the way. I purchased one of these for my Beyerdynamic 770's at my computer, but I found that it wasn't quite what I needed as it distorted too much when I was listening to music.
@@wal fact that's a tube amp makes it extremely attractive for being a little noise box 😊 I think that's probably been my favorite mini-amp you've tested so far for power and looks I want a big plus for the options, and the phono hookup would have been great for that amp cuz you can hook it up to a record player in a couple speakers have a nice little sound system in the backyard. 🤯
Unlike other audiophile channels that speak gibberish. Your review was refreshingly easy to understand as a newbie. God Bless your Sir. You gained a new subscriber.
the improved version Aiyima T9 Pro is out now. Worth a review I think.
Uses the more powerful TPA3250 amp chip and better bluetooth qcc3031 and other chips.
Tripath developed this Class D technology over two decades ago and since went out of business due to mismanagement. What's amazing is that some of the basic stuff, like their model numbers, are the same. TPA3112 is Texas Instruments, I believe, which bought out a lot of Tripath (if not in whole). This chip is similar to the original Tripath TA2022, I believe.
If you ever get a chance would love a mini documentary about the rise of chip amps. I think it'd be a good topic for your audience, and you could run through a lot of the chip amps you covered and a few head units like the old Panasonic head units running 60w RMS. I think some of the newer Sony head units are running 50w now.
Anyway, really enjoyed the vid, and glad to see your channel is thriving!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I wonder if these compact class D chip based amps have any decent dynamic range compared to classic amp solutions used in high quality big box amps used in hi-fi systems. Does the sound get distorted and compressed on higher volume? I know that these chips were designed to be used in small and/or portable audio systems and car hi-fi for example. Not to make an audiophile come in his pants. 😅 I got some questions about how good are the specs of this miniaturised amps.
I have the Aiyima T9 version of this amp powering my Klipschorns. Teeny little amp / massive speakers... kinda funny.And, yes... it can get very loud without going much past 1/2 volume.
But a couple of things that you didn't really cover is the presence, detail, and soundstage that this little amp produces; which is what really impressed me.
I've played a lot of music that I know very well, and almost without fail have heard details that I never heard before. Janis Joplin's 'Summertime' is jaw-dropping. Curtis Mayfield's 'Pusherman' is a rediscovered masterpiece. Good live recordings sound exactly like that-live. Time and again it's been as if the band was in the room.
👌😬👍
I heard some people complained about clicking sounds and other things. Is ir stilling working OK?
@@francohic Its the relay inside the unit and the only other things I have that make the same noises are super expensive stereo receivers.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Absolutely love these videos!!! Thank you for taking the time to make these. That little amp is so cool.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
This amp is good! But the PRO version is amazing! also did a video review of the T9 and a review of the T9 PRO with measurements!
Ive had mine since the cheap audio man review. I dont care about distortion, it sounds great and kicks ass. I bought an emotiva TA1 for $550 at the same time, and the emotiva sucks with its shitty shrill sound. The Douk ST01 is nice, lush full and wet sounding
Grab a smsl sa-98e and Aiyima 07 to daisy chain out (if you can bi amp).
I've gone through dozens of these and non of these sound the same.
Great stuff. The output power was actually limited by the exhausted power supply unit 🙂Of course, it would be exciting to see the capabilities of this little guy on the 30V power supply allowed by the manufacturer.
Good call.
I got this amp a couple of months ago and I would recommend to anyone upgrading from a base level amp.
I'm not an audiophile, but my old pair of second hand speakers sounded heaps better, with more detail and range.
I hooked it up to an active KRK 8 studio sub and a vintage pair of 100 watt passive 4 x 12inch tower speaker for Guitar / PA system and it powered them wonderfully.
Plenty of volume, detail and versatility for combining with other amps too.
What worries me about this amp the most, is that it may have set me on the path of the audiophile.
This is pretty much as "base level" as it gets, and this amp is almost the complete antithesis of "audiophile" products.
