AT-300 - 16 CHANNEL PRE-PRO

In 2019, my Marantz 7706, a brand I’d been loyal to since 1989, started failing with a “rat-a-tat-tat” noise, likely due to capacitor issues. Shocked by the cost of modern replacements, I explored alternatives and discovered the Tonewinner AT-300. Having lived in China for 8 years, I was skeptical of its serif-font branding, often associated with lower-quality products. I couldn't have been more wrong. People outside of China think that ALL chinese products are typically crappy, not understanding that these cheaper products are targeted to folks living in the countryside who don't have all that much money to spend on items such as this. There are truly some outstanding products made in China; however, the western perception of "quality" (fonts/branding/display layouts, etc.) sometimes gets lost in translation across cultures.

The Tonewinner AT-300 delivers jaw-dropping sound for its price. It’s not plug-and-play, but its simplicity allows for granular tweaks that rival pre/pros costing 6-7 times more. Even with potential tariffs, it’s a steal. The sound quality is phenomenal, and I’m thrilled with my purchase.

Aamir at Summit HiFi provides exceptional customer service. After ordering, I received a personal call from him thanking me and offering support—an unheard-of gesture these days! When I texted him about integrating the AT-300 with my AppleTV, he responded quickly. I figured out the setup but wanted to share my findings.

To control the AT-300 with an AppleTV 4K remote (powering on the receiver, amp, and TV automatically):

Connect AppleTV to HDMI 1 on the AT-300, then run an HDMI from the AT-300’s eARC out to the TV’s eARC in. I use the second HDMI out to a Phillips Hue Sync box for lighting sync.

Plug the amp trigger cable into the AT-300’s marked phono jack.
In the AT-300’s configuration (MENU > Setup):
Source Setup > Option > HDMI option > Trigger out > ON
Source Setup > Option > HDMI option > Sync to TV power > ON
Source Setup > Option > HDMI option > CEC Source Control > ON
Source Setup > Option > HDMI option > CEC Control > ON
On AppleTV, go to Settings > Remotes and Devices > Home Theater Control:
Follow instructions to learn the AT-300 remote (volume up, down, mute).
Set “Control TVs and Receivers” to ON. This enables power control but NOT volume. This is where I hit my snag, but managed to get the ATV volume controls on the remote to work with the AT-300.
For volume control: Settings > Remotes and Devices > Learned Remotes > Learn Remote. The AT-300 menu may obscure the AppleTV screen during setup (adjust menu transparency if needed). If you can't see the AppleTV menu behind the onscreen AT-300 menu, you can cancel setup after partial completion; there's enough info collected after the first few calibrations to enable volume control via the AppleTV remote (you don't have to teach the AppleTV your entire AT-300 remote).
For sound setup, I used AI (Grok, ChatGPT) to get crossover points for my speaker models and entered them under the AT-300’s speaker setup. Using a Bosch laser measure, I input my speaker distances. The result? Stunning sound. I plan to fine-tune further with calibration, as the AT-300’s bass response seems robust without needing tools like miniDSP or REW, unlike my old Marantz.

One minor annoyance: my TV briefly prompts to push sound to the AT-300’s Bluetooth on startup. I’ll troubleshoot this after calibration (if my wife doesn’t kick me out for tinkering too much!).

The Tonewinner AT-300 is an affordable, high-performance pre/pro that doubles as a new hobby. Paired with Aamir’s outstanding support at Summit HiFi, where I’ll buy all my gear moving forward, this is a game-changer. Highly recommended!

I have finally completed the full set up of my AT-300 and AD-8300 combo. The system is set up as a 9.4.4 (the rear subs share the subwoofer 3 output) using Klipsch speakers and subs and sounds great. The AT-300 and AD-8300 is everything I expected. If there was anything I wish it had, it would be 4 subwoofer connections instead of 3. Setting the system up we very easy. Dealing with Aamir at Summit HiFi was a real pleasure as I found him extremely helpful and his service is second to none. I would recommend these 2 products and Summit HIFi.

We just made room in our audio cabinet to fit the AT-300 processor, the installation and the initial setup using the OSD was a breeze, (more is required on our part to finish the setup) from the little bit of testing we have done it is great to have control of all channels individually, more importantly it will be a fun learning curve than will benefit our listening experience.

Having read about Aamir's quality customer service, I can personally attest Aamir has again proven himself has a caring business owner that makes any purchase a pleasant experience to all customer's and has gone out of his way to accommodate our purchase, he also included the Tone Winner microphone kit to help in our suround-sound set-up, we cannot wait to test / configure / test more and put what we've learn in practice. The AT-300 is a very nice affordable addition to our small but well used family home entertainment living room.

Big thank you Aamir, very much appreciated.

Product works great. Shipping was fast and packed well.. Aamir is a pleasure to do business with and responsive / helpful with all questions. Am a repeat customer.

Had a great experience with Aamir and the Summit A7 so...I bought another one for my home theater system (first one went in the game room). I'm using this one to drive (2) sets of front L&R + C + front heights. Since I already had 2 Emotiva A2's and (2) outlaw M2200's I decided I didn't really need the Emotiva MR1 any longer for amplification so I wanted to try a separate processor. That's where the Tonewinner AT-300 came in. First observation was is was immediately clear when I opened the interface that TW makes
the processors for Emotiva.

The next thing was the remote. I was concerned the remote wouldn't have all the individual trim functions. Concerns alleviated. It has MORE control.

Next...the microphone. A MUCH nicer mic setup than anything I have used to date. XLR mic and a REAL TRIPOD. Fantastic! Also of note, since I was already familiar with emo's gui, it was super easy to set things up. At first I just set up the 5.2.4 layout manually/by ear just so I could enjoy and movie the first night. Today I used all the mic-driven auto tuning functions and the levels were spot on for the most part to what I did by ear. What I didn't do by ear was the distance and eq functions. Ran those today and the distances are also spot on. Pretty amazing. I run (4) different brands
of speakers (I know). The eq did a great job leveling things out. I would have had to spend a good amount of time doing that manually.

Trigger and CEC controls work flawlessy. Every time.

As another bonus...the unit itself is also quite attractive.

A few improvements I would like to suggest:
-Larger on unit display. When in eArc mode it's tough for these old eyes to see from 4.2 meters away.

-There are some "emotiva-like" ticks when searching for audio format, but not as noticeable and easy to make less apparent by reducing volume before switch program sources. *To be fair I noticed this in an Onkyo RZ50 I tested also

-OSD/User Interface...looks I designed it

-The phone app is a little klugey but does work. Mainly an appearance consideration.

-The whole package could be "more Americanized. I'm sure that's coming.

If you want to dip your toes in the separate processor level of the hobby, this is the way to go, no question

Really looking forward to the next iteration of the TW processor.

RB