Douk Audio VU3 Dual Analog VU Meter, 2-Way Amplifier/Speaker Switch, Audio Switcher Box with DB Panel Display

In the studio I don’t have the high power speakers but if i did this would handle them perfectly. I use this first of all because I am an analog geek anyway. Secondly I use them to switch between two PCs when editing audio/video on the Mac Mini or just listening to YouTube on the PC. It has good sturdy screw terminals/banana jacks on the back for all the connections. I wish they had included cables with various wired or banana plug cable as I had to DIY some wire to (whatever) cables - RCA, mini phone plug and 1/4” phone plug for my rig but everyone is different and so that’s kind of impossible to provide without pricing it to stupid range. The meters have a remote that works great to shut off the unit, dim the meter backlighting and switch between two inputs and two set of speakers. The lighting is warm and orange yellow and can be dimmed nicely. For the price; a good way to “analog” your gear. Oh yes, and a peak LED indicator - nice touch also. The case was well constructed. I thought for a couple of VU meters it would be cheap thin aluminum but it is pretty sturdy and not bulky at all. About 6” across, 4” deep and 3” high (rough estimates because I am writing this from afar - consult the specs). Mine is black and the meters are very responsive even at low end signals. There is a “trim” pot on the front to “level up” the meters. Again - I use them for esthetic but they have proven to be excellent at final edit for output balancing and peak leveling indicators. Plus they just are cool! Enjoy!

Unit worked great out of the box. You need your own USB power adapter because none is provided. Pretty much any old USD power adapter you have lying around works. This device is beautiful eye candy for your stereo setup. Who doesn't like 2 lively VU meters dancing on the music? I love the dial where you can select the sensitivity of the meter, so that even at low volume your meters can be dancing wildly. Minor gripe is that no battery was included for the remote but luckily I had one lying around. I tried a CR2025 but it needs a CR2032 battery. Although the remote control is a smaller than credit card sized piece of cheap black plastic, it works great. There is no discernible impact on sound by putting this unit between your amplifier and your speakers. Perhaps a little bit more rolled off on the high frequencies but I might imagine that. This device is great for A/B testing of speakers and amplifiers. It is amazing how smoothly it switches between speakers and amps. I was totally expecting loud clicks and pauses in the music but it is completely smooth and pretty much unnoticeable. Quite amazing. Obviously you need (an) extra set(s) of speaker cables, depending on how many amps and speakers you want to connect. The unit is much smaller than you would expect from the pictures. Those pictures are doctored where the unit is enlarged and showed on top of regular sized 17" wide stereo equipment, looking like almost equal width. That's a nasty marketing ploy. Not cool! The actual unit is 7"x5"x3". If you scroll down deep enough into the small font area of the manufacturer's description they give you the actual measurements but the pictures are totally misleading. Nonetheless good build quality and everything works as advertised. It's a keeper!

I looked at this unit and could not find any details on how to hook this up. It's pretty straightforward for the speakers, but what about the amplifiers? The VU3 has the same speaker binding posts for the A/B amp switching, BUT, what about the RCA jacks on the amp for 'main-in'? This provides the signal to the amplifier from your preamp or receiver pre-out jacks. The VU3 does not have any RCA jacks on it.If you have another preamp or double main out jacks on your existing unit this is not a problem, if not, you would need to unplug the RCA cable from one amp and then plug it into the other one or have other switching capability.Other than this quirk, the unit is well packaged, works well, and performs as advertised. The meters are big and pleasing to watch, I did however, find that it does not provide the deeper blue color that I had wanted.

Small footprint unit, about 7 inches wide, 4 inches deep and a little less than 3 inches tall including the feet. See the photos for the measurements.Banana plugs are best for rear connections. The spade connectors are difficult to tighten due to limited rear panel space and the inability to tighten the rear connectors securely enough to prevent loose connections with spade connectors.Setup is straight forward, it’s just a matter of running the wires for 2 sets of speakers (or amps) and making the connections.The remote is required to adjust the lighting on the VU meters. There is no On/OFF switch on the actual box, only on the remote itself. If you want On/Off capability on the box, Douk recommends that the user add a manual switch to the power cord. You can also plug and unplug the unit for on/off if you lose or damage the remote.I have been running this switch for months and I use it to A/B between a pair of Magico S1 and Zu Audio Soul 6 speakers. I know, it’s an unusual audio setup but with this Douk switch, I can really dial in my speakers based on the audio source.I cannot audibly detect any added noise or distortion from the Douk switch despite online reports of added distortion found during bench testing.From my experience, this switch works very well. It would be perfect with power on/off and VU meter light controls on the box but I still really like this unit.I have located a spare remote from the Douk website for $15 including shipping and it arrived faster than I expected. You will have to Google the Douk website and email them asking about a spare remote. I can’t include the URL/email here, Amazon won't let that occur. I suggested that Douk make a spare remote available on Amazon and they are considering that request. I found the folks at Douk very responsive and friendly!Otherwise, this was a great acquisition for my system, it greatly expands my audio system speaker capability and it’s well made. Hope that helps!