@@johncoops6897 guess i've got a long way to go.
@@RG-ls2db - doesn't matter how much it costs - if you like the sound then that's all that really counts.
Tripath was way ahead of its time. Recently, Bruno Putzeys has improved upon class D, and many high end audio companies are now using UcD. One way to get closer to the rated power output of the chip is to add a bigger, beefier power supply. The supplied power supply is 24 volts so switching to a 30 volt psu should increase output.
Dang, this is one of the coolest things you've reviewed! Great job!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
This amp rocks although I used aiyima t9 but looks almost the same. I work at hifi store and after changing lamps adding a decent dac it really can rival normal amps like Denon. Everyone of my coworkers was impressed that it can drive high end like rubicons 8 really well without much distortion especially with new dac. Its EQ is really well to because it doesn't feel fake like those normal eq from denon. On a set with included lamps plus smsl su9 it best denon pma900 in precived sound quality
Jakie dałeś lampy?
Can you please specify updates you made? Thanks
This is a cool little amp. It will drive fairly efficient speakers surprisingly good! It did power Elac Uni-Fi UB5 ok, but not very loud or close to their potential. I swapped for vintage Advent Legacy speakers and the sound really came alive. Happy to have it, hope it lasts.
Nice review, great info. Thanks!
These little class D mini amps are cool but you need to drive them with a high voltage and high amperage power supply, otherwise you need some high efficiency speakers.
Recently bought the ST-01 Pro, excellent little amp with a great smooth sound.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
I can imagine a head unit with two meters like that. Would look elegantly cool.
They sell eem..500 smackers doe! 😲
@@wal
Geezus. But hey, gotta pay for something unique right? 🤪
I love seeing your comments on random vids 🦫🦫
@@vilmfilm
I’m up down all around on UA-cam.
Living in Japan my volume never get's very high this looks to be an excellent deal.
Man i realy enjoy your content , me and my friend are in our late 40's and are big oldschool fans !!!! Good on you for it all keep grinding, and oh yah thanks for the youtube tutorial it help me understand better 🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻
I appreciate that!
Boomer! 🔊
nice someone finally took this thing apart.
That’s how I roll 👌
@@wal the improved version Aiyima T9 Pro (Douk Audio) with TPA3250 amp chip is out now.
Worth a review I think.
I like the sound on this. I connected it to an Aiyima A07 amp and put a 36w 10amp power supply on the Aiyima and it sounds great and has plenty of power now. The Douk does run a bit hot so I put an inexpensive desk fan beside it and it stays cool.
Hey, I’ve been using a similar type amp in my office a Fosi T20. I’ve switched over to GE5654w tubes and wow that made huge improvement! I would suggest trying a set. Built in Bluetooth on these amps is a bit lacking. Try and external better quality Bluetooth receiver for improved quality. Or direct connect to PC or high end Dac. This is great content to add to Channel!
Thanks for the suggestion
Yes same here, much better sound with GE NOS tubes!
Its worth mentioning that the preamp out will have considerable distortion, this is the nature of tubes/valves, thats what they do, create distortion.
I dropped a huge Douk.... first we had schitt audio..(Schitt Rag) now we got the Douk
Thanks for your review 👍🌎🇬🇧
Company provides 24 volt adaptor but tpa 3221 provide max power at 32 volts that's why I don't meet specs written in datasheet
Sure it would have made more than it did, however he has tested other models of chip amp at the max rated voltages and they still rarely meet rated.
They should sell a 30V power supply which is far better imo. I upgraded mine to the 30V from the 24V. I forget the part number but the 30V adapter was around 40 bucks.
I'm sure it was $$ concern to provide the 24V power supply. Also it puts less stress on the chip. I'll try 30V but I doubt it will do much more power than I show here. Maybe 10-15W?
@@wal yeah, probably only 10 to 15 more watts per channel, if that.
