BOALECO BX1, tube preamplifier with bluetooth receiver review
I would like to thank Sen Hu Audio Store at Lazada PH for sending me the BOALECO BX1 tube preamplifier for a review. Thank you, Sen Hu Audio. Sen Hu Audio never told me what to say in this review; this review will be based on my views and experience of this product.
A brief history:
My agreement to review this was a result of a mistake made by Sen Hu Audio Store at the time when I bought a Topping D90 III, which would cost $900 US regularly, at almost half the price during a sale. After I paid for the D90 III, Sen Hu Audio contacted me and said that they made a mistake in pricing and were at a loss, which I agree with and would have been willing to cancel the order, but then Sen Hu Audio told me that they would ship it anyway since I'm a repeat customer and asked me to write a review on the D90 III listing page in Lazada. I waited for the Topping D90 III to arrive, and it arrived in perfectly new and sealed condition. I messaged them that I could do more than just a review on Lazada; I could review on Facebook to somehow repay them for their loss. To cut the story shorter; after they saw my review on Facebook and Head-Fi, they asked me to review this unit along with two other items, so I agreed out of curiosity and compassion. Sen Hu Audio never told me what to say, and I won't get paid to review this. This is an honest review of this product. Kindly visit Sen Hu Audio Store in Lazada Ph.
The BOALECO BX1 is a small and inexpensive tube preamp with bass and treble controls, a Bluetooth connection with aptX HD reception, and replaceable opamps.
The packaging of the BOALECO BX1 is simple and efficient; it includes an antenna for the Bluetooth, a manual, a pair of tubes, a power supply, and the unit itself.
The bass, treble, and volume knobs are nicely detented and feel elegant to turn. At the back, there is a switch that allows you to choose between the RCA and Bluetooth input. I also took a peek inside and indeed saw two replaceable opamps for opamp rolling, which means you can upgrade not only the tubes but also the opamps. This is a fantastic feature at this price point.
I checked the bass, treble, and volume control and found no channel imbalance even at low volume levels, which indicates it uses good quality potentiometers.
I connected it to my Topping G5 headphone amplifier and to my Fiio M15s as a source. Using an IEM, I heard no hum, and the noise is very low—just a very faint, negligible white noise that you can't hear even at low music volumes. I heard no distortion even at full volume on the BX1.
I then connected it to my secondary speaker system consisting of an amp and a stand-mount speaker and to my desktop computer set-up consisting of a small powered computer speaker, and the results were very good; I encountered no issues.
It sounds very good, with good transparency. The addition of the bass and treble control really makes this preamp fun to listen to. I find nothing to complain about, about the sound of the BOALECO BX1 tube preamp.
Pros:
- inexpensive
- solid build
- replaceable tubes
- Replaceable opamps
- great sound quality
- practically noise free
- bass and treble controls
- excellent potentiometer channel tracking
- AptX HD Bluetooth reception
- small size
- The design looks to me retro, which I like.
Cons:
- At this price, I cannot complain.
Conclusion:
I find the BOALECO to be a truly remarkable product for its price, functionality, and performance, and thus highly recommend it. I only wish this were more widely available on the international market.
Have an enjoyable listening experience, cheers!