Fosi Audio V3 Amplifier Review

[Zek]

I don't see anything wrong on this picture...

 

[SuperDerpBro]

 

[burkm]

That is my problem too. I don't see it, probably because the amps front is not parallel to the picture sides ?
Is the volume knob slightly "slanted" mounted ? Really hard to see...
To state "its clear..." is not true at least for me...

Note: I am reading a lot about the "30-day return period" after sales. Did you take that into account: Just return the "defective" amp within the stated period and order a new one ?

 

[Mordor]

The problem with many chinese products, is the quality control.....sometimes is horrible.

This is one of the cases.....

 

[-Jim-]

It's pretty clear in most of the pictures provided. If you cannot see it, iduno what to tell you. It's pretty clear.

https://imgur.com/6Yz3W6X

It looks a bit worse in person.

It's only $100, I'll move on. Probably (honestly) sell it on FB market for $50.

Never buying Chifi again though. I had a problem with a tb10d as well. Though, they did eventually send me a replacement after 7000 emails.

Guess I'll try a Yamaha R-S202 factory direct refurb for this setup.. though I did want it to be small. :/

@SuperDerpBro Are you in Metro Vancouver? If so I'll give you $50 for it with the 48 volt power supply. I'm not put off by the bent pot.

 

[TonyJZX]

The problem with many chinese products, is the quality control.....sometimes is horrible.

This is one of the cases.....

QA/QC is one thing but its also how they deal with post sales

even a brand as vaunted as Fosi seems to regress back to their Sino ways... do you expect any western company to ask customers to... and I quote... "stick it into a vice"

lol is this real life???

a normal friggin' company would ask for this back and a new unit to be sent to the customer and then some investigation into how this left the factory like that

but nah... let's just screw the customer and bury our heads in the sand... tell me a more chinese way.... i'll wait

 

[boz]

Hello welcome!
In my opinion, you should try it a little more. According to what I have read, this amplifier with a 32v source gets a little happier after 2 or 3 o'clock, then the differences with the Aiyima begin to be felt.

I know I'm coming back a while after I sent my original message, but want to say I'm very happy with the amp now and think it sounds great!, thanks for the encouragement to stick with it a little bit more ; )

 

[-Jim-]

Gents, let's not post racist comments. These are just companies who may not perform as you'd like.

I know dealing in items for warranty coverage overseas is a risk we take to get items for the lowest cost. (yes- I too have bought the odd thing direct from China with mixed results.) Blame the company not the Chinese. Would you hurl insults at all Americans if you were having warranty difficulties with your new Ford F-150? I think not.

 

[burkm]

That is probably the way Chinese customers are treated too. I don't think, that they care about this 100$ amp as much because of cost considerations.

Those foreign customers may be thousands of miles away and present arguments, which local customers might not present at all. I myself had problems in identifying anything really wrong with the unit when looking at the photos provided, although they should be "clearly" showing the defect stated. One must consider the situation they are in then: low cost product with an unclear (at least for me) "defect" wanting a new unit in exchange for what they got (free of charge). Sending back the "defective" unit and delivering a new unit in exchange might proof to be quite expensive (I don't really know, how the international transports back and forth are calculated). This might have to be calculated already into the sales price as western companies do or not. Considering those costs might lead to the expected result "...they don't really care", because new sales will probably not happen in the near future anyway, thus an exchange for a new product will not happen.
There is no general audience, who would care about the comments and steps taken, like on "ebay" or "amazon" etc. and no real penalty in "letting it go...".

@SuperDerpBro
If Your response to that story is " I never buy ChiFi again..." that's fine with me, although most of those stories and corresponding reactions have been known before as that is the "real" risk in dealing with Chinese sellers.

 

[SimpleTheater]

On a separate note, are all amps that measure at 1 kHz the same? A 50 watt Yamaha blowing this 85+ watt amp out of the water on pure power?

Start watching at the 11 min 10 sec mark

 

[Joe Smith]

On a separate note, are all amps that measure at 1 kHz the same? A 50 watt Yamaha blowing this 85+ watt amp out of the water on pure power?