Another cool chip amp is the TPA3255.
Hello.
A couple years ago I bought a Nobsound tone, just for fun.
It came with a 19v power.
I then bought a 24v 5a power, just for fun. (Max v is 24v)
It played noticeably louder! You try!🤓
On the negative side:
the rca input could’nt take a the high level signal from a cd player.
It distorted on the input!
The led power vu meter don’t blink at all, when volume is low.
Best Asgeir
I don't know where this myth came from, I have touched vacuum tubes with my fingers for years, guitar amps bass amps my Fisher integrated amp and many others. We are not talking about halogen movie and video lamps here, those you do not touch with oily fingers.
I am thinking about buying one of these little amps, thanks for the video very helpful.
In this case it won't matter because the tubes are just for looks.
@@huskypup3489 . I respectfully suggest that they really do affect the tone characteristics.
thx for the home audio reviews! ......it would mean alot for the home audio community if you could start to dyno emotiva and such brands...outlaw etc still waiting on that 18inch sub in house review :)
I’ll have to contact them as I can’t buy and rest too much home stuff due to the prices
@@wal ya true some stuff is super expensive hit them up they might send a review unit ...idk just want some home audio dynos haha...i seen one channel tested emotivas lil 50watt amp on a dyno think it started smoking lol....i have there new pt1 a2 setup it seems decent would like to know the true power on these units tho 🔥🔥 love the content 🔊
@@kevinb_420 Years back, just for shenanigans, I abused the heck out of that little Emotiva amp when I hooked it up to two 8" subs all while gaining up the RCA input through a headphone amp to get even more output. It survived, was running pretty warm, but nothing alarming.
I read a review on YT and some chap was complaining about the Valves being for show, now I know they are Pre Amps. Cheers.
I have a Denon, I want something Smaller for my mac.
Dont need Hi Volume as I have Neigbours. Shame no headphone out.
Nope, these tubes are just wee shiny things for silly people
@@V081WLBlue Not sure I want anything glowing or blinking like the VU.
It's only for my computer, only live in a flat, so can't use any real volume.
Open to any suggestions.
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
The Aiyima uses different opamps.
Great little amp!
The Aiyima 07 and smsl sa-98e are both FANTASTIC as well!
People really don't understand how good these pre mentioned models are. Its not what people expect.
Are you sure on the aiyima? The aiyima website lists the same TPA 3221 chip mentioned in this video
@@justinbourne1122 to be honest you can have 2 amps with the exact same opamps and have different sounding amps. When i was looking into the Aiyima t9 vs Douk equivalent, believe that the opamps at the time were different. I bought the T9 and haven't hooked it up as of yet. I tried a few of the Aiyima products and like the A07 the best. I have an Aiyima t8 tube pre amp that's pretty good. I tried a few other Aiyima products that were pretty awful. I tried them due to so many positive reviews.
I have tried so many different amps/speakers to reference all of the. I try to use that info to genuinely help people get the best product for the least money.
If anyone wants help figuring out what works best for them, I am here to help. Its subjective BUT sometimes its blatantly obvious that something is either fantastic, ok, or trash.
That’s pretty cool little amp
You’re doing something right Big D. Your videos are becoming littered with ads. Then I glanced at the subscriber count. Holy Cannoli! 289k! You’re channel is growing like a weed
Should be at most 3 ads per video. One at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end. It helps pay the bills! You can also skip the ads if you have UA-cam premium for around 10 bucks a month. Totally worth it IMO
@@wal I’m not complaining…. I only see the commercials when I’m on my Crapple iPhone. I’m glad to see that almost 300k other people are interested to see amplifiers being “real world tested”
I honestly thought I was the only bass head left! Lmfao!
Thanks for this candid video.
It's cute. Not overpriced.
The question in the title is left unanswered. The answer would need to include the definition of "audiophile".
