Thanks to Harry's for sponsoring! Make sure you check out the Shave and Suds bundle through the link harrys.com/cheapaudioman Buy V3 Mono on Kickstarter: fosiaudio-inc.kckb.me/abbf87bd V3 Mono Landing Page: bit.ly/fosiaudiov3mono
I just got mine hooked up to my Markaudio chr-120 in decware horn dna horns. Switched from Aiyima a07 and the difference is night and day. Not only is there more volume but it is incredibly detailed in comparison and imaging is off the charts. I had been planning on building new speakers but this has brought me the sound I was craving.
Li ho collegati ad una coppia di Chario DELPHINUS MKII e devo dirvi...suono favoloso bassi medi acuti...non serve spendere di piu' ..! Forse in futuro per divertirmi ne acquistero altri due per fare la biamplificazione❤. Paolo from florence italy
Great Review, just wanted to let you know that FOSI is having quality control issues. There have been numerous reports of issues with the ZA3 and I experienced one of them. I purchased a ZA3 from their initial offering and then I like it so much, I purchased a 2nd from the their 3rd (i believe) run so that I can run them as Mono blocks. I connected them to my preamp so I set them both to Max Volume. Well newest ZA3 is putting out about 75% of the wattage as the old one. I reached out to customer suppport and this is yet unresolved.
keep trying. I'd always buy through amazon though too as you have their customer support and you can leave feedback on the product. seems like nothing gets a company's attention faster than a 1 star review. I've heard good things about their customer service though. if you still can't get a resolution on it then let me know somehow and I'll send a message over to them
You have NO quality control "issue". Between different runs, they will take whatever chips are available, and different chips will have different programming and parameters, meaning, they will be DIFFERENT chips. These are NOT the old analogue days, when transistors would match, and resistors would be inserted to match levels! If you do not match the amps to exactly equal versions, you are in a mammary-glands up position!
Separate power supplies make sense for a variety of reasons. One practical logistical reason is when your monoblocks are located a large distance apart.
This is how the U.S. was in the 1960s before the U.S. began specifying RMS or peak. You can just always assume RMS is 1/2 of whatever China is stating it is and you will be within 10% of accurate. That's exactly what we had to do in the 1960s here in the good 'ole USA.
Thanks Randy! I was wondering when you would get a pair of these, so that means we will be able to purchase real soon! I have a single ZA3 running a pair of the Magnepan LRS+ speakers, and the little Fosi did not have any issues, it drove them easily without even breaking a sweat. No distortion at high volume, incredible separation and it simply sounded very very good. My only complaint, is the dimensionality of the amp, but that is an inherent issue with all Class D amps. The Class D amps are very two dimensional, vs a Class A/B and its 3 dimensionality. But, I will be purchasing a pair of these Fosi V3 mono blocks, as they are just simply too cool not to own.
that's bananas you can drive Maggies with these. I heard a great podcast from John Darko about THD. I think if an amp has really low thd and doesn't have a lot of even order harmonics it reduces the 3 dimentiality of the sound. in the race to the lowest THD I think some companies have forgotten that some even order harmonics (distortion) is actually a very good thing. tube folks have known about it for years and care not about measurements
@@cheapaudioman So true on the THD and "distortion". I run a pair of the Zu DW6 Supremes with a 10w tube amp and they sound incredible. But, back to the Maggies, yes this silly little ZA3 did not even flinch or even get warm after around two hours of listening, which really impressed me. I then drug out my 800 pound first gen Emotiva XPA2, the Fosi went back in the box. That old Emotiva amp will simply not go away.
@@cheapaudiomanThat's the reason why you can add even order harmonics with ESS DAC's. Not every manufacturer implemented that functionality but it's there.
@@michaelkaiser5994 I have had folks tell me these first gen XPA amps are not musical. I had the Parasound A23+ in here, and actually prefer the sound out of the XPA. I also had one of Emo's new DR2-XPA units, and it sounded sterile and lifeless, like a Class D amp. I then went to Zu speakers and had no real need for these amps, as I went to tubes. But, I keep that old XPA2 in the house, it is one of those, "In an Emergency, Break Glass" pieces of gear I feel I must keep.
They actually listened to the 3255 cult ,had this running for a year. My Diy disabled budget, hi tech 2.1 system, is quite adequate accurate and loud as car systems . Ooh the look in their eyes. Priceless!
I have 2 of the Aiyima A07 Max's running a set of Delcoid LM-1 satellites and matching sub. The sub is a pain to run but these work nicely. The amps seem a bit treble forward but I can deal with it. That said, I think I'll be going back to a class A/B amp soon.
@@SlotHits777What I'm running is a sub/sat system...into the sub and out to the sats. This isn't a sloppy POS sub. These speakers are over 40 yrs old and now would now cost about $7k to $8k. I used to drive them with a GAS Ampzilla. The Aiyima amps DO sound good and they drive the sub with no issues. I just prefer the sound of an A/B amp.
