Has the King Returned? FOSI v3 Mono Review

[@scotsirish4194]

Excellent, informative video , well played SA, you cracked on and got it sorted 🖖

[@audiolife5038]

Amazing thumbnail! Irresistable. A must click!

[@carminedesanto6746]

GM ☕️…you’re a tough but fair reviewer… We’re all looking for that unicorn 🦄.

[@Lif-999]

For around £1000 that unicorn amp is, in my opinion, already here: The Purifi Eigentakt. This amp is as close as I have heard to the notional ideal of a 'piece of wire with gain' Totally load independant, utterly transparent and tons of gain. Finally!!!

[@siriosstar4789]

@ca the "Unicorn " lies in the ability to appreciate what one has and avoid the trap of ' more '. Listen with joy. avoid intellectual analysis .

[@bazzaah]

These ran my Trigon Energy quite close. In the end I prefer the Trigon's texture and smoothness, but I'd be very happy if i only had the Fosi V3 monos. Nice review!

[@Roddy451]

Another "Origami-Bonsai" amplifier... uh, pair... What rating would Helmholtz give to these things? Chunky Light Tuna or Meow Mix? Seriously, thank you for the fair review. You are very kind to the "Origami-Bonsai" class D amplifiers. Some reviewers say they were blown away by the amazing sound and power, while others say they are weak. That keeps me from spending my money on them. I see them as a small office/desk category, so they have a market.

[@scientificaudiophile]

My thoughts exactly

[@Lif-999]

Yep! Fair comment. But when I hooked up a pair of Fosi ZA3's monoblocks [the model previous to the V3 Mono's] to my monster, albeit efficient, Ditton 66 studio monitors... Well, lets just say that for the modest £250 that a pair of these cost, the sound quality and power availiblity is very good. The best £250 I have spent on a new amplifier [pair]. No contest. In fact when I recently upgraded to my 'end game' amplifier, I decided not to sell the ZA3's but to hold them in strategic reserve, in case my now main amp ever needs a service. So, don't write Fosi off entirely! The ZA3's at least, whilst being diminutive of price and footprint, are surprisingly big in sound quality. Regards.

[@TheNLHAZE]

​@scientificaudiophile please watch.kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHKVm2SdlJaoga8si=AUz28UvpBKSGKPBi

[@jimfarrell4635]

I'm waiting for mine to arrive, so I can use my Allnic Audio 300b amp and a vintage Sansui Au 7700 as preamps. I look forward to seeing what these amps can do when fed a high end signal. A Kinki EX M1 integrated with 215 watts per side into 8 ohm will provide a comparison. It's a great time to be an audiophile whether young and hungry or ancient and comfortable.

[@scientificaudiophile]

Love a classic Sansui.

[@TheNLHAZE]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHKVm2SdlJaoga8si=AUz28UvpBKSGKPBi

[@ThePierodifelice]

Good evening: accordingly to your experience do u thing fosi v3 mono beat a cheap Yamaha like As 201? TKS

[@scientificaudiophile]

No

[@HotSause]

Would love for you to venture into King of Amps territory. I'm eagerly anticipating and I think a lot of your subs would be extremely interested too.

[@scientificaudiophile]

Noted!

[@jozefserf2024]

Not only the best reviewer but the best audio channel on KZbin. SA makes the competition look pedestrian, dishonest or 1 dimensional. Or a combination of all 3. Can SA maintain this supreme standard of excellence? Can anyone?

[@KXP70]

My V3 monos get very loud on my inefficient speakers as I'm using a proper preamp that can actually feed them the needed voltage.

[@CrashTestingAudio]

What preamp?

[@KXP70]

@@CrashTestingAudio Aune S17 Pro. I have also fed the V3 monos direct from my J2S dac using my streamer to control volume.

[@CrashTestingAudio]

@@KXP70 thank you!

[@manitsony6703]

Thanks for this video..do U think with the noised psu if it was working well would it give more spl?? Assuming using one 10a psu for each speaker..then at this price point is it better to go Yamaha?? Cheap Mono blocks vs used Yamaha what would you recommend. Thanks Oh used ab amps around $150 is a better choice?

[@scientificaudiophile]

You're always going to get the best deals used. For versatility I like the Yamaha products. But if you have a small to medium sized room, under 1600 cubic feet, the Aiyima would be my go-to because of its additional features.

[@manitsony6703]

@@scientificaudiophile thanks. Looking forward for next video.

[@invisiblekid99]

Connected these to my Burson Soloist 3X GT balanced which I THINK is 5V or 6V and on high gain they are loud. But yes they do need that high input.

