DAC/PRE/MONOBLOCKS UNDER £500 | Fosi Audio ZD3 & V3 Monos
Fosi Audio have launched their first DAC, and monoblock versions of the V3 amp that I liked so much. But can a DAC/Pre/Monoblock package for £500 be any good?
Link to sponsor’s webpage:
Link to manufacturers website:
Fosi Audio ZD3 Fully Balanced Desktop DAC
Fosi Audio V3 Mono Power Amplifier for Home Audio Speakers, Mini Monoblock Class D Amp
Link to my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/abritishaudiophile
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Time stamps:
0:00 Intro
1:46 Fosi Audio ZD3 DAC
7:25 Fosi Audio V3 Monoblocks
14:06 Outro
#DACPREMONOBLOCKS #Fosi #Audio #ZD3 #Monos
Originally posted by UCMADmrBg2mMall8bpC4anQQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhKhBV6xWt0
Zero zone made their own version of the TPA 3255 amplifier in a dual mono block with shared power supply. It looks very interesting and is more expensive than the Fosi but clearly a premium product and design. It’s an XLR only input with just one dual opamp that can be replaced in each amplifier.
I run Dynaudio Special 40's with these mono amps, they sing.
No, PFFB is not at all what this review tells us. No ferrite beads involved. It's an additional outer feedback loop (consisting of a couple of caps and resistors) from behind the analogue output filter (consisting of the big inductors clearly visible in the video plus some more caps) to the input stage. This feedback loop (to some extend) counteracts the non-ideal properties of the output filter (increased output impedance, distortion, …). That's it, plain and simple. The drawback is that some gain of the chip amp is lost.
Fosi probably should have vented the v3 mono top and bottom like the v3 instead of from the sides. I’ve seen a lot of talk about the v3 mono getting hot and sometimes burning up.
If space is critical for people just get an Ultimate Ears Hyperboom.
Goed gedaan jongen. Trots op je.
Great review as usual. I bought a pair of Zero Zone TPA 3255 Class D monos with external powersupply on AliExpress. They just blew me away. I now orefer then over my 20 times more expensive AB amp. Go figure.
Thanks for your tireless efforts. Always informative.
Hi Tarun ,nice review personally I don’t like the sound of class D ,I am a class a fan my system: Audio Analyse PA 90 special edition amp, cec 5300 cd player, Audio technica record player, schitt mani2 , Floating chameleon 2 speakers, I am thinking to buy a sugden amplifier ????????
Disappointed you didn’t like the v3 monos. For some of us that’s the closest we’ll ever get to monoblock amps
I paired Aiyima T8 with Advance Acoustic MAA-405 last week and I am more than happy with the result after bad experience with Arcam SA30…. Would Fosi ZD3 make a lot of difference? Aiyima may be a little dull but the sound is very pleasing
Good advice. —-Basic quality stuff all round in one box keeps costs down.save space+less wires! My sourses used most are computer and tv arc.HDMI /ADC/DAC(2 boxes) .My speakers are digital DSP (2 boxes) -But a nightmare with 5 remotes mouse and keyboard on the coffee table.! The need to upgrade. One box for all? Meridian Eclipse?
I have these Fosi V3 monos connected to a S.M.S.L. DO100 PRO dac via XLR with Sparkos op-amps (two for each amplifier). With Sparkos the gain is slightly lowered but the soundstage, detail, depth and separation improve significantly. It seems incredible that such a good sound comes from two such small devices! That said there are some elements to take into account: first of all the amplifiers heat up and should be kept in a well ventilated environment when they are in operation. Secondly I had a problem (like others) with the transistor on the board, the one fixed with the screw on the small heatsink near the XLR/RCA switch, which after a few hours of operation when the amplifier was turned on broke in a corner. Probably a defective batch or an assembly error, however Fosi proved to be very collaborative, promptly reported the problem to the production unit and sent me a new V3 free of charge. In summary, in my opinion they are following an excellent philosophy by following the needs of customers and providing them with good products at competitive prices, I think it is impossible at the moment to find a better product at a lower price.
They blow up all the time ????
I stick with my MF A1
What do you think about using V3 monoblocks with Wimm Ultra and Monitor Audio Bronze2 as a third system for my office
Best audio reviewer on Youtube!!! NAD M10 V3 and Marantz Model M1 also deserves a good review 🙂
Great video as always. To answer your question- I owned a pair ProAc Response D20R speakers- they had great low bass and airy highs, but the mid/upper bass was lacking which resulted in a thin midrange. I sold them and prefer my old Tannoy M15 speakers which cost a fraction of the ProAcs.
most excellent sir the review, loved the vid.
A little while ago, I went from a full 47 Labs setup to a rather more modest SMSL C100 / Fosi V3 combo, amongst other changes.
Basically I went full fancy (if perhaps a tad outdated) to full budget.
Short version, I'm very impressed by the performance of those two units.
However, I paid 100€ for the SMSL Dac and, and 72€ for the Fosi V3 with 48V power supply, shipped (to Germany) and new.
Leaving the Dac aside, the two Fosi monos are getting very close to the 300€ mark, and the very competitive segment of 300-500€ dedicated amps.
Frankly, I at this price point I'd not even consider Fosi, but look at the various, very well regarded amp offerings from Japan and the UK.
While I love the simplicity of my current setup, which is so similar to the 47 labs gear in that regard, I'd probably go proven and convenient integrated over monos at this point.
On a side note; the RCA plugs on my Fosi V3 broke recently, which could well have been my own fault, and the Fosi customer service could not have been more accomodating.
Finally, thank you very much for the review, very informative and pleasant to watch as always.
Also, I'm sure you recall my suggestion from a while ago to perhaps review a Lavardin amp ;).
Sweetest sounding amp I've ever heard – looking back through rose tinted glasses at this point though – and it'd be great to hear your thoughts about it, if you'd be interested.
Hi Tarun' good video thanks. I have to say that I picked up a pair of these for a 2nd system I’m gradually putting together, and just for fun I hooked them into my main system with an RME ADI2 and a Trigon SnowWhite II preamp and the sound is really good, no problem with my Focal Aria speakers either. So they’re also quite at home in a good system too. I’ll take them out and put my Trigon Energy back in but I’m pleasantly surprised about how good the Fosis are. I think maybe the Trigon preamp papers over a few Fosi cracks as running the RME as a preamp yielded a much brighter sound. Anyway, it would be interesting to see how much you could spend on other components before the Fosis become a real limiting factor.
The ZD3 with Arc input will be interesting to watch, but sadly another product ruined by a power brick.
That said, it still looks like a nice budget offering if competetively priced, plug the TV in, plug in a pair of active Kali or similar, and shrug off the audiophile comfort blanket.
The thumbnail title reads "did they go too far?" Too far in what regard? This doesn't get addressed in the video. I'd rather feel that this channel had gone too far