Great review, V3 Mono's with Sparkos Op Amps? Also how's the gain compared to the ZA3? I'm considering using my current ZA3's (with Sparko's) to drive the bass units on my Martin Logans and getting a pair of V3 Mono's to drive the Stat panels, obviously the Sparko's would be better used in the V3 Monos.
I love the dbX app. Mine says 100db with the monoblocks ,line amplifier to compensate for 3db loss of fmod 70hz hipass . My room is equal to an imax 2.1, I realize pride is wrong, but I am proud of my diy/pro home system. I pushed the boundary of phone driven system
I love the grin when he's expecting it to distort and it doesn't. What do you do with the power brick? In my mind, this is an easy insertion into an existing setup, then gradually deal with DAC and streamer(s). I guess I can use gaffer tape to hide the amps on the back of the speakers...
I just received my pair today, they sound remarkably good. There’s something different that I can’t put my finger on, maybe I’m just so used to my big class B NAD power amp with all its bouncy smashing dynamics. Curious to the changes that the different op amps and amp chip would make. I’m running mine with an Audio Alchemy Dac, NAD C162 Preamp, a pair of Paradigm Studio 20 v1’s and a Hsu 8” sub. Impressive little amps!
Awesome ! Perhaps you could persuade them to make an equally high quality FM Tuner/Pre to drive them, w/presets !! Big Fan of your Channels & Patience (watched Live Stream yesterday) !!
Utilizing a reasonably good sounding Tube pre amp can really help to overcome some of the ( very few) shortcomings of this amplifier. Currently I am listening to the Aiyma 6A2 pre amplifier, with a pair of Nobsound G2 pro mono amps. This cheap little pre amp delivery the holographic image lacking from the already decent soundstage the tp3255 amps are known to produce. Add's a bit of magic, presence... mid range bliss and with a lot more ( noise free ) gain. Oh.. and don't forget to power the whole kit with lithium polymer batteries.. I use a set of 6s 5000mAh 90c lipos for the main channel amps , and an additional 3s 5000mAh to power the pre amp. Heaven for peanuts
The usual Fosi launch....not a single bad comment despite the issue they admit to having with the noise when running them off a single psu. As if volume is any type of test of sound quality!! Needs xlr for mono blocks cos you want them closer to the speakers
Found your channel while searching infos for my 5.1 living room setup. I'm not a hifi voodoo fanatic, so your content is what I like. There will be a AVR as a preamp but what would you chose for FCR power amps? Speakers specs, listening distance and loudness almost exactly like in your setup used in this video. 3x Fosi V3 Mono's (240W @ 4Ohms) or 2xCrown XLS 1002(350W @ 4Ohms)/ 1502 (525W @ 4Ohms)? Greetings from Germany!
Topping just launched the B200 a 200W class AB power monoblock with S/N 145dB and same for dynamics. At US599 , this would be hard to beat as it can drive almost any speaker with 200W into 4/8 ohms. I would be interested to see if it can improved with a better power supply.
Fun video, Randy. That’s a lot of amp for $270 for the two? I definitely laughed at the commercial. That’s the way to do it! I would even consider buying Harry’s. I want to be exfoliated.
Hoping you would compare the XLR and RCA outputs. My ZA3 with 3 Sparko's opmaps XLR output sounds way better than the RCA outputs. If possible could you please A/B the outputs on the ZA3 and the Z3 mono blocks. Being the owner of the Z3 and the ZA3 with 3 Sparko's opamps some A/B testing of the XLR/RCA outputs would be helpful for persons who might be considering purchasing the Z3 monoblocks.
I ordered 2 of these amps after watching your review but have not received them. I reached out to Fosi and have been given 3 different dates that they would ship and after that just tried to cancel my order. Their customer service has been horrendous and I'm starting to think its a scam.
Got up early to hit the Kick Starter Fosi V3 Early Bird and landed a pair of V3's with PSUs (and a free tshirt before their Kick Starter early bird sold out, it sold out in about 30 minutes, amazing! Can't wait to get these, going to go full XLR, now just need to decide which XLR preamp (with tone controls) to get, perhaps the Douk Audio T8 PRO, just not sure I want the tubes. 🤔
I have an Audiolab 6000A, could I use a pair of these with it? I'm not really sure how the setup works. The Audiolab 6000A has an integrated amp, pre power mode and power mode. Any information would be appreciated. I'm using Focal Chora 806 speakers and a REL T/Zero MK III subwoofer.
Be nice to know how they perform with more subtle sonic characteristics, detail, imaging etc.. My old 150w p/c power amp also pumps hard, but it's not the best in all areas.
