Fosi Audio V3 Mono Amplifier Review

[Bleib]

they suddenly added the MC101 that no one asked for so i reckon they could add VUs and trim knobs on the next one

Fosi Audio MC101 Bluetooth Stereo Amplifier with VU Meter

Crafted for music lovers, this VU meter amplifier harmoniously combines retro charm with contemporary design. Dive into the HiFi world with its superior sound quality and a powerful output of 200W. Experience a musical journey through time, where nostalgia harmonizes with audio perfection.

fosiaudio.com

Hah, this looks really cool, quite steam punkish

 

[OldTimer]

Still not found in the market. Is it still on schedule?

 

[jvdburgt]

Depends on what you call a preamp. If no phono stage is needed then pretty much any modern DAC with volume control will do. No hole in the marketplace there.

Why I don’t hear anyone here talking about good ol’ receivers? I’m gonna hook up these puppies to a Marantz SR6012

 

[OldTimer]

Why I don’t hear anyone here talking about good ol’ receivers? I’m gonna hook up these puppies to a Marantz SR6012

You will need 9 units of the V3 mono to amplify all pre-out channels of the receiver.

 

[Rafaille]

Why I don’t hear anyone here talking about good ol’ receivers? I’m gonna hook up these puppies to a Marantz SR6012

Careful you will get a lot of criticism, this thing is modern, unreliable and dangerous for your electrical system
Again, any DAC, and by 'modern' I meant that can output >1 A via RCA (or >2V via XLR/TRS) and has some sort of volume control will do.
So your receiver is fine indeed, just get as many monoblocks as channels you want amplified.

 

[mosco]

¿Por qué no oigo a nadie aquí hablar de buenos receptores? Voy a conectar estos cachorros a un Marantz SR6012

¿Cómo gestiona un AV la energía a través de una salida previa cuando mide con Audessy?

 

[OldTimer]

Careful you will get a lot of criticism, this thing is modern, unreliable and dangerous for your electrical system
Again, any DAC, and by 'modern' I meant that can output >1 A via RCA (or >2V via XLR/TRS) and has some sort of volume control will do.
So your receiver is fine indeed, just get as many monoblocks as channels you want amplified.

I have the original V3, bought last year. Still haven’t found any problem. Nicely sing the song loud and clear.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Different sources will have different starting gain levels, so the amount of gain at the power amp should vary as well to balance things out. My multimode preamp, for example, has a passive mode and a unity gain solid state buffer mode, but the tube buffer mode has a big gain, it’s nice to have only 20db gain on the balanced input of the V3 Mono since I do my critical listening in tube buffer mode. Granted, when using solid state buffer mode, I will simply turn the volume up on my preamp to compensate for background/casual listening, but in those situations, I don’t tend to raise the volume as high as I do in critical listening anyway.

-Ed

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to answer.

I’m still list, though. Surely the very specific +21 and +35 are for two very specific instances.

 

[sikahr]

For the reference Fosi V3 Mono Rated power @ 48V PSU

 

[SMen]

Same here, and I think we'll get it, it's been what 24 hours since the Kick Starter campaign opened and it's already funded to $210K out of the $300K

I just hope they include a pair of opamps per mono block.

Do you get all the tool kit, cables and opamps if it hits $300K?

I'm not sure what the benefit is of just one op amp.
Except on the single to balanced conversion.
This is presuming one per amp, and not one per order.
Anyone wanting to try these on the balanced inputs would need therefore to buy another 2 or 3!
Some confusion here @Fosi Audio

 

[amix]

(2nd part)

Better put that into a spoiler ;-)

 

[jvdburgt]

You will need 9 units of the V3 mono to amplify all pre-out channels of the receiver.

Just the fronts and the center speaker

Surrounds are fine with the internal amp

 

[Adrian Parker]

More on OpAmps, live review of ZA3 by @VirtualHiFi

Sound difference between stock opamps and Sparkos night and day, in my opinion, and that of many others too.

Fosi ZA3 + Sparkos Op-amp - The real deal - Don't miss out !!! Interested in Sparkos Opamps - visit www.sparkoslabs.com

"Fosi is a great little amp that can put many multiple thousand $$$ to real shame. The TPA3255 which is a heart of this amplifier is my favorite D-class Amp chip. It's dynamic, fast and tight, but also has the most wonderful midrange that I like even more than most class AB amps. So how about upgrading it with one of the finest Op-amps - Sparkos Labs SS3602. This is a fully discrete op-amp and the combo is amazing. What's better than me saying it ? You being able to hear it yourself."

