Aiyima T9 Review: A Small Amp With A Very Big Sound

After watching a few videos on YouTube, I decided to immediately purchase and review the Aiyima T9 amplifier. The videos on YouTube are a bit polarizing with Randy from Cheap Audio Man calling it a possible product of the year while Sean from Zero Fidelity gives a buyer beware warning showing the T9 malfunctioning.

Where does my review of the Aiyima T9 fall in comparison to these two videos? I’m going to say it falls somewhere in the middle, with a slight edge towards agreeing with Randy at Cheap Audio Man.

Let’s get into all of the pros and cons of this little mini amp below.

UPDATE: I just recently purchased the Aiyima T9 Pro and compared that to the original T9 to determine if they fixed the previous issues. That article can be found here.

Please note this article contains affiliate links.

Aiyima T9 Specs and Features:

How many watts is the Aiyima T9? 

The Aiyima T9 is a class D tube amplifier that boasts 100 watts of power. However, upon further research, the 100 watt rating is for 4 ohm speakers and if you are powering a set of 8 ohm speakers, the rating drops to 50 watts per channel. The T9 uses an NE5532 chip for output power.

The T9 includes one set of speaker connectors allowing you to power one set of passive speakers. It also includes a 3.5 mm jack to hook up a subwoofer or a pair of headphones. According to Aiyima, the 3.5 mm jack could also allow you to hook the T9 up to a stand alone amplifier.

How many inputs are included with the Aiyima T9?

The T9 has five inputs including built-in Bluetooth 5.0, one RCA input, one coaxial input, one optical input and one PC-USB input. 

The Bluetooth sampling rate is 24bit 48khz, the PC-USB sampling rate is 24bit 96khz and the optical/coaxial sampling rate is 24bit 192khz.

What tubes do the Aiyima T9 use? 

The T9 includes two 6K4 tubes that can be substituted with a number of other tubes including 6J1, 6J2, GE5654, 6J3, 6J4, 6J5 and 6AK5. Aiyima includes an “etc.” following the list of tube substitutions but I’m not familiar enough with tube rolling to know what other models might work with the T9.

Aiyima T9 Tone Controls & Remote Control

The T9 also offers tone controls to adjust the bass and treble to your liking. It also comes with a remote control that allows you to adjust the volume and change the inputs from the comfort of your couch.

Unfortunately, the remote control has some issues which I will explain in more detail below.

Things To Note Before You Buy The Aiyima T9

• First, the T9 makes a consistent clicking sound. If you read almost every review online you will find people who either hate this clicking noise, or they don’t mind it. 

The click noise first happens when you power on the unit. Then the unit clicks again when changing and selecting an input, almost as if to confirm the selected input is available to receive a signal. 

If you do not provide a signal, or say your music ends and you do not cue up the next album or song within 10 seconds, the T9 will click as if it’s powering down but it doesn’t shut off completely. The Aiyima instructions say the unit goes “to sleep”. As soon as you select music to play, it will click again to confirm receipt of the signal and begin playback. 

I’m not sure why Aiyima felt the need to include a clicking noise to inform you the unit went to sleep and again when you…wake it up? For instance, my Cambridge AXA25 amplifier will power itself down when not being used but it doesn’t make a noise. I’ve noticed a sound of my speakers shutting down when the Cambridge goes into standby, but it’s very faint, much fainter than the click of the T9. 

What’s my opinion of the click? Honestly, after using the T9 for a couple of weeks, I simply got used to the clicking and it did not bother me. 

Please note, Sean from Zero Fidelity posted a YouTube video where his unit keeps clicking when powered on, without a signal. My unit has yet to produce this issue and I believe Sean received a defective unit. I even left my unit powered on without music playing for a full day, just in case, and it never started to click like it did in Sean’s video. 

• Secondly, the T9 does not have a built in phono preamp, therefore, if you want to use the T9 with your turntable, you will either need to have an external phono preamp (like my Vincent PHO-8) or have a turntable with a built in preamp. More information here if you are unsure if you need a phono preamp or not.