Hey, now that I'm thinking about this: What other device would do a better job of amplification, at any price, below the tested output of 88 dB? I'm literally thinking this is the best dB/$ (full stop) at any price, no? (I'm assuming I will get heat sink off Amazon for $-nothing.) The only other value-added component in the chain is the DAC, right? (Wall power...DAC...Fosi... speakers.)
@@kadajawi2But dude! That's a little more than 10x the money... But it would be fun to hear it all well enough to get picky about choices made in the recording studio. Todd Rundgren used to talk about that.
I was hoping for something like this, though not a mono variant. Give me an affordable stereo power amp so I can power my rear speakers. The regular V3 has the problem that it has a volume knob...
I will be getting 2 of these Fosi V3 Monos in a short while. Thank you so much for sharing this with us all. I don't think they should slow down their product releases, as long as their quality is high and possibly improves on previous releases. I'm glad you shared 'Harry's' products. My nickname since junior school! 😂😂 But I'm confused. You and my beard back but get sponsored by shaving products! 😂😂😂😂 Take care, brother. BTW, please share the name of your phone sonic apps, thanks.
were you using the single power with shared power cable or separate power for each amp? another channel reviewer had distortion problem quite obvious when he used one power supply, but it was fixed when used separate power supplies
@@danmarjenka6361 They did not fix it as of last month. My units came with the new "filter" but there's clearly audible distortion when only one amp is powered on.
This is going in the right direction though I'd rather see a dual mono design like this in a 3/4 or full sized component chassis with the PS built in because what good is one and at this kind of power the small foot print doesn't make any sense. Also I really hope Fosi has a pre-amp coming to pair with this, 3-4 inputs, subwoofer out and a remote would be perfect.
What has a fuller sound, two of these in mono or one Schiit Gjallarhorn? I'm considering this for nearfield for a Desktop setup, my listening levels are not that high.
Does anyone know if you can order a second PSU for these, so that I can locate each amp behind their respective speaker without having to use the 'Y' cable?
AV amps can use plenty of surround channels. I've ordered 4 and want an additional 2 for a 3 way active stereo setup (separate amp for each bass, mid, tweeter, both left and right).
The Schiit audio surround pre amp called Syn for $399 has 5.1 channel pre out so would be a good option for someone wanting 120w per channel from five of these amps, and a good pre amp. No other AVR setup for under a grand (that I’m aware of) is going to be pushing out 120w per channel with all channels driven.
D-class amps of a similar power output, and modern DACs all sound the same to me. Transparent amps shouldn't sound different, or they wouldn't be transparent. I understand why so many argue otherwise - it'd be a bitter pill to swallow having invested thousands in gear, when $200 would get the same end result. That's why you won't see them volunteering blind ABX of their boutique gear vs these commodity parts. Their silver lining = expensive gear often looks so much more aesthetically pleasing, hold their value, can be more versatile and premium builds often last longer. I'm pure pragmatist though, so Fosi is a boon to my audiophile hobby. It means I can afford to spend far more money where it counts the most, on nice speakers and room treatment.
I think the issue will be volume matching because the ZA3 has the volume knob and this doesn’t. Probably some way to sort it out with the pre amp I guess.
Hi, i use an old Denon PMA 560 with Wharfedale evo 4.1 and when its on but not playing music you can hear a kind of noise like "sssss" What can i do to stop it? Thanks
For sharing my experience...I had the same problem when connected to TV.I selected to the other sources but no "ssss".I changed a new rca cables to TV and it solved!...Hope it be useful.
So if you use the splitter it's gonna have the same power as a za3 with the old power supply....so dumb. But at least you can use the ten amp on the za3 and even the old bed series now.
At Rated Power, with a 1kHz sine wave the THD = 1%? Hmmm. Good for a 1958 tube amp, I guess. At "Max Power", whatever that means (peak?), with a 1kHz sine wave, the THD = 10%!? Now that is basically laughable, and a meaningless spec. This company would be better off not trying to spin output wattage and providing a meaningful representation of output using test signal of 20-20khz at a THD level that is more along the lines of < .1%. I wonder what the rated output would be. Far lower, I am guessing.
I agree with you. 50 clean watts is still a ton of power. the power rating "fudging" is always been a thing. It still puts out enough power for almost everything.
By the time you have bought all the new updated versions all the mono blocks all the power supplies ,you could have bought a real amp in a one box solution ,even a hypex based class d
The problem with feedback is that if the fed back signal is not processed quickly enough it can smear the sound. This man is getting weirder all the time!
1 10 amp 48 volt power brick can supply 480 watts. Those monoblocks are rated by the manufacturer as each manifesting 240 watts. In order for this to be true, they would need to be 100% efficient. They’re not. They get hot. Heat is the result of electrical inefficiency. So now that we’ve unquestionably proved the manufacturer’s claims not to be accurate, one can only wonder what other inaccuracies may be made.
He’s got a great channel and provides a huge service to our hobby. It’s really important to have different approaches to products for the viewers to make the right decision for themselves.
