Not just great for the money! Audiophile Reference level out of the box, and once cheaply modified, beyond critique!Listen folks, I'm a nutty audiophile. I've heard and owned all sorts of amps, both tube and solid state, amps costing as much as 10k+. When I had to send an Enleum Amp23r (6.5k retail) to South Korea for servicing, based on chatter amongst respected audiophiles, I figured I'd experiment with this Douk amp. I paid my $120 for the 48v version. I also ordered Sparkos ss3602 Op Amps for $150. Before getting the op amps in, I was super impressed with the performance of the Douk, although it fell short of the best I'd owned, it was much better than most amps under 2kish in price! Mind you, I was and am still sourcing the Douk with a 5k DAC/Streamer called the Wattson Madison LE (designed and built in Switzerland). The modified Douk is totally up to the task of amplifying one of the best digital sources in the world! I've recently added a 1.5k, all analog preamp (Ladder Chopin) in front of the Douk, and that has proved a perfect match. The op-amp modified Douk is beyond critique!This is an unreal amp! It is my reference amp, and costs 1/8th the price of the speaker cables connected to it! WTF!

The Douk Audio A5 is my first foray into the intriguing new landscape of small class D amplifiers from China. As someone who got into "hi-fi" in the 1970s, I have always equated amplifier power with amplifier weight and size. Beefy power required heavy massive amplifiers. It was just an inarguable fact. Seeing the recent proliferation of these toy sized amplifiers definitely piqued my curiosity about whether these things could seriously be considered to be in the same league as traditional audiophile amps.I recently bought a pair of Elac Carina BS243.4 bookshelf speakers and found them to be power hungry. I had been using a Monoprice Pure Tube amp to drive them but the 10 watts per channel was insufficient to drive these speakers with any authority. I was looking for some additional clean power to be fed by the Monoprice amp (Love the sound of this amp!) working as a preamplifier, and wondered about one of these amps from Aiyima, Fosi, and Douk, etc. While I know the power ratings on these units are exaggerated, I was impressed with the measurements and reviews I saw online. With this Douk A5 on sale for only $85, I figured it was worth a shot.To say I was blown away by the sound of this amplifier is a huge understatement. The performance is incredible regardless of the price. When taking the price into account, it is truly absurd! In addition to the plentiful power, it managed to preserve the holographic imaging and soundstage of the Monoprice Tube amp. I remember reading some reviews that compared the Douk A5 favorably to multi-thousand dollar amplifiers, and thinking "Aw come on, that is ridiculous". Well I have now been thoroughly enlightened! I think there is a generational paradigm shift underway in the area of home audio amplifiers to the great benefit of audiophile consumers. These tiny class D amps with PFFB technology are the real deal!The only downside I can think of is the appearance of these amps are so cheap and toy like. You are not going to impress anyone with the looks of these as compared to a large, heavy, fancy, stylish, conventional class AB or class A amplifier. But how much are you willing to pay to impress people?I had ordered this with a standard 32V power supply and was curious what the performance increase would be like with the 48V power supply. So I ordered one. Performance was definitely raised a notch with more controlled and robust bass. I could really crank up the sound with the 48V power supply (71 watts @ 6 ohms -> 110 watts @ 6 ohms). However it makes the amp run HOT as the chassis serves as the heat sink. I removed the glass panel on top and replaced it with a piece of steel mesh but it is still very hot. Hopefully this does not affect the lifespan of the unit.Bottom line -This amp is a mind blowing value. As I listen to my system while I type this review, I am still having trouble reconciling the incredible sound I am hearing - with visual disconnect of seeing this tiny little unit being responsible for it.

Nice little stereo amp with lots of power. Perfect speaker pairing is a must.

Surprisingly good overall performance, smmooth but powerful little amplifier. Used with a DIY linear (36V6A) power supply it produces a sound quality that is hard to beat even at 10 times the pice. Congratulations for the achievement!

Stunning sound HiFi landscape