Decibelvibe TNZ SGVUM6 - Audio Graphic VU Meter with Rear RCA/3.5 Auxiliary Input and Output, Wireless Input through a Built-In Microphone, with 19 Colors for Home, Professionals (Silver)

This audio graphic meter offers professional-level audio monitoring and visual feedback with its input and output options. The wireless input provides accurate sound level readings, perfect for home, professional, and car audio setups. The color options allow for customizable visual displays, adding style and flair to any audio system. While the functionality is impressive, the size of the meter may be too large for some setups. Overall, it's a versatile and functional accessory for audio enthusiasts seeking accurate sound monitoring and visual enhancement.

This VU meter comes in a plain cardboard box and inside you’ll find the VU meter, power cable, remote control, 5x LEDs, RCA to 3.5mm audio jack cable, and an instruction leaflet. The first thing I noticed is that the power cable doesn’t have a UK plug so you will have to supply your own kettle lead to power this up.The VU meter itself feels well built with its metal frame which has good construction and makes it look and feel very robust. The front has an acrylic cover and is finished off with a chrome knob. The rear panel has a stereo RCA in and out connection which also has a 3.5mm socket so you have the option to use either. There is a power connector and power button and a rotary display dial.Connecting it up took a little bit of trial an error with my amp as the latest amplifiers don’t have a tape loop so don’t really have a dedicated out like the older amps did. I ended up connecting this to the Zone 2 output and enabling it through my amp’s settings. This allowed me to give audio directly to the VU meter without messing with my main channel’s audio. I then had to slide the selector switch on the rear to halfway by turning the gain knob to the left a couple of times, to reset to 0, then turning half a turn to the right gave the right level of gain. I then rotated the display dial until the lights were bouncing at the required level. That was set then, and I’ve never had to touch it since. You can press in the knob and select mode, colour, brightness, speed, and frequency band. I like how you can choose which frequency effects the lights as you have full range (50Hz-18kHz), low (50Hz-300Hz), Intermediate (300Hz-2kHz), or high (2kHz-18kHz). There are plenty of different visual modes to choose from and I couldn’t decide which one to have on. I really like how you can choose a colour scheme to change it more to your liking too so with these two options, you can make it your own and to fit in with your setups colour scheme if you have one.I did try it with the built in speaker and it works quite well which makes it a simple setup by just plugging it in to power. I did find that I did have to have the volume up on my amp a reasonable bit for the lights to even start to show so you do have to have it fairly loud in this configuration. It didn’t matter how I adjusted the gain knob on the rear and front, it just wasn’t sensitive enough at lower volumes, not with it sat on my amp anyway. Plugging it directly in to my Zone 2 channel sorted this out though so if you have your music on low volumes, you will have to use the line in on the back.I’ve always had a soft spot for graphic equalisers and other lights that bounce around to the music, and I think this is awesome. You can change the colours to suit your preference and choose different speeds with drop off light so if it bumps up to a high level and goes back down, a light will stay momentarily at the high point, and then start to drop back down. There are plenty of different effects to change the way the lights move, and these can be changed with the front knob, or the included remote control so you don’t even have to move from the sofa to mess around with this. I love watching the lights bounce around to the beat as I listen to my music, and I think this is brilliant! Just remember that you will need to supply your own kettle lead for power since this doesn’t ship with a UK power lead.