[@ryanchappell5962]

A preamp can and often does provide some gain, sometimes a lot of gain. The Yamaha most likely has a preamp that adds lots of gain. Most of those preamps are very expensive though. Most likely someone would use a DAC or streamer that has a higher voltage output. Fosi should make a preamp for this based on the ne5532 instead of those rediculous tubes. That way they can keep their precious sinad on the amp itself with a low gain.

[@RemontKvartir39]

привет, а как вы относитесь к готовым колонкам типа harman onyx studio 7 ? там же тоже стоят усилители d-класса и предварительный dsp?

[@scientificaudiophile]

I never heard of the Harman Onyx. I think NAD makes a class D amp with DSP.

[@D1N02]

A 10amp power supply per monoblock will get the most out of them. My money will be going to to some Hypex amplification.

[@jimfarrell4635]

My understanding is that going from 5 to 10 amps has negligible effect when tested.

[@RemontKvartir39]

у них в продаже поставляется блок питания 10 ампер на 2 усилителя v3 mono

[@markdi2]

If you connect two of them to 1 10 amp power supply it will not have enough current to drive both of them I forgot what the channel was called that tested them the amplifiers kept shutting off and turning back on when Drivin hard with one power supply who would ever connect monoblocks up to one power supply

[@willyhaug549]

Topping B200?

[@Daniel19766]

Looking to drive some bookshelf speakers on desktop for near field listening. Got any suggestions? Seems this is a Fosi v3 mono is a good option to drive them. If you agree, which power supply would you recommend?

[@scientificaudiophile]

Near field these would be great. If you don't mind using two outlets I'd get the 5amp ps for each. Fosi said the shipping models won't have the noise I heard from the 10 amp with splitter, but I haven't heard the new splitter so I don't know if they reduced the noise or eliminated it.

[@Daniel19766]

Thanks! What speakers would you recommend for this use case?

[@scientificaudiophile]

There's a lot of great speakers and so much depends on budget. Anything you can afford from KEF or Audio Craftsmen is well worth your money.

[@Daniel19766]

@@scientificaudiophile thank you!!!

[@ryanbuck9673]

Currently playing vinyl through a mid level 2000s Onkyo AVR in Direct mode through Advent Maestros. Would these be a step up if I used a refurb’ed Kenwood KA-5002 as a preamp?

[@scientificaudiophile]

I’d stick with the onkyo

[@ryanbuck9673]

⁠@@scientificaudiophileThank you. What about a Schiit Aegir 2? Certainly willing to step up in $ if worth it.

[@scientificaudiophile]

Definitely, if you don’t mind spending the money, well worth it.

[@ryanbuck9673]

Last one, Gjallarhorn able to push some 89 dBs and be a non class D option in the budget category or just go straight to the Aegir

[@Eron55555]

SA. If you had 2 of these v3 Mono's and a Emotive A2M laying around to a pair of Lintons.. What would you use?

[@scientificaudiophile]

I know darko would use the v3's. I would always choose the AB amp vs cheap chip amps.

[@ryanmccann2539]

I felt the shockwave.

[@cbayardelle]

Audioscience gave them a suberb review !

[@scientificaudiophile]

Yes, playing a 1khZ test tone also sounded superb to me.

[@Gurra1980]

​@@scientificaudiophile Whst dies this mean? That Amir is lacking in his meassurments?Does he not know what he is doing? Or are there difference in opinions between you two about this?

[@scientificaudiophile]

@@Gurra1980 No, Amir knows exactly what he's doing. But Amir follows the specs, and if the amp says send it a 4.5 volt signal, he does. I send it the voltage coming out of my equipment, because that's how most people will use it, which is about 2 volts. The sound quality is great, but with such a low voltage signal, the output power is weak.

[@Gurra1980]

@@scientificaudiophile sorry if i sound like a noob, but for the general public i think amir needs to explain this in his conclusion, your conclusion was a differnt one to his, well well its not up to you anyway amir is amir. One question for you thought, how do I know the voltage level from my dac? Does it not go up and down depending on the volume?

[@scientificaudiophile]

@@Gurra1980 Unfortunately each product works differently as there is no standards. For example, the HiFi Rose 150B puts out 6.5 volts from its balanced connections, but just 2 volts from its unbalanced. The Yamaha CD2100, which can be used as a source control, is set to 2 volts across the board. The FiiO K9 outputs at 2.4 volts.

[@GWP100]

Hi just curious. What is the max. outputlevel of the cds2100 xlr? The Yamaha has 2100 a xlr poweramp in? What inputsensivity has the Yamaha as 2100 xlr poweramp in?