• Third, the IR sensor for using the remote control is not 100% exclusive to the T9. What do I mean? In short, when I use the remote control to power on my Samsung Smart TV, it shuts off the T9. When I had the T9 sitting on top of my Cambridge AXC35 CD player and used the remote to adjust the volume on the T9, it would cause the songs to skip on the CD player. If you purchase the T9, you will want to place it in an area without other remote sensors that may cause it to shut on or off when not intended. 

• Also, I’d like to point out again the watts per channel discrepancy for the T9 listing. For instance, if you look at the listing on Amazon, you will see 100W in the title, causing you to possibly assume they mean 100 watts into 8 ohms. However, as I mentioned above in the features section, the 100 watts is for 4 ohm speakers and 8 ohm speakers are actually powered at 50 watts per channel. 

• Lastly, I find it hard to speak to the overall durability of the Aiyima T9. For just $150 shipped, it just isn’t possible that Aiyima can have the same kind of quality control we expect from high end manufacturers who offer 5 to 10 year warranties with their products. 

As much as I enjoy the sound reproduction by the T9, I still acknowledge to myself that for just $150, it will most likely simply stop working one day, much faster than any of my other gear purchases. Maybe this is a pricing bias where I expect my expensive gear to last forever while cheap gear should simply blow up in a few months time. 

But after watching Sean from Zero Fidelity have his unit start acting possessed, while mine works fine, leads me to believe that buying a T9 will always be a gamble and that makes it hard to vouch for the long term durability of this product. 

What I’m saying is…if you buy a T9, understand that for $150 it might last forever or it just might suddenly one day soon stop working without any means to repair it. You have to be willing to understand the gamble and not be crushed should it stop working much sooner than other more expensive gear you’ve purchased.

Things I Like When Using the Aiyima T9

Even though I pointed out several issues above, there are a few things I enjoyed when using the T9. 

• First, the Bluetooth was very easy to hook up and use with my iPhone. I was playing music quickly through the unit immediately after setting up the T9. 

• Second, the volume knob has a physical stepped up and down feeling when you adjust the knob. It doesn’t make a clicking noise like my Schiit Saga+, but I enjoy a volume knob that has steps when adjusting rather than the free wheeling knobs of today’s digital devices where you just keep turning and turning without any real feeling of adjusting the volume. 

• Third, this feels like a small thing to mention but the power supply on the T9 is nice and long which makes it easy to find a home for it either in your current stereo system set up or in your office for a desktop system. 

Aiyima also included a lengthy PC to USB cable with the T9, however that is the only connection cable included.

How does the Aiyima T9 Sound?

Before I explain how the T9 sounded in my system, it’s worth noting what I used when testing the gear and what I was not able to test.

First, I’m not a big 2.1 audio person and do not have a subwoofer, therefore I cannot speak to how a sub would sound using the T9.

Secondly, I paired the T9 with my Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ bookshelf speakers with an efficiency of 86 db. At this time, I do not have higher efficiency speakers to use during this review so I cannot speak to how the T9 would sound using higher efficiency speakers. 

Finally, I used all of the original features provided by the T9, meaning I used the internal Bluetooth connection and did not bother running the T9 through any external DACs, etc. The only external connection was using my Vincent PHO-8 phono preamp which was required given the T9 does not have an internal phono stage available. 

My immediate reaction to listening to the T9 was surprise, given that such a little piece of gear could produce such a big sound. The unit holds its own with a large soundstage. For instance, I listened to the live CD, Further Explorations by Chick Corea, Paul Motian and Eddie Gomez which is full of small room applause throughout the musical performances. The applause sounded lifelike as if was surrounding me when listening to the T9.

I pulled out the recent Acoustic Sounds reissue of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and connected the T9 to my Vincent PHO-8 preamp while using my Audio Technica AT-VM95SH cartridge with a shibita stylus. Using the preamp and stylus added about $600 worth of gear to the audio chain into the T9, but playback was quiet with Elvin Jones’ drums sounding crisp and present while Jimmy Garrison’s bass notes were distinguishable and well defined.

Speaking of bass, I also listened to Thundercat’s Uh Uh on Apple Music via Bluetooth streaming, a song that he plays at breakneck speed, giving any piece of gear a challenge to playback properly. I found the T9 held its own, allowing for the different bass notes to be heard individually and not get lost in a mess of tones due to the speed of Thundercat’s playing.

