Aiyima T8 Digital Tube Preamplifier – A Blogs & Little Things Review

It includes Bluetooth 5.0, a built-in headphone preamp, and a PC-USB DAC; so quite a lot of features are packed into one little unit. All it’s missing is a power amp and phono input, but Aiyima has that figured out as it can nest right above an A8 or A8 Pro amp, like a little transformer! Does this little tube pre-amp with the $140 price sound as good as it looks? Let’s find out!

First off, keep in mind that there is no such thing as a digital tube. What the manufacturer is referring to is that the T8 is a tube preamplifier that has analog RCA inputs and outputs, but also has an input to a built-in DAC whose purpose is to decode digital signals into analog signals, and those get sent to the tube’s analog preamplification stage. The tube used here is the Russian 6N3P dual triode which is a medium-gain tube. Dual triodes have two triodes in a single glass envelope. In this case, one of the triodes is used as the gain stage for the left channel, and one is used for the right channel. It’s no longer made in Russia, but it is available in China. Each channel will provide 130 mW into a 32 Ohm load (headphones).

The T8 is just packed with features. I think it’s a solid choice for a preamp, but of course, pairing it with the right amp does matter. I paired mine with the A8 Pro as it has a cut-out for the T8 to fit right on top. I also got to try it out with a comparable Class A/B amp that I had on hand, the Schiit Rekkr. It’s a very clean tube amp, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t hear any noise with this preamp even at the 70, 80, and 90 volume levels. I completely expected to get some hiss at 90, but nope it’s crystal clear.

Since it is a tube amp, you may of course be looking for a warmer sound, however, I didn’t hear much warmth in the music, it has a cooler tone than most tube preamps. That’s not a bad thing, just something to be aware of. There is a built-in EQ setting which works marvelously and I left it flat for a few songs and then adjusted it slightly, but it didn’t need much tweaking to sound on point.

And before I forget there is a remote included. Most of the time, you won’t need the remote unless you’re sitting farther away, but for EQ settings it’s a must. The headphone amp is nothing special, it sounds OK, not bad, not great. I always say that even a nice $60-100 headphone amp is far better than any built-in amp and is well worth the investment. But in a pinch, it’s there. It would be cool to have a phono input instead, but that’s just my 2 cents.