I use my ST01 as a line driver send the left and right channels into rcas and into a douk P1 pre amp
That's awesome, first time I've ever seen one of these
I remember all tube amplifiers...and a few Class A power amps. To me the best sounding amps to this day. The pre-amplifiers were dead silent (no THD...or so low, unmeasurable). Then we went to Class A/B. They had some interesting ways to achieve high power using toroidal transformers and high current. We started seeing amplifiers become expensive, powerful, and heavy as hell. Class D was nothing new and weighed a fraction of Class A/B, but never got a good footing until several years ago. Their distortion levels are much better, low enough for "most" not to hear. But, they are still basically high frequency light switches. Then these small "digital chip" amps came along...similar to Class D, but packed with power in a small footprint. When you measured the Op Amp with 6.5% THD...got me thinking, why? How hard is it to make a small IC chip with 1v that produces 0% THD? Something is amiss here. I own a lot of digital chip micro amplifiers from Douk, Aiyama, Fosi, etc. Some sound perfect...and quite "warm" like a tube or Class A. And some sound cold, un-lifelike, and pissed off at the world. The market is full of these little amplifiers and I am glad you are out there testing them for us.
Hi, Can you tell us your fav mini amps so far? Thx for sharring🙏
@@cedrebleu7181 Douk Audio M1 PRO 320W Bluetooth Power Amplifier sound the best. $90 on Amazon.
@@ChrisDIYerOklahoma A shame this model doesn't sell in europe, i don't have an external dac anyway, only integrated ones but thank you 😅
Tubes rule while SS drools....
Large THD is good (5-10%. This mean they really use tube. This make it sound like tube and I love it.
Thanks, I'm going to pick one up so i can connect my JBL Northridge bookshelf speakers to my PC.
I love mine. Regarding the distortion you measured. I can't "hear" any distortion at all sounds great. I think it is one of those measurements can only detect with equipment like you are using. I use the line level out and run it to my NOBSOUND G2 sub amplifier. The VU meter only works on the left channel.
And the tube amps people love so much have distortion as well. Good point
The whole reason for using a tube/value amp is to ADD distortion.
According to Audiofools, the distortion make the sound "better".
The distortion is even order harmonic. Great sound. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Thanks for your review and channel. Need some advice: Current State: Pair of B.I.C. America DV62si 8ohm passive bookshelf speakers, 1994 Sony STR-D315 integrated amp/receiver, Sony CDP-CX53 50+1 CD player, Pioneer PL-7 TT (forgot the cartridge used), and finally a FiiO BTA30 Pro BT Transceiver DAC. What I like: Recently replaced my Sony 5-Disc CD changer that did not have digital SPDIF out, only analog. So now I feel my CD listening experience has improved by feeding the digital signal from this slightly newer (2000 vs 1994) CD player using optical (TOSLINK). I like how I can xmit BT from the DAC to my Sony WH1000-XM4 headphones and listen to my new DAC converted CD playing. What I don't like and what I "think" is the only thing missing from the mediocre yet very satisfying setup for me, is the ability to listen to my Phonograph TT over my BT headphones. So I've come here to vet my own research solution. Tell me it's bad, good, or okay. And if bad then how would you augment/update my system on somewhat a budget. See this interesting thing is most class D full-featured amps/DACs that feature BT only do so on receive, not transmit (xmit). My researched solution: Buy a Phono pre-amp to connect my TT to, then use the RCA out of that and input it into an Analog-to-Digital converter. Then use COAX digital out of that device as an input to the FiiO BTA30Pro, then RCA analog out of that back into my Sony integrated amp. Then switch inputs on the BTA30 for amp/speaker listening, or BT xmit for wireless headphone listening (of course while selecting the digital input, either optical (CD player) or COAX (TT). Thoughts? I'm worried taking an analog TT signal, pre-amping it to only re-digitize it might nuke the quality? Thank you
I think with a tube preamp you are always going to get a lot of THD at high settings. It's desirable in a guitar amp but not so much in audio. I've never bench tested that on a McIntosh though and I would think that would be the standard by which we would judge.