[@scientificaudiophile]

CD-2100 is 1.8. A-S2100 is 2. The new Aperion Audio amp is 1.5

[@GWP100]

@@scientificaudiophile Hi, the user manual of the yamaha a-s2200 (and also A-S2100) states input sensivety balanced input 200 mV rms (1kHz, 100W / 8 Ohm). So I think there you have it the Yamaha a-s2100 / 2200 has massive gain compared to the Fosi mono v3. And the Yamaha cds 2100 has a XLR output level that is rather on the low side. What I like about the Fosi mono V3 is that the gain is around 20,5 dB. With more ordinary XLR output levels of around 4,2 V rms you get a chain with as less gain as possible. Less gain is is less distortion and better SINAD (as opposed to massive gain, potmeters etc. in the Yamaha chain).

[@scientificaudiophile]

@@GWP100 It all depends on the quality of the amp. The FOSI, even receiving a 4.5 v signal produces 1% THD at maximum output. The Yamaha produces 0.07% at maximum power. Aperion Audio’s new 850 watt into 8 ohm amp has an input sensitivity of only 1.5 volts to achieve maximum power and will only produce 0.015% THD at that level. The reason the FOSI and others require higher input voltage is the chip itself. It simply isn’t capable of higher outputs. This is a design issue. There’s far less distortion coming from the Yamaha and other quality AB amps then the chip amps.

[@GWP100]

@@scientificaudiophile Hi SA, I really appreciate your reaction. For reference of the Yamaha A-S2200 I will use measurement by ASR of the Yamaha A-S701 and of the Yamaha A-S 3200 on stereophile. For the Fosi mono V3 I will use the measurements on ASR. I don’t think that the there is an innate problem with the Fosi regarding gain. The gain is in the Fosi deliberately chosen not to cause excessive gain you normally don’t need. The gain in the opamp circuits of the Fosi could have easily been set higher. I don’t think it has anything to do with it being a “chipamp”. The Yamaha producing 0.07% THD at “max” power is a choice. When they would have given the output level at some more Watts (see fig7 measurements Yamaha AS3200 at stereophile) you would have had the max power at 1% THD. I think Yamaha has chosen to state the “max” power at 0,07 % THD because 0,07 % THD at 150 Watt “looks” better then 168 Watts at 1% THD. The Fosi generates around 220 Watt at 0.07 % THD+n and a “max” power of 243 Watt at 1% THD+n (measurements ASR). I have the Fosi mono V3 in my system since yesterday. A dac with XLR direct input to the fosi. All the gain I could need. No excess gain to be squandered later. For me it sounds very transparent. If it will last or if issues will arise? We will see. But to put the amp discussion in to perspective… The biggest improvement in sound quality I got when I freshly stripped my speaker wire after a lot of years and I finally put banana plugs on the wire. This was al in preparation for the anticipated arrival of the Fosi’s. My old amp sounded better than ever. By the way I agree with you that the Yamaha’s are very nice amplifiers. Greetings GJ

[@mooklaathegreat3662]

I enjoyed your review ( first time listener ) . It does seem odd to me however that although you know the unit is specked for a certain type preamp signal strength You seem to have insisted on basing your whole review around feeding it a different signal strength, I'm not sure why, The whole time I was waiting for you to get to the part where you fed it the full voltage to see how it actually sounded doing what it was designed to do Lol, It seems an unfair test I guess. Like taking an amp that's only rated for 2 ohm loads and reviewing it with 4 or even 8 ohm speakers, Of course it wouldn't preform well

[@scientificaudiophile]

The purpose is that very few people will ever look at what voltage they're feeding the unit. They will grab what they have on hand. Sony/Philips spec'd, for compact discs, that output for cd players of 2 volts. A lot of other products output 2 to 3 volts max. Just because these chip amps want 5 volts the majority of users will never feed them such a voltage, so in real world use, I use a CD player.

[@carminedesanto6746]

4:21 ROCK THAT BISH!😆

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Had W4S mAMPs D 420w@4ohms w LRS Upgrade 1.7is w AB SOA ll 350w@4ohms

[@scientificaudiophile]

That’s a sweet setup.

[@michaelcampbell9459]

What is AB SOA II amp and any idea how the mAMPS compare to these V3 monos?

[@jayem1826]

I have removed the Pre-Amp out of the chain. (Sometimes I do put the tube preamp in though). Makes me wonder why some preamps cost thousands

[@Draxlar]

Hello. Is Marantz PM 10 S1 a good AMP for 6000 euros?

[@scientificaudiophile]

I haven’t heard it, but Marantz is a good company. So I’d assume yes.

[@Draxlar]

@@scientificaudiophile Thank you.

