Just picked this up and I have to say I am impressed. If you listen to alot of music on vinyl from the 60's and 70's, then you have to have a tube setup. Here is my setup> U-Turn Orbit>Grado black cartridge> Bellari VP 130 Tube Preamp>AKG 702 headphones. Was listening to Hendrix's "are you experienced?" Now i've heard that record 1000 times and I am hearing things that I hadn't heard before. Played an old jazz record and i could hear the drummer's high hat pedal squeaking. I started with the following tubes:sovtek,mullard, and tungsol. Ditch the Chinese stock tube just like all the reviews here say. So far I must say that I like the sound out of the mullard. It is the most fuzzy, warmest and has a deep liquid-like sound. Neil Young's Cinnamon girl sounds perfect on it. I plugged the cheap power plug into a surge protector and have had absolutely no hum issues. Although I must say the power cord supplied is a cheap piece of..... But for now, it is working ok. I completely recommend buying this nonetheless. Listening to vinyl through this compared to my old HK receiver is no contest. The sound I get from this Bellari is much more rich and full. The old Amp sounded flat.
Only other complaint is the volume level. I have a Moving Magnetic cartridge, and it is not that loud on many records. Now is it loud enough for most people: yes. I happen to like certain records pretty loud. Probably a good thing in the long run though. At any rate, buy this and you wont regret it even with the complaints mentioned above.

Wonderful sound from this pre-amp but I, like everyone, had issues with the serious hum. If I hadn't read the reviews about swapping out the power supply I would definitely have returned it. However I swapped out the power supply and it is 100% better.

A great entry level preamp with plenty of looks to go along with good sound. Bellari NEEDS to fix the problem with the power supply though, They include a somewhat passive aggressive note explaining how buzz or hum is part of any analog system and it's total B.S. with the replacement 15v power cable and a very short audio cable to and from the phono and receiver there was no audible hum. They must know this and I have no idea why they wouldn't include such a frustratingly simple solution to an otherwise great product.

This is nerd equipment for certian. Replace the power supply as reccomended, and get a couple different (but quality) tubes for definite. But I am hearing things in my records I had not heard before. I am in no way an audiophile, buy I will never get rid of this thing. Worth it? Yep. But I would go ahead and order the replacement power supply and tube all at the same time. They really should be included. I actually don't fault Bellari for including just a cheap crappy tube, as most people will have their own idea of what kind of specific boutique tube they want. Same reason that they don't sell shirts and ties together.

Well made chassis. PC soldering could be neater. Replaced power supply with larger capacity Radio Shack unit. Could not hear any difference. Tried different tubes. Original Chinese Ruby had crisp attacks, base biased, and smooth. Tried Tungsol, crisp treble, but may have had a bad tube. Sovtek was technical--it did everything well. Staying with Mullard-sound came alive with deep stage. Having fun trying out tubes. This replaced my TCC solid state preamp. TCC was quiet and technical. Also tried my built in Denon preamp-sounded slightly deeper sound stage than TCC, but difficult to discern. Source is Project Carbon running a Grado Red. Plenty of gain available-knob at 60%.