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This is a great kit, and a fun build with decent instructions. What struck me is the cleanliness of the sound even at high volume with a complete inaudibility of hiss. At the normal unity gain setting, you'll notice you'll have to really crank the volume to reach your desired spl, but it's ok, because you have the 3x gain option as well and it maintains its tight, fully-fleshed, focused control on sound reproduction even when pushed past a 2 o' clock setting on the volume dial on normal unity gain setting. I found it to be extremely transparent if your source, power amp, speakers and placement, cables and interconnects are up to the challenge. It is neutral, transparent, and very easy to listen to over extended periods and not classically "tubelike", warm or even sterile or clinical for that matter. Try listening to something like a SACD player through it and you will be impressed with its detail retrieval, fleshed out bottom end and airy highs. Like any kit, there are opportunities to substitute your own parts if you like to experiment with the resulting outcome of sound which I did in an attempt to make it even a little warmer, "tubelike" or vintage HiFi sounding. However, all parts supplied are well-considered and of very high quality. In fact I found it somewhat difficult to source parts of higher quality than what is originally supplied. There is no reason to have to sub anything, really. But of course, you can tube roll as well. I chose to upgrade to the Shuguang 'Sounds of Nature' tubes and vintage Philips polycarbonate coupling capacitors, a few strategically placed Elna Silmic electrolytics, Dale resistors in a few areas, and polystyrene caps in the phono section. If you plan on doing any amount of tube rolling, I recommend upgrading to heavy-duty ceramic tube sockets as the stock, plastic ones are flimsy when pushed in. I can tell you it is rock steady and maintains a very clean, accurate, transparent sound whether you stick with all stock parts or substitute some of your own, much like how Elekit gives you an AMTRANS resistor option. Any way you slice it, it's a great sounding preamp with a clean, robust circuit design and a pretty good phono stage as well with the ability to swap its opamps to change the phono's flavor. I only wish it had one more set of RCA inputs however, so I could simultaneously hook up all my gear at once. Great preamp, I highly recommend it. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Nice kit, with the exception that the instructions are in Japanese. That shouldn't stop you, as it tells you what value component goes where. I was very happy once I finished the build, flipped the switch, and heard my album playing.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Sound rivaling more expensive preamps. Ability to change tube brands to tweak the overall sound. Excellent purchase for budget to mid-range two channel audio systems.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Just finished building this kit, it sounds amazing!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Haven't assembled yet but components and design are good quality. I have matching TU-8200 and it's worked great for years.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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