[@justinmanny86]

Anybody else here get a Fosi v3 monoblock amp and received 2 Muses02 chips? I bought 2 amps so they sent 2 chips, does anyone know if the two Muses02 chips are both supposed to be installed into one amp? Or is one chip for each amp? The reason I'm asking is because when you open the amp, there's 2 chips that look like they can be replaced by the Muses02. I know this is probably stupid, but this is my first time using an opamp

[@invisiblekid99]

I THNIK if you use the RCA connections you can just replace the XLR-RCA conversion chip. If you use XLR you really need another two chips and replace the other two chips and leave the RCA one alone.

[@justinmanny86]

@@invisiblekid99 ​​⁠ I reached out to Fosi yesterday and they sent me a response with a picture saying "The op amp in position 1 serves to convert the unbalanced signal from RCA into a balanced signal. The op amps in positions 2 and 3 are responsible for adjusting the tone. If you're looking to change only one op amp, it's recommended to replace the one in position 2. However, if you replace both op amps, the effect will be more noticeable. Positions 2,3 can be replaced with different chips. You can personally experience changing different op amps and op amps in different positions to feel the changes in the sound." In the picture they sent, Position #2 is the middle chip that's next to the bro 2200uf 63v capacitor.

[@clarencehoover6748]

Burnt Orange Man… Always Good.

[@iamamadman6542]

1:05 NOT A HOBBY! You're damn right!

[@siriosstar4789]

@iamnot,,,, IMO , more like a pathological obsession to SOME. The need of ' More ' obstructs the inherent joy at any level of consciousness .

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Modwright test speaker is Magnepan 1.7i

[@sloboat55]

I felt that shock wave. I thought it was gas.

[@noturnleftunstoned72]

lol, nice "Dark Side Of The Bish" pic. I smell merch!

[@scientificaudiophile]

Bish makes bank on merch

[@Ab20222]

Dr. Quasi Evil of the HiFi World…

[@jamesdambra6007]

I can get around buying an amp with an external power supply.

[@QOTSAPT]

you went all out the video and audio quality is so poor that it is actually good.

[@PentaAudio]

SA thoughts on skibidi biden?

[@scientificaudiophile]

None. I always vote for the audiophile in a Presidential race.

[@jedi-mic]

Make us a member then

[@BoRerunn]

Amazing video ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ What is your thoughts on Gan Fet amps like a Peachtree or Orchard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@scientificaudiophile]

Haven't heard them yet. Sorry

[@wa2368]

But, Scientific Audiophile, can it run a Magnepan?? That's the question...

[@scientificaudiophile]

Of course not. Nothing can properly run a Magnepan.

[@ryanchappell5962]

You only listened to this for 50 hours?

[@scientificaudiophile]

50 thousand!

[@ryanchappell5962]

@@scientificaudiophile ah my mistake, I should have assumed you would be thorough.

[@jayem1826]

Let's see. There's you, your dad and your mom. Who are the other seats for? 😅

[@scientificaudiophile]

My parents friends.

[@zbyslaw50000]

But they are closing the gap rapidly 🔥

[@lau1812]

Don’t understand your logic of not using a pre amp which is very basic in most systems.

[@scientificaudiophile]

You should watch 4 minutes and 20 seconds into the video.

[@javierazagrahernandez2598]

A lot of bla bla bla. Nothing interesting.

[@scientificaudiophile]

Now you understand the channel.

[@pfslik]

ALL class D amps sound like craaaap. Get yourself a cheap vintage class A/B and you will be much happier.

[@scientificaudiophile]

Agreed

[@justinmanny86]

What's a good vintage class A/B amplifier to look into?

[@pfslik]

@@justinmanny86 There are a plethora of used options on market place and ebay. Brands Like Yamaha, Onkyo/Integra, Kenwood, TEAC, Denon, Sony, Marantz, even Nakamichi. Just keep in mind that vintage amps are analog and also, will not have a subwoofer pre-out. If you plan to use digital music or stream content, you will need a DAC (digital to analog converter). There are many different types/brands of DACs also. Right now, I'm using an Arylic S50 pro+ DAC because is uses the ESS Sabre DAC chipset (which I think sounds great) and has a sub-out and a remote with bass/treble control. You can also readily find newer, class A/B integrated amps that have all the bells and whistles, but whistles cost $ :)

[@scientificaudiophile]

@@justinmanny86 Any Sansui or Technics are very good.

[@mattmiller4978]

I'm going to settle this once an for all by getting both a class A and class AB amp. I have 5 class D's that I think sound great. But need to know how an amp built like a microwave oven sounds.

[@user-jn9dl9px6r]

Stop wasting your time

[@scientificaudiophile]

Don’t like cheap class D amps?