Fosi Audio V3 Amplifier Review

[peng]

@peng
Both...

I only have 1 that came with 48 V, the other has the 32 V. You make me want to open them up now lol..

 

[stoyansbg]

With the current 20% discount at Fosi Audio I'm tempted to just buy a dedicated USB-C DAC with 2V max RMS to go with my V3. Which one of their current line of DACs do you think would work best? I'm more interested in quality than features.

 

[antcollinet]

With the current 20% discount at Fosi Audio I'm tempted to just buy a dedicated USB-C DAC with 2V max RMS to go with my V3. Which one of their current line of DACs do you think would work best? I'm more interested in quality than features.

None of them have been measured here. But with the current state of things with DACS I very much doubt you'll be able to hear any difference between them.

Just go with the features/price that works for you.

What are you currently using as source for your V3?

 

[stoyansbg]

None of them have been measured here. But with the current state of things with DACS I very much doubt you'll be able to hear any difference between them.

Just go with the features/price that works for you.

What are you currently using as source for your V3?

I am not actively using it, yet. Getting the pieces together still. My main source would probably be an iPhone (FLAC/ALAC music played with Plexamp). I tested it with a cheap Bluetooth Mii receiver but that doesn't have sufficient output level.

I was going to test whether the Apple lightning dongle will have sufficient output level for the V3 to drive my custom-built Visaton Alto II speakers, but haven't gotten around to doing it.

Now that I think of it, a Bluetooth receiver with decent preamp with solid 2V RMS may work better with a phone as a source. Do phones send the audio already decoded to analogue signal by the phone's DAC and encoded just for Bluetooth transmission or is the digital audio sent and the Bluetooth receiver still needing an integrated DAC?

 

[Juampa1989]

The answer is both, it depends on the phone's output codecs, the iPhone uses the AAC or SBC codec, the receiver's Bluetooth must be able to work with those codecs, both codecs are lossy. So you could stream music with Spotify quality. Tidal quality would not be necessary. Now with cable it changes because there you could take advantage of a better audio format as long as you notice the difference. Personally, I only distinguish the quality of ytmusic. So using a platform that uses a higher bit rate is not something I take advantage of. If so, you could use the smsl c100 dac that outputs 2 vrms and uses sbc codec. Now if you had an Android phone, it may support LDAC codec and AptX HD codec, so I would recommend a Fiio Bta30 Pro. And if it would be worth using tidal, apple music, etc. To take advantage of the bit rate.

 

[Juampa1989]

The fiio bta30 pro does not have a remote control, it is controlled with a knob and I do not recommend leaving it at maximum with the fosi v3 because the vrms is 3 and cuts. I hope I turn the knob to 3/4 of the maximum. As for the SMSL C100, it has a remote control, it does not have a knob. It is 2 vrms so it can be used with the volume at maximum without clipping.

 

[antcollinet]

I am not actively using it, yet. Getting the pieces together still. My main source would probably be an iPhone (FLAC/ALAC music played with Plexamp). I tested it with a cheap Bluetooth Mii receiver but that doesn't have sufficient output level.

I was going to test whether the Apple lightning dongle will have sufficient output level for the V3 to drive my custom-built Visaton Alto II speakers, but haven't gotten around to doing it.

Now that I think of it, a Bluetooth receiver with decent preamp with solid 2V RMS may work better with a phone as a source. Do phones send the audio already decoded to analogue signal by the phone's DAC and encoded just for Bluetooth transmission or is the digital audio sent and the Bluetooth receiver still needing an integrated DAC?

Starting at the end - bluetooth is a digital signal. There is a DAC in the reciever that converts it to analogue.

The lightning dongle has been measured here - it can only put out 1V (USA Version) I believe the EU version is lower.

Something worth considering - The Wiim devices are able to receive airplay. You can send to them from your phone at lossless quality (Unlike bluetooth). The DAC output from them (except the pro +) doesn't measure the best but is still good enough to be audibly transparent in real world listening conditions. (you won't hear the limitations)

Then you could also add streaming services at a later date if you wanted to.

The Wiim mini costs $99 - and is very popular here. It will output 2V on the analogue.

WiiM Mini Review (Streamer)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Mini Wifi/Bluetooth streamer. It is on kind loan from a member and is on sale on Amazon for US $89. As you can see the former factor is a "hockey puck." An included phone charger needs to be used to power the unit over USB-C. It did not...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Amir didn't' recommend it, but only because it doesn't support roon (an odd and personal reason if you ask me)


See also

WiiM Mini | Elevate Your Audio Gear: Smart, Affordable, Effortless

Unleash the potential of your audio setup with WiiM Mini. Experience the magic of smart, affordable, and effortless upgrades that breathe new life into your beloved audio equipment.

www.wiimhome.com

 

[burkm]

Its "real" parameters seem to be somewhat worse than the V3 but it offers a 48VDC / 12A power supply option with max output.
Nothing stated about the effective handling of the temperatures of the TPA3255 chip...
Not much stated about the inerts of the amp too. Seems to be a direct opponent to the Fosi version V3 at almost same pricing niveau.
And its not a PFFT amp either (no post filter feedback), thus some effects of the speakers impedance are to be expected. But it can be switched to "Mono" with power increase.