Oh boy!!! Look at that VU meter!!!! Much love. FYI: that Knight Rider music when you was taking the amp apart was cool sounding.
Fyi: this is simply a tube preamp. The power out is solid state. Those 6K4 tubes would give you about 2W on a good day. As far as audiophile use: cheap Shuguang tubes with BT is a no-go. And yes, you can touch the tubes. Just wiggle them a little when putting them in and taking them out so as to save your tube sockets.
Sorry for the title it’s needed to get seen in UA-cam 😊
The 6K4 tube needs 6.3. Volts. Heater Voltage (AC or DC) +10%. Maximum Flate Voltage. 250 Volts. 90 Volts, what on that board is going to generate those voltages?
@@wal It's all good. It is a mini amp and people are buying them like crazy.
@@DavidSmith-dm8ew I couldn't say, short of having a schematic or one on my bench in front of me.
@@phillipbainbridge9107 I seen a few small inductors and something that looked like a pwm circuit around the sockets, but 250v and 90v is a lot.
Thanks Big D for homing in on these little gems. I almost pulled the trigger on this one until I saw the AIYIMA Tube T4 Audio 6J1, which fits my purposes which includes the qualcom 5,1 Bluetooth, but more importantly it has the ability to interchange OP Amps...Minor differences in these amps can have major results for US users. None of my tube amps (which include a 4 channel Leslie 102) have no subwoofer out...with Subs I'm prefer the high level way...
The t9 sounds better than the T4. You can also use the "sub out" and daisy chain another amp dull range. The smsl sa-98e and the 07 are perfect if you are able to bi amp
@@ufarkingicehole By using the word "sounds" do you mean you actually heard and compared the 2? I was pointing out these units are having a variety of interchangeable parts. I'd take the T10 over the T9 because it has the Qualcomm Bluetooth APX...
@@4LED I have. I've been through a lot of these type amps. The best I've found was the 07 and the smsl sa-98e for a cheap amp. I haven't heard the t10 yet but own the t9. I've also had a few like the smsl 0200 as well. Played with countless dacs all the way to a Pegasus dac and the smsl 0400. I hope to save people money and help people get the most for their money. I am moving on to buying a mini dsp next. I believe that's probably a necessity for anyone serious about audio.
I have a good friend that wanted a killer system with a lot of bass on a budget. I got him to buy a Aiyima t8 pre (upgraded tube), Aiyima 07 to drive the highs and smsl sa-98e to drive the bass (bi amped). I talked him into getting a pair of jbl studio 590s on sale.
This worked really well. Infact I challenge anyone to piece together a better system for the same budget.
@@ufarkingicehole Like you, I've tried the SMSL AO200 and prefer my A07 with its TPA3255 chip best, over my SMSL SA-98e with its TDA7498e. I'm interested in trying the Aiyima T9 or similar Douk ST-01. How would you compare the T9 to your A07? And have you tried your A07's 32v power supply with the T9 to boost power?
The TPA3221 can take up to 30v and the measurements in the datasheet seem to be based off this max voltage input. it should hit at least 50w at 8 ohms with 30v and 1% thd. the supplied power supply isn't enough to bring it up to spec.
You need only to listen to this amp to know it's one of the most revealing, musical and entertaining amps under $1000. I've owned Cambridge, NAD, AMC, and others. I added a DAC to my AMC and still feel THIS little amp brings music alive better than any of them. I can't address its' longevity but sound quality is stellar and build quality is very good. I played the Titanic soundtrack, Ron Sexsmith, McCartney, Johnny Cash... all showed more detail right down to the quietest sound as songs fade. I'm hearing details in the arrangements that are amazing. Bass extension was better than my AMC, the tone controls are very musical... bottom line, for under $200 Canadian it's a steal. DONT consider it a "little, desktop amp." Mine is paired with a pair of Monitor Audios. This amp belongs in an "audiophile" setup.
