Fosi Audio HD-A1 Budget Amplifier Review

[pavuol]

Do you have a link for it being tested?

Some measurement are on polish site -
YAMAHA A-S501
and for A-S300

 

[restorer-john]

Some measurement are on polish site -
YAMAHA A-S501
and for A-S300

I have an Yamaha AS-300 here (same as the 301 except no onboard D/A), if you want anything tested.

Their 8 ohm both channels driven is suspicious. But then again, they are testing to 1% THD. I test to onset of clipping, which is much lower.

 

[fordiebianco]

Sorry, Amir. I admire your efforts but what I'm getting weary of is endless reviews of tinny desktop equipment. Who really cares?

I do. For my man cave, I am looking for a small footprint chip amp that doesn't ruin my digital sources but has enough oomph to drive my LS50s. Enormous A/B or straight A amps that weigh 40kg are the way of the stone age, and I certainly never anticipate paying $4000 for an amp (maybe for speakers).

I am looking forward to see more Chi-Fi and small footprint amps. That's the reason I am a member here.

 

[anmpr1]

I guess the target consumer is someone with a set of small speakers in his closet gaining dust. Considering the form factor of the loudspeaker this will likely be used with, I can't imagine anyone not choosing one of the myriad inexpensive powered loudspeakers available. The point of these little desktop cubes for someone just getting into the hobby sort of escapes me.

 

[Feanor]

I guess the target consumer is someone with a set of small speakers in his closet gaining dust. Considering the form factor of the loudspeaker this will likely be used with, I can't imagine anyone not choosing one of the myriad inexpensive powered loudspeakers available. The point of these little desktop cubes for someone just getting into the hobby sort of escapes me.

Well yeah, I see your point.

In my case I had a pair of ancient Radio Shack Minimus 7's in my closet gathering dust. I decided I'd use them with DAC+amp of some sort. I got a Topping TD30 Mk2 which does a great job -- mind you, I got that several years ago and am not looking for an upgrade.

 

[Feanor]

I do. For my man cave, I am looking for a small footprint chip amp that doesn't ruin my digital sources but has enough oomph to drive my LS50s. Enormous A/B or straight A amps that weigh 40kg are the way of the stone age, and I certainly never anticipate paying $4000 for an amp (maybe for speakers).

I am looking forward to see more Chi-Fi and small footprint amps. That's the reason I am a member here.

That's fair. People have different needs and I'd say yours are well served here. For my part, I don't need superb equipment to listen at my desktop -- I don't do critical listening there.

I'll confess I'll never spend $4000 on a preamp either, but for my main system a $1000 each for key components isn't too big a stretch. Meanwhile it is interesting to hear about any equipment the uses interesting technology and/or incorporates novel concepts regardless of price.

 

[thefsb]

I'm getting weary of is endless reviews of tinny desktop equipment. Who really cares?

I do.

 

[Feanor]

I care.

Sorry, renaudrenaud, thefsb, and others, my apology for the, "Who really cares?" Obviously some care. I was just trolling a bit -- I can be annoying that way at times.

I acknowledge that for my own part I relied on some of Amir's reviews to select my own headphone equipment, but I'm not a big headphone listener and I'm ready to move on to "main system" components.

 

[anmpr1]

Sorry, Amir. I admire your efforts but what I'm getting weary of is endless reviews of tinny desktop equipment. Who really cares? I want more reviews of substantial 'main system' components like Purifi amps and, yes, the Parasound preamp.

I'm sure that if you purchased and then sent Two Men and a Truck over his house with a brace of thirty thousand dollars hybrid PS Audio BHK mono amps, or Michael Fremer's latest love, the fifty thousand dollar Boulder phono stage, he'd be happy to check those out for you!

 

[Feanor]

I'm sure that if you purchased and then sent Two Men and a Truck over his house with a brace of thirty thousand dollars hybrid PS Audio BHK mono amps, or Michael Fremer's latest love, the fifty thousand dollar Boulder phono stage, he'd be happy to check those out for you!

Got it.

I'd love to ship Amir my Pass X150.5 amp and I'm pretty sure he'd test it. But its shipping weight is 75 lbs. and would have to go from southern Ontario to Seattle and back and that ain't goin' to happen.

Just to be clear, my interest isn't in expensive equipment -- or heavy equipment for that matter -- but in "main system" equipment. I'd be happy to ship him my pair of ICEpower 200ASC monoblocks; a review in this case might be redundant, but he could let me know.

 

[pavuol]

I'm sure that if you purchased and then sent Two Men and a Truck over his house with a brace of thirty thousand dollars hybrid PS Audio BHK mono amps, or Michael Fremer's latest love, the fifty thousand dollar Boulder phono stage, he'd be happy to check those out for you!

Or the other way round, sending a copter for Amir, with a pilot helping him to load Audio precision onboard

 

[Ajax]

FWIW there is an Australian company, Epoz, who manufactures powered speakers called Akimate. They combine a creek amplifier with Epos speakers. They are incredibly versatile and great sounding for only US$300.

I have several pairs and only mention them as they represent excellent value for those on a tight budget (or for a second system) compared to a cheap non-performing amp plus speaker combination.