In this video is a demo of the Fosi ZA3 with standard opamps and with Sparkos Labs SS3602.
Over 20 minutes of sound demo for you across different genres so that you can enjoy and make up your mind
0:00 - The Sparkos & The Fosi
2:41 - How to replace the Op-amps
10:27 - One more trick - even less Op-amps needed
14:15 - All that you are - Elvin Vanguard
15:45 - Purple Beach - Giants’ nest
17:15 - Monsoons - Johannes Bornlof
18:45 - The Last Kiss - Ritchie Everett
20:15 - Love You For It All - Daniel Gunnarsson
21:45 - Wood & Skin - Hara Node
23:15 - Something new - Anthony Lazaro feat Sarah Kang (Korean Version)
24:45 - Folium - Bladverk Band
26:15 - Air on the G String - Johannes Bornlof
27:45 - Coming Home Blues - Bo the Drifter
29:15 - Intimacy - Alex Kehm
30:45 - I Am Better Off (Jazz version) - Wildson
32:15 - Wandering Nomad - Cody Francis
33:45 - Virga - Bladverk Band
35:15 - The One - Ritchie Everett
36:45 - Conclusions

​

 

[somebodyelse]

Sound difference between stock opamps and Sparkos night and day, in my opinion, and that of many others too.

In sighted tests without level matching no doubt. Now try level matched and without peeking.

 

[olieb]

Sound difference between stock opamps and Sparkos night and day

Oh the old "night an day" story again.
In fact it is Sparkos trying to cash in on the V3mono hype by pulling the fomo trigger.

 

[Sokel]

More on OpAmps, live review of ZA3 by @VirtualHiFi

Sound difference between stock opamps and Sparkos night and day, in my opinion, and that of many others too.

Fosi ZA3 + Sparkos Op-amp - The real deal - Don't miss out !!! Interested in Sparkos Opamps - visit www.sparkoslabs.com

"Fosi is a great little amp that can put many multiple thousand $$$ to real shame. The TPA3255 which is a heart of this amplifier is my favorite D-class Amp chip. It's dynamic, fast and tight, but also has the most wonderful midrange that I like even more than most class AB amps. So how about upgrading it with one of the finest Op-amps - Sparkos Labs SS3602. This is a fully discrete op-amp and the combo is amazing. What's better than me saying it ? You being able to hear it yourself."

In this video is a demo of the Fosi ZA3 with standard opamps and with Sparkos Labs SS3602.
Over 20 minutes of sound demo for you across different genres so that you can enjoy and make up your mind
0:00 - The Sparkos & The Fosi
2:41 - How to replace the Op-amps
10:27 - One more trick - even less Op-amps needed
14:15 - All that you are - Elvin Vanguard
15:45 - Purple Beach - Giants’ nest
17:15 - Monsoons - Johannes Bornlof
18:45 - The Last Kiss - Ritchie Everett
20:15 - Love You For It All - Daniel Gunnarsson
21:45 - Wood & Skin - Hara Node
23:15 - Something new - Anthony Lazaro feat Sarah Kang (Korean Version)
24:45 - Folium - Bladverk Band
26:15 - Air on the G String - Johannes Bornlof
27:45 - Coming Home Blues - Bo the Drifter
29:15 - Intimacy - Alex Kehm
30:45 - I Am Better Off (Jazz version) - Wildson
32:15 - Wandering Nomad - Cody Francis
33:45 - Virga - Bladverk Band
35:15 - The One - Ritchie Everett
36:45 - Conclusions

​

​

No measurements whatsoever.
Are we seriously still talking about this channel?
After all they have stated all this time?

 

[SMen]

In sighted tests without level matching no doubt. Now try level matched and without peeking.

Yes, there is no doubt that we tend to prefer higher gain when doing a comparison.

 

[Sokel]

In sighted tests without level matching no doubt. Now try level matched and without peeking.

Or they can just record the two versions directly at the output of the amp,electrically (whole song) and upload them.
Deltawave will tells us the story from then on.

 

[amix]

I have a WiiM too, but just in case the device resets itself or something else bad happens, you suddenly blow your speakers up with so much watts.

Right.

A proper setup always has a preamplifier. Everything else is a hack to save money.

 

[Dr. Noooooo]

Better put that into a spoiler ;-)

Well it’s easy to just listen the track and check your findings later. However, sloppy job with the channels does kind of ruin that part of the test and make it harder to tell whether there’s actual discrepancies in the sound itself (unless you are willing to listen them in mono). Also such short samples played in continuous sequence doesn’t make it easy for comparison purposes either (e.g. there’s different passages such as dynamics and/or instrumentation, vocals vs. no vocals etc. in the song and the switches fall in between them).