I'm seriously thinking of grabbing one I've been through amp after amp always having problems.
My latest was a gift and tjr phone sounds terrible even through a stage box.
Just want something that simple thats plug In play sounds great
Your naming low end china amps...you heard nothing :-)
Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Honestly I think I’m going to order one just to use in my shop since it looks interesting 🤔 doesn’t need to be insanely loud just something to throw on my bench & look rather different nice video thanks for sharing!!
Yeah man it’s a cool piece to show off also 👌
Honestly they are quite impressive and take up minimum space. You can't go wrong.
Trust me, it's loud enough. I prefer it to my Arcam Delta 290. It's ridiculous.
I'd try pulling out a tube while running just to see if that channel drops out.
If they are bumped and the heater turns off in the tubes the volume instantly droped about halfway for me
Tubes on the driver side would have required a much larger power supply dealing with those plate voltages and current. Cool little package regardless.
The channel goes out when I pull the tube from my Douk T8 EQ- the tube is in the circuit
The tubes are a real preamp.
@@rxpsycho7326Preamp tubes, can run on 100 volts.
@8:10... cool how you caught the vibration of the sub in the image there while viewing your favorite thing, the VU meter
👌😬👍
i have been looking for one of these in class A/B or class A.
i dont like class D for full range speakers.
Lol. Had to grab some popcorn for these comments. Listen, its cheap and cool looking and provides amplification. I'll run anything and everything thru stuff like this until it dies. Life's too short to be so damn precious about this shit. HAVE A GOOD TIME!
Amen 🙏
That looks so cool! I've never seen one before.
Stewart Little would rock that. 🐭🎸
the high distorsion is normal
this come from the glas tubes .
and you whant to have that tube sound so you need that high distorsion.
if you have a real tube amp you Will understand wy the sound of a tube amp is so Nice to hear.
no sound try to make IT with a digital end chip
and use the tube for the input to make IT more tube sound .
again if you change the tube for russia tube the sound go up and Will be more lower / mid sound.
Tubes are not like halogens. You can touch them, and people did all the time before and after the transistor came along. Also, some guitar amps and mic pre-amps feature them and they can be handled without concern.
Regarding the THD on the pre-amp output, I wonder if the tubes were warmed up when you did the test? Tubes need to get to operating temperature before they work well, so if it was not quite there it may explain the higher THD and better sound quality when connected to the sub.
Would be cool to try other tubes too and check if they make a difference.
Preout for a sub is ok. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
If it seems too good to be true, it often is
Needed a small desktop amp for my desktop speakers with RCA and USB input, and a line out for my powered sub. This was a neat option, but settled for the M100 Pro since I can't stack my Schiit Magni+ headphone amp on top of it.
Check out the Douk H7PRO!
Olá nobre amigo ! Muito interessante seu conteúdo é demonstração muito detalhada . Achei fantástico sua apresentação é fez o desmonte do amplificador é mostrou os principais pontos do hardware. Parabéns. EXELENTE vídeo. E um fortíssimo abraço do BRASIL !!
The one thing I hate about exposed vacuum tubes is that they never come with a cover to keep dust off them while not in use. Tubes collect dust that interfere with heat dissipation and can cause damage. And as mentioned, it's not a good idea to touch them either. And that also includes cleaning them. The less you must touch or disturb them for any reason, the better. For internal vacuum tubes, you can cover the box with a cloth or whatever to keep them clean. But exposed vacuum tubes need a dust cover - one that does not touch them is greatly preferred.
Edit: also notice the amp power input is rated up to 30v, while the adapter in only 24v. So buying a different adapter could boost this amp a little bit, probably at the expense of overall life span.
So, when a tube fails, you just throw the whole unit away? Ummm- no. You have to touch vacuum tubes, don't you? Some, high power ones should be thoroughly cleaned to avoid etching, according to some "experts", but I have never actually seen an etched tube, or one that spontaneously cracked. If you couldn't touch tubes, the tube tester industry would never have existed.