Start watching at the 11 min 10 sec mark

He never shows the Fosi power supply on the video that I can see - I'm thinking he was using the 32v supply, not the 48...which would negate all of his gripes about power...

 

[wpo7]

He never shows the Fosi power supply on the video that I can see - I'm thinking he was using the 32v supply, not the 48...which would negate all of his gripes about power...

did you watch the video ? he clearly goes into buying the 48v option

 

[Juampa1989]

How many vrms does the maximum input have on the analog inputs? , so I see which dac to buy. And what happens if I feed it less vrms?

 

[Joe Smith]

did you watch the video ? he clearly goes into buying the 48v option

No, didn't watch all of it...it's so very long...must have missed that. Well, anyway, I don't disagree that for folks wanting to play at very high volume levels, there are better choices that the $100 class D amps, but they are fine for low to moderate music volume levels.

 

[Guddu]

On a separate note, are all amps that measure at 1 kHz the same? A 50 watt Yamaha blowing this 85+ watt amp out of the water on pure power?

Start watching at the 11 min 10 sec mark

Good tests but he just said 5A power supply a few times, don’t think he ever said 32v or 48v. He probably have 32v that comes with amp as default on purchase.
Correction: He actually shows PSU in the beginning and shows 48v PSU.
But anyways, What does it mean in real world, That Fosi v3 can not play music to not-so-high levels???
Everyone knows that power figures provided for such chip amplifiers aren’t true in practice, and that there are limitations for sure. But we also have many different measurements available which tells close enough information.
I think every one would at least agree that these TPA3255 amps are great value for it’s price.
No one is stopping anyone from buying expensive bulky amplifier if they need for there use.

Add: I just tested my Aiyima A07 Pro (running with 36v PSU) playing Elac DBR62 to 85 - 90 db for 5+ minutes, approx 2.5 meters from speakers, with iphone app called decibel x. No issues.

 

[wpo7]

No, didn't watch all of it...it's so very long...must have missed that. Well, anyway, I don't disagree that for folks wanting to play at very high volume levels, there are better choices that the $100 class D amps, but they are fine for low to moderate music volume levels.

yes he went into at the beginning, his humour is a little dry and meandering when you're looking for basic info only.

 

[mike70]

it will be good to have ASR measurements of any of that yamaha amplifiers

 

[Hellboy.]

It's pretty clear in most of the pictures provided. If you cannot see it, iduno what to tell you. It's pretty clear.

https://imgur.com/6Yz3W6X

It looks a bit worse in person.

It's only $100, I'll move on. Probably (honestly) sell it on FB market for $50.

Never buying Chifi again though. I had a problem with a tb10d as well. Though, they did eventually send me a replacement after 7000 emails.

Guess I'll try a Yamaha R-S202 factory direct refurb for this setup.. though I did want it to be small. :/

I can clearly see the bent and they should have send you a new one without excuse.

 

[saberger0357]

I told them that I would like to return it, and they told me to put it in a vice and bend it back..

That is unacceptable. I would contact them again and let them know that, and that you simply want to return it for refund. If they say no, contact your credit card company and stop payment. Did you buy direct? If so, contact your credit card company and stop payment.

This all said, making generalizations about these companies not caring about their products because they're inexpensive is a gross inaccuracy AFAIC. I've contacted a few of them over various questions, and they have never been less then helpful, quick to respond, and always encourage me to continue to contact them if I had any further questions or issues. I've had no operational issues with any of the several products I've purchased from them over the last year. This problem with the knob seems like an extremely minor one to me(I'm quite sure I would've never noticed it if it happened to me) but certainly the company has an obligation to make things right so that the consumer is happy with their purchase. It makes good business sense. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a misunderstanding of some sort here, perhaps language related. But I would give them another chance to do the right thing, and then go from there.

My .02.

 

[SuperDerpBro]

I responded to their email telling me to bend it.. asking how to return it, and got this.

Hi REDACTED,
You can pry the potentiometer rod straight down by a flat-blade screwdriver. Please check the attached video to try.
Please remember that all our products come with a robust 24-month warranty, and we genuinely stand behind our offerings. We genuinely hope you'll give it a try, and we're here to support you every step of the way.

My response was to, once again, ask how to return it.