An American Hi-Fi Darling Has a $99 Solve for Adding Tube Amps to Your Stereo System

Want to experiment with tube sound? It doesn’t get much more affordable than this.

Black rectangular audio amplifier with a glass vacuum tube on top and ventilation holes on the side.

Add Gear Patrol as a Preferred Source on Google

Published April 29, 2026

·

If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Schiit Audio appears to be on a bit of a vacuum tube kick as of late. Just last month, the now-Texas-based hi-fi company introduced the Lyr 5, a $799 desktop amplifier that lets you choose between vacuum-tube and solid-state gain modes.

Now, it has just revealed a significantly more affordable hi-fi component, which lets you bring the warm sound of vacuum tubes to any home stereo system.

Schiit Buf

Black rectangular audio amplifier with a visible vacuum tube on top and ventilation holes on the side. — The Buf is a tube buffer that adds warm tones to your system’s sound.

As its name hints at, the Buf is a tube buffer. It’s designed to be placed between your preamplifier and power amplifier, or between your DAC and integrated amplifier (or preamp or headphone amplifier) in your hi-fi system.

The idea is that the audio signal passes through the Buf, and the tube buffer adds warm tones that are typically associated with vacuum tubes to an otherwise sterile sound.

Glass vacuum tube with a reflective silver top mounted on a black perforated electronic device. — The Buf ships with an NOS 6N1P tube. But you can switch to 6922, ECC88 or 6DJ8 tubes to further tinker with the sound.

Red circuit board with black capacitors, brown resistors, a glass vacuum tube, and a metal toggle switch in a gray metal frame. — The Buf uses Schiit’s Coherence topology, just like its Vali 3 and Lyr 5 headphone amplifiers.

Necessary? No. Fun? Absolutely.

Is a tube buffer a necessary hi-fi component? Absolutely not. But it’s a fun hi-fi component for audiophiles who like to tinker with their system. After all, hi-fi is a tinker’s hobby.

According to Schiit, you should consider a tube buffer like the Buf if you’re bored of your system’s sound or just want to experiment with tube sound.

Plus, the Buf is quite affordable.

Black Schiit audio device with a vacuum tube on top and RCA input/output ports on the front panel. — The Buf is easy to install thanks to its RCA inputs and outputs.

Availability and pricing

Schiit Audio’s Buf is available now and costs $99. Unlike its other affordable desktop hi-fi components (like the Magni and Modi), the Buf only comes in one color finish: black.

Black rectangular audio amplifier with a visible vacuum tube on top and a small toggle switch on the front right side.

Schiit Buf

$99 at Schiit Audio

About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.