@@soupernutt9508 Don't be ridiculous, fool. Wear gloves
@@jdlech Calling my a fool, makes you smart? You don't know what you're talking about whether it's me, or tubes. I'm an EE, for decades. You- Internet stranger.
If your worried just get any decent container or box & place it upside down over the unit when not in use.
@@ENGLISHISBEST That would work, in a hillbilly kind of way. I've seen tube amps come with velvet covers. Quite elegant looking. But it's been decades since I've seen them come with dust covers.
Until you showed the back, I didn't know (with one meter) that this was a stereo unit. You should specify at the start, because it's so small. Good video.
Thanks for the suggestion
the high THD on the pre-out is kind of expected after running it through the tubes. however, it is a bunch of even harmonics that sound 'warm'. it is like mixing in dirt that looks very nice.
i would bypass the tubes and add two high quality opamps to do a better job. then you would instantly get more resolution. also, i would check the power buffering circuit on the lower board and might add a better main capacitor with more capacity and lower ESR or add a smaller cap with a very low ESR to it. maybe pimping the output filters with better inductors.
I have the idea that there amplifiers are all made in the same factory,thus the similarities between the douk audio and the Aiyilma T9. They are not quite if not exactly the same. Strange enough we kind of love that distortion. And changing out the tubes won't change the overall quality of sound.
I really appreciated the Houseguest clip 😂🤣
Bought one of these some time ago. Took it apart and fond the tubes had nothing to do with the circuit. Only the heater was used to make it appear the tubes were in use. Be aware!
Several others have commented with this concern. I’m really disappointed the mfg would do this!
That confirms my suspicions. The tubes do nothing in the circuit.
Then you got a fake. Proof; Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
The perfect bedroom amp.
Wait…..it has tone controls 🤦♂️
I'm planning on using it for this
@@NathanOakley1980 flat earther stereo man! lol 🙏
I'm no familiar with theese mini amps. But the lack of output transformer and a 105 W class-D transistor IC amplifier. Does that means that the tubes are only for decorative purpose?
All those lil chip amps are great for light listening... Thanks for another good video.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
That little amp shakes my couch...
Thank you for the video and information. I like this amp.👍
It makes a click sound when input is on RCA and the music stops. Every ten seconds a click sound when music is stopped. Also another problem, the output for the subwoofer is very low.
Thanks!
Do it bump dough?
I has the Devialet bluetooth speakers, because they perform. Not for pink cloud magic. They do sink lots of amps from the feed by design 😆 it's pretty insane 😆
The output power is limited by your power supply. The included power supply is rated at 24V@4.5A, that's 108 watts. You can't get 100 watt per channel output from the 108 total input wattage. If you use a 30 V (max. spec) supply with enough current, you will get closer to 100W/ch, but I wouldn't do it continuously because that little heat sink is going to overheat.
They are listing peak power at 10% distortion... Marketing rules.
You touched the tubes!
Getting your fingers on audio tubes is not a problem. That issue is only a problem with things like halogen light bulbs that run super hot and have a very thin glass envelope
Wrong - halogen light bulbs use a QUARTZ envelope, not glass. And the oil from touching migrates into the quartz crystal, damaging it's structure.
ZK-1602 TDA7498E Digital Amplifier Board 160W*2 Dual channel 220W Mono DC15-35V
$81 here in Malaysia!
So are the tube's actually in the audio signal path, or do they just light the heaters for looks?
In the path. Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
i’ve been loving the videos and wondering if you could do a dyno test on the precision power PC 250, i saw you did the video on the bigger version a while back, it’s just a cool classic amp and i’m about to run mine in my classic miata, cheers
Thanks for the suggestion
Not as bad as I expected. Accurately priced for what it is.
