Verdict
As long as you do n’t get over - frantic about the claims Fosi Audio is making for the magnate turnout of the V3 , there ’s plenty to delight about the way of life this little background amplifier makes your music fathom .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Fosi Audio is not the only electronics brand founded by Shenzhen Foresight Technology Ltd , but it ’s the one most probable to resonate with those of us who take an interest in consumer - orientated audio equipment .
Since its origination in 2017 , the company has created a substantial line - up of two - channel sound merchandise , all of which have the fairly aggressive nature of their pricing in common .
So here ’s a two - transmission channel Fosi Audio product that ’s fairly aggressive in its pricing . It ’s time to find out if there ’s any more to Fosi Audio than that …
Availability
In the United Kingdom the Fosi Audio V3 stereoscopic photograph amplifier is useable for penny less than £ 100 . In the United States it trade for very virtually $ 90 , while in Australia it ’s a nominal AU$149 .
This outlay does n’t bribe you a huge amount of stuff . But that ’s partly the gunpoint – Fosi Audio forecast the V3 is absolutely pure for desktop use , which means it require to be as diminished as is realistically possible .
Design
As the verbal description desktop strongly implies , there ’s not a hatful of the Fosi Audio V3 . At just 36 x 105 x 166 mm ( HxWxD ) it ’s pretty discreet – those dimension are aid no destruction by lead the power supplying off - instrument panel where it sit in - line between the main plug and the V3 in a fairly hefty brick .
Part of the reason Fosi Audio has been capable to make the V3 so stocky is its whole - organic structure heatsink design . As well as vents on the top and the bottom of the aluminium case - piece of work , the integrality of the body mapping as a heat - sinkhole – so even when running at bigger volumes , the V3 stays nicely cool .
Dialling intensity is done using the V3 ’s single control . A ( relatively ) turgid rotary telephone dial on the fascia see volume , and also functions as a power on / off switch – there ’s a petite blue LED on the fascia too that confirm the V3 is indeed powered up . For reasons known only to itself , Fosi Audio provides an alternative control node in the publicity , bright orangish in colouration , presumably for those who find oneself the V3 ’s appearance a bit sombre .
Features
Just as with design , there ’s not a vast amount going on where feature are concerned . ‘ Just enough ’ seems a passably apt verbal description of the V3 ’s feature - set .
On the outside , the rearward panel has a single production line - degree input via stereoscopic photograph RCA socket . Output is handle by a pair of verbaliser binding posts that can accept either bare telegram or 4 mm banana plugs , and a 3.5 millimetre pre - out .
On the inside , the V3 expend judiciously stipulate and well - regarded components . Inductors are from Sumida , electrical condenser get from ELNA , NCC and WIMA , and the Class D elaboration itself is a Texas Instruments DPA3255 chipset . Fosi Audio see it can liberate as much as 600 Isaac Watts of mightiness from this organization – although obviously that ’s measured in the most favorable of conditions and with a next wind .
Out in the actual world , you should have a bun in the oven an all - in total of no more than 100 watts – which , let ’s face it , should be plenty for any naturalistic desktop covering .
Mindful of its report as a provider of DIY kits for the skilful and ambitious audiophile , Fosi Audio has included a little V3 advance way of life for the true enthusiast . The amp comes fit with NE5532 op - amps , but these can be swop by the end user for any number of different eight - bowling pin three-fold op - amps for those folks who require to make fundamental adjustments to the sound of their V3 .
Sound Quality
During the grade of this psychometric test , the Fosi amplifies a Rega CD instrumentalist , anApple MacBook Proand a pre - amplifiedCambridge Audio lazy Susan . Not all at once , though , apparently – it only has one line - layer analog input .
During the trend of this test , it amplifies – among many other thing – a vinyl copy of Unlimited Capacity for Love by Grace Jones , a standard candle of Ólafur Arnalds ’ … and They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness and aQobuzfile of Bullet of Dignity by Fat White Family . And in every instance , the V3 voice consistent and unflappable . What it does n’t sound , though , is especially powerful or in any meaningful way dynamical .
On the positive side – which is the bigger of the sides , to be fairish – the Fosi Audio is an overt and well - form listen , able to establish and control a soundstage to the power point that every strand of even a dense or complex recording is simple to be . There ’s plenty of infinite for a recording to reveal itself , and appreciable aloofness both front - to - back as well as side - to - side .
It balances the frequency range well , too , and can travel from the bottom end to the top without any particular region being over- or under - emphasised . Detail level are high at every head , and the V3 manages to express and deliver even minor , transient details as well as the more obvious , headline stuff .
It ’s hard to fluster , and controls the bottom end with sufficient succeeder that rhythmic construction is jolly decent and tempos audio realistic . It communicates well through the midrange , and there ’s enough substance to threefold sound to ensure they crunch rather than wreck .
Despite its adeptness with the finer details , though , there ’s not a slew of dynamism to the V3 sound . Everything that happens tends to bechance at a fairly logical floor of saturation – so even if the recording would like to properly charge into the final chorus after a middle eight of quiet contemplation , the Fosi Audio does n’t have the muscle to make the divergence all that patent .
In simple terms , it ’s just not all that herculean , and it certainly does n’t have the reserves to call on when the going gets raucous or dramatic .
Quite why Fosi Audio feels the need to claim the V3 can twist around out 600 watts of big businessman is , frankly , beyond me . All it does is raise a hearer ’s expectations forwards of the inevitable net ball - down . More realistic measurements , using more naturalistic power supply and speaker electrical resistance numbers , would give a better first printing – and then the V3 ’s want of unlimited oink would n’t seem like quite such a disappointment . It ’s not as if it does n’t have the necessary pizzazz to drive the sort of speakers its size of it and price suggest will be most appropriate , either …
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Should you buy it?
As long as you ’re only concerned in listening to one source of medicine at your desk , the size / execution / damage proportion of the V3 makes it a true option
It makes for a clicky headline , but the measurements Fosi Audio has deployed to arrive at this figure are n’t all that naturalistic
Final Thoughts
I ’m not sure what I was require from the Fosi Audio V3 , so I ca n’t really say whether I ’m madly surprised by it or not .
What I have learned for indisputable , though , is that Fosi Audio goes about thing the right way and is far more sincere than it is cynical in its efforts to part you from your intemperately - earned . Which means my expectations for the next small-arm of Fosi Audio equipment I encounter will be unambiguously high-pitched …
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen every organisation we refresh thoroughly over an prolonged period of metre . We practice industry stock tests to liken features in good order . We ’ll always tell you what we detect . We never , ever , accept money to review a merchandise .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance .
FAQs
Though Fosi say the amplifier has an output of 600W , in true statement its performance is no more than 100W.