 

[antcollinet]

Its "real" parameters seem to be somewhat worse than the V3 but it offers a 48VDC / 12A power supply option with max output.
Nothing stated about the effective handling of the temperatures of the TPA3255 chip...
Not much stated about the inerts of the amp too. Seems to be a direct opponent to the Fosi version V3 at almost same pricing niveau.
And its not a PFFT amp either (no post filter feedback), thus some effects of the speakers impedance are to be expected. But it can be switched to "Mono" with power increase.

Well that is interesting - and I still have a couple of weeks to return my V3.

The main interest here is the Mono/higher power mode. I can't find any more detail on this - do you have anything?

 

[Toku]

It seems like a product that was hastily planned after the success of Fosi V3.
It's a shame that the power supply capacitor uses a 50V withstand voltage. Switching to monaural mode has been added, but I don't think there is much of a change from the A07.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think by 11/11 we should see some new products from fosi

the 'fixed' v3 and possibly their monoblock and xlr preamp combo

here's the thread on the 737 max:

Aiyima A07 Max - Aiyima's new TPA3255 amplifier with mono/stereo output

It appears like the new Aiyima A07 MAX has made out to AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805898598328.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt It looks nicely build with quality components with additional feature than others. - It has vent holes at the bottom plate for cooling. No vents...

www.audiosciencereview.com

according them it does just about double power in mono mode

in this light it would not surprise me if Fosi bring out the same amp but with XLR and the ability to mono

 

[antcollinet]

the 'fixed' v3

What are they fixing?

 

[Talisman]

What are they fixing?

From what they wrote in some threads it seems they are trying to implement the pffb filter without increasing the distortion too much. I don't know if they will present it as a V3 pro or as another model.

 

[DSJR]

Setting these amps to mono - does it affect drive into four ohm loads, as in the past, that was the compromise around double the (voltage?) watts? Bearing in mind that many/most passive speakers today have basically a four ohm load in at least part of the audio band it seems together with experience of my own admittedly old power amps' recommendations when bridging, I'm interested...

 

[TonyJZX]

From what they wrote in some threads it seems they are trying to implement the pffb filter without increasing the distortion too much. I don't know if they will present it as a V3 pro or as another model.

i thought they were just like... adding a working preout (ie. slaved to vol.)

 

[burkm]

Fosi Audio "promised" to be working on a PFFT type version plus a mono type version of the V3 series using the TPA3255 chip.
It they will be appear for sale this year ? I don't know.
Looks like they are producing what the customers want just to get the sales number up ...

 

[Juampa1989]

Fosi Audio "promised" to be working on a PFFT type version plus a mono type version of the V3 series using the TPA3255 chip.
It they will be appear for sale this year ? I don't know.
Looks like they are producing what the customers want just to get the sales number up ...

Business is business mr business

 

[Talisman]

Fosi Audio "promised" to be working on a PFFT type version plus a mono type version of the V3 series using the TPA3255 chip.
It they will be appear for sale this year ? I don't know.
Looks like they are producing what the customers want just to get the sales number up ...

And what's strange about this? they are not a charity, they obviously produce things that they hope to sell well, the fact that they do so with performance and good engineering in mind is a great credit

 

[musicforcities]

FYI: ordered one of these with the 48v power supply from fossi’s ebay storefront, new for $80 (put item on my watchlist and fossi sent an offer.

$80…

I will compare it to my ayima a07(though that has the smaller power supply)

For grins and giggles, I will also try the v3 in my main system with relatively low sensitivity 8ohm nominal mirage mrm-1 speakers, and with a pair of. jbl studio 530. The former has a dip at around 3500-6000hz (that old ‘British” presence region dip that tends to create a very deep soundstage), but the impedance also spikes in that range.

Be interesting to see how the amp and mrm1 work together given the amps frequency dependency and load vs power.
The speakers are small and work fine with lower wattage amps at low volumes, but at higher levels the 5,25” mid-woofer wants all the power and damping you can feed it in order for the low miss and lows to be tight and extend properly down to 60-80hz. So no, not the best pairing but maybe the frequency dependency will be informative..

Plus I can’t help trying out an $80 amp with $3000+ speakers.

 

[Juampa1989]

FYI: ordered one of these with the 48v power supply from fossi’s ebay storefront, new for $80 (put item on my watchlist and fossi sent an offer.

$80…

I will compare it to my ayima a07(though that has the smaller power supply)

For grins and giggles, I will also try the v3 in my main system with relatively low sensitivity 8ohm nominal mirage mrm-1 speakers, and with a pair of. jbl studio 530. The former has a dip at around 3500-6000hz (that old ‘British” presence region dip that tends to create a very deep soundstage), but the impedance also spikes in that range.

Be interesting to see how the amp and mrm1 work together given the amps frequency dependency and load vs power.
The speakers are small and work fine with lower wattage amps at low volumes, but at higher levels the 5,25” mid-woofer wants all the power and damping you can feed it in order for the low miss and lows to be tight and extend properly down to 60-80hz. So no, not the best pairing but maybe the frequency dependency will be informative..

Plus I can’t help trying out an $80 amp with $3000+ speakers.

Please, after taking the test, if you can comment on your observations, sharing experiences enriches knowledge.