Def has the cool, retro look with the VU meter and the tubes glow slightly. I intended to get a night shot to show how it looks...oops
The Elac Debut speakers look similar in construction to my vintage Optimus Pro LX-7 speakers. But I'd put my LX-7 speakers up against those any day. Linaeum tweeters can't be beat. ;-)
The oil from your fingers will make spots on the tubes heat up, making it not as efficient but eventually will crack the tube, assuming they heat up THAT much, nice vid, thanks
No they wont.
Na!
True for power tubes, not preamp tubes.
@@andyp3834 Some preamp tubes may be hot in some amps. But not in my ST-01 hybrid. They barely glow, but sound great! GE JAN 5654W, NOS matched pair.
please test the smsl da9 amp..
I’ve always wondered how tubes are integrated into cheaper amplifiers like this one. From my basic knowledge about tubes i’ve gathered that they require high voltages to work properly. I looked up the specific specs for those tubes and it would seem that without some kind of step up power supply in the case, the only thing that those tubes are doing is warming up. The glowing part (the heater) will work on 6 volts while the anode has a working voltage of 200v. Still a neat little amp though.
They're not.
It's a class D amp with some tubes to make it look cool.
Everybody keeps posting the same thing so either y'all are all bots or nobody does any Google research
@@SheikhN-bible-syndrome I think you're the bot lol
@@chevguy8587 for calling you out for repeating the same crap that everyone else is?
@@SheikhN-bible-syndrome I've looked at the schematics there is no high voltage put to the tubes
Thank you for the video 👍🏻
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Nice video! Thanks for doing the review of this tube amp! Been eyeing this unit and with your review it really helped me decide to get this one! What kind of cable did you use to connect the amp to a subwoofer? Can I buy from Amazon? Thanks!
You should dyno some of the inexpensive tube amps on Amazon...A10 A12 R8 etc..that would be sweet!!!
Most of these Douk amps do not actually use the tubes at all. They just run a line through them to light them up. But the amps are completely solid state.
I want what you been smokin... Douk ST-01 Pro TUBE tip: If your amp came with Chinese 6k4 tubes (has a red star printed on the glass), mine caused distortion. I upgraded to much better sound for $17 with GE JAN 5654W matched pair tubes. 6k4 tubes can be replaced by 6J1, 6J2, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5, 6"1N, 64N, 65N, 5654/5654W, 5725, 6AK5, EF95, 6BA6, 403B, etc. Your tubes may be ok. Just an FYI free tip.
Hey, Big D! will you ever test a focal fps amplifier? and do you think they are better than jl audio HD in better sound quality?
Thanks for the suggestion. I don't typically compare SQ since it's subjective
Great video. Thanks. I have the unit. I'll get a subwoofer ...
I've got a couple old school amps sitting around. How can I send them out to you?
This was an interesting review by the way. I purchased one of these for my Beyerdynamic 770's at my computer, but I found that it wasn't quite what I needed as it distorted too much when I was listening to music.
Depends if you want them back or not. WillistonAudio (at) gmail dot com
Gotta go out in style 😁👍.
😬👍
@@wal fact that's a tube amp makes it extremely attractive for being a little noise box 😊 I think that's probably been my favorite mini-amp you've tested so far for power and looks I want a big plus for the options, and the phono hookup would have been great for that amp cuz you can hook it up to a record player in a couple speakers have a nice little sound system in the backyard. 🤯
Which one tube is good to listen heavy metal?
I use the tube pre amps for listening to vinyl ! for that warmer sound
me too. But I dont find a tube power amp is an advantage. The tone comes from the preamp tubes.
You're missing the important point is to crank the bass all the way up on that thing
Nice little amp for sure
👌😬👍
@@wal Are you going to the Sundown show this weekend?
I wonder why they didn't use the Ti3116D2 chip?
Cool!
Hi I love your channel. I'm watching the video of this doke tube amp, it's identical to the aiyima t9
who will copy who lol....