The Akimate Mini + B combines a 40 watt amp (into 4ohms) with 2 digital (USB + bluetooth ) and 3 analogue (2 x RCA + 3.5mm) inputs plus a sub out in the left speaker. A traditional speaker cable connects to the right speaker, which acts as a slave. They come with a remote and in several colours.

They are available from Audio Heaven (in Aus) plus transport.

https://audioheaven.com.au/brands/aktimate-speakers/AKTIMATE-MINI-B

http://www.aktimate.com.au/minib.html

https://www.stereophile.com/content/entry-level-24-page-2


I have no financial interest, just a long time happy user. They really are a bargain.

 

[IowAudio]

I was more than happy to send this amp to Amir. I gave it a positive review before having Amir look into it because as stated in my video I didn't want numarical results to skew my opinion. I know results of SINAD and other tests can indicate fidelity, its not always definitive because of personal preference. Even though this amp didn't test well I stand by my opinion. Because of its softer warmer sound I do prefer it for Big Band, Jazz, Blues, 1940s Swing etc. That and much of my music collection in this genre is not high quality granted original recordings are quite old. On the other hand I feel this amp is a bit of a fruad since Fosi markets it based on its high quality parts leading people to believe it really is a hi end amp when from what we've seen its not. At $180 its hard to recommend unless you want the small foot print or its just love at first site then by all means enjoy. In the least it is well made and should last for years. Fosi if you read this, the price needs to come down to at least $150 to restore some value in this amp.

Thanks Amir,

 

[renaudrenaud]

Got it.

I'd love to ship Amir my Pass X150.5 amp and I'm pretty sure he'd test it. But its shipping weight is 75 lbs. and would have to go from southern Ontario to Seattle and back and that ain't goin' to happen.

Just to be clear, my interest isn't in expensive equipment -- or heavy equipment for that matter -- but in "main system" equipment. I'd be happy to ship him my pair of ICEpower 200ASC monoblocks; a review in this case might be redundant, but he could let me know.

No problemo... I understand you do not want Amir wastes his time with uninteresting things. But I am sure a lot of people here are considered as specialist of the audio domain, and are requested for low cost systems by family and friends. So, for these persons, it's important to have in hand some ultra low cost equipment with minimal quality.

And for my part, my main question is "how low" I can go in budget, with (near) no concession in term of quality. That's why I am really happy with the Elac DBR62 and some stuff for less than 1000€. Things I build and things I've bought.

 

[tomtoo]

It's always interesting how cheap amps measure. With this amp i would say it's not a price/performance wonder. But maybe one day we finde one.

 

[laudio]

"There is some talk about it being tube like so maybe that is the excuse for poor performance"

Classic

 

[MerlinGS]

Some measurement are on polish site -
YAMAHA A-S501

Thanks for the info; however, there seems to be a lot missing in those tests, especially as it pertains to the digital domain. If I read it right, SINAD does not seem that impressive (although there is info missing).

 

[MerlinGS]

I have an Yamaha AS-300 here (same as the 301 except no onboard D/A), if you want anything tested.

Their 8 ohm both channels driven is suspicious. But then again, they are testing to 1% THD. I test to onset of clipping, which is much lower.

I was curious as to how the DAC performed. I'm guessing there are a lot of integrated amps, especially vintage, that will perform well enough. @Willem mentioned the 501 had tested well and @pavuol provided a site (responding to my inquiry for a potential source), but there was little info on the DAC that I could see in the Polish site (I used Google translator).

 

[dougi]

FWIW there is an Australian company, Epoz, who manufactures powered speakers called Akimate. They combine a creek amplifier with Epos speakers. They are incredibly versatile and great sounding for only US$300.

I have several pairs and only mention them as they represent excellent value for those on a tight budget (or for a second system) compared to a cheap non-performing amp plus speaker combination.

The Akimate Mini + B combines a 40 watt amp (into 4ohms) with 2 digital (USB + bluetooth ) and 3 analogue (2 x RCA + 3.5mm) inputs plus a sub out in the left speaker. A traditional speaker cable connects to the right speaker, which acts as a slave. They come with a remote and in several colours.

They are available from Audio Heaven (in Aus) plus transport.

https://audioheaven.com.au/brands/aktimate-speakers/AKTIMATE-MINI-B

http://www.aktimate.com.au/minib.html

https://www.stereophile.com/content/entry-level-24-page-2


I have no financial interest, just a long time happy user. They really are a bargain.

I have the Aktimate Maxi which I liked, but they failed. Opening up you see why with the mounting of the PCBs the chassis not quite right putting flex onto one of the PCBs. I have modded it and now it is a passive pair! Hence I am also interested in a cheap mini amp for it. I am using a dodgy blutooth amp sourced from Jaycar but it seems to be a TI filterless Class D design (tried to measure it but need to make a LP filter). Hence you get HF drop off with any normal cable run (the tweeters go down after 10kHz in this setup by the measure of it).

 

[Coffee_fan]

I like "lightweight" amps. I am tired of hauling around heavy things. If it was for quality, possibly the California Audio Labs CL-2500 is a great 5 channel amp, but even though its sound may be great, I would hate it in the long run due to its weight.