Dared I30BT HiFi Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier, Audiophiles Stereo AMP, 30W x 2 Output, DAC and Line Input, 6L6G, 12AX7, 12AU7 Tube

Music depends on the ear of the beholder, but vacuum tube amps can be a less costly way to get darn close to audiophile sound. After a lot of research, I ordered this Dared to replace my old tube amp for its quality and relatively modern features (even Bluetooth which will degrade sound). Vacuum tubes take time to break in, and I was wary, but this rings crystal clear right out of the box, even when playing from an iPod (loaded from CDs using lossless encoder). A few things to note, it weighs a lot. Shipping something so fragile and heavy from China was scary, but it was well packed and didn't take all that long to arrive. It comes with white cotton gloves for a reason. It you have to touch the tubes, skin oil can affect them. The headphone jack is the old style and not 3.5 mm, so you will need a converter plug. It is a treat to hear the Moody Blues like this again.

Bought my first Dared 130 "Spirit in the Sky" in 2010 and have loved it from day 1 . Had a few issue with Apple a few yrs back with an OS system update but got it worked out .My old model had a tube go out recently which happens every few years and the on off switch was finally giving me some trouble. I'll probably get it fixed and sell or give to a relative. I looked at the new model and decided to upgrade. Just hooked up the new one. Incredible! Have it hooked up to my Apple Mini-Mac and a couple of Klipsch LaScalas and sounds even better than the original. I also love the bluetooth. This has been a wonderful stereo for 11 yrs and I hope the new one will be for 11 more. Audiophile sound at a fraction of the price.

I received this product with a broken tube. With a few days, I reached out to the company asking for a replacement tube or, at least instruction on what type of tube to buy myself and replace it with. The manual was totally unhelpful on that front and neither the site nor a online search provided any information. The company was completely silent, not only on replacing the tube, but also on what type I should buy. At 35lbs, it would have been a bear to return. So it sat for a few months doing nothing. Finally, on the Amazon page for the company, they at least listed the type of tube so I could purchase one and get it working. Works now. Sounds fine. But you're on your own if you have problems and the manual is totally useless. BTW, this was so frustrating after buying a $1,200 piece of equipment, that Dared has pushed me to write my first online review of a product ever.

better than expected

I love it the only thing that would make it better is tone controls. Even still it sounds awesome right out the box