I played Yosi Horikawa’s Wandering EP via Bluetooth, specifically the first song Bubbles which begins with the sound of ping pong balls bouncing. The T9 handled the bouncing sounds appropriately and I could follow the “motion” of the balls bouncing from the left to right speaker. 

I continued to throw a lot of genres at the T9, including hip hop, metal and classical, all of which were accurately represented and played back by the unit. 

The tubes on the T9 are not going to provide you with the same 3D feeling that high priced tube amps can, but they still help broaden the soundstage more than any other inexpensive mini-amp I’ve heard before. 

What are the differences between the Cambridge AXA25 and the Aiyima T9?

I thought it would be interesting to compare the T9 to a comparably priced amplifier, my Cambridge AXA25, which retails for $299 vs $150 for the T9. 

In order to make a comparison, I hooked up both amplifiers to my Douk Audio One Little Bear amplifier switch which allows me to switch back and forth between amps for a quick comparison. Please note, the One Little Bear switch has yet to inject any unwanted distortion or change in the audio signal when in use. 

I then hooked up two CD players, one to each amplifier, and simultaneously started the same CD that I own two copies for testing playback. I took a few minutes to adjust the volume properly to compensate for the difference in watts per channel as the T9 is 50 wpc while the Cambridge is just 25 wpc. 

The CDs were The Endless River by Pink Floyd. I started both CDs and began flipping back and forth between the two amplifiers and was immediately surprised by how similar the amplifiers sounded. I even asked my family to listen and they agreed that both amplifiers sounded almost identical. 

If I had to be pressed to give you a difference, I would say the T9 at times sounded a tad brighter than the Cambridge, but not in a fatiguing way. 

To be honest, after taking the time to set up the two amps and CD players into the One Little Bear switch, I was hoping to hear a drastic difference in sound between the two amps. When that didn’t happen, I was a little disappointed. 

But that disappointment is not actually a result of the sound itself for either amp. I’ve recommended the Cambridge amp to friends because I like the way it sounds and now I can do the same with the T9, but still pointing out a few of the caveats mentioned above before someone buys the T9 (like the wonky remote, clicking noises and overall durability). 

Because the amps sound similar, people choosing between the two can focus on their features instead. 

For instance, the Cambridge will allow you to hook up four RCA inputs but it doesn’t allow for any digital inputs nor does it have Bluetooth. Meanwhile the T9 only allows for one RCA input but comes with built-in Bluetooth and three other digital connections. 

Neither amp provides for a phono input so you will be required to use an external phono preamp or have a turntable with a built-in preamp in order to connect your turntable. 

The T9 is class D which provides 50 watts per channel into 8 ohms while the Cambridge is class A/B and only provides 25 watts per channel. 

The T9 comes with a remote control with the Cambridge AXA25 does not.

The T9 retails at $150 shipped while the Cambridge AXA25 runs $299 on Amazon. 

With the sound being so similar, these are the deciding factors for anyone choosing between the two amps.

Should I Buy The Aiyima T9? 

If you’ve read this far, you are probably hoping for a definitive statement on whether you should buy the T9 or not. 

I am personally enjoying the T9 and glad that I took the risk to purchase this for just $150. It’s small and fun and still produces a big sound.

However, the T9 has enough quirks that I hesitate to say you should buy this. Please read my list of notes above again and understand the unit’s quirks like clicking noises and the issues with the remote control before you buy. 

I also think it’s important to once again stress the overall durability and my inability to feel confident this little mini-amp will continue to produce excellent sound for many years to come. Please understand this is an inexpensive amp made in China that could last for a very long time or simply blow up sooner than planned (like Sean’s unit from Zero Fidelity). 

If you decide to buy a T9, I think it would be a great little amp for an office or desktop system as it will barely take up any space at all on your work surface. 

It could also be a great option for a college dorm room or someone’s small apartment where building a large stereo system is simply impractical.

Again, I’m enjoying this little T9 and have yet to experience any issues outside of the remote control IR sensor. If you are someone who likes auditioning gear at excellent price points, consider the T9 as the perfect kind of experiment on the market.

If you choose to purchase the T9, please consider using my affiliate link which helps me buy more gear to review.

UPDATE: If you would like to purchase the T9 PRO, you can do so using this affiliate link.

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