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Phonic's T8100 has an understated look and feel; it falls under the preamp category of "here's gain, a tube, and some EQ." As a result, the price is remarkably low for a stereo device with transformer-coupled balanced inputs and a pair of 12AX7s.
The front panel duplicates controls for both channels. Switches cover highpass filter (80Hz), phase invert, and phantom power on/ off. Knobs adjust gain, tube timbre (from "cool" to "warm"), output level, low-frequency (80Hz) boost/cut, high frequency (12kHz) boost/ cut, and midrange boost/cut. The boost/cut controls are all detented, and have a range of plus/minus 15dB.
The midrange frequency is variable from 400Hz to 8kHz, but there's no bandwidth control. Also, the high and low controls are peak controls, not shelving. As a result, the EQ is not for surgical adjustments, but more for general tone-shaping with a tube vibe.
SOUND JUDGEMENT
When I first plugged a dynamic mic into the T8100 and turned on power, I was concerned that I had the wrong voltage - the tubes looked like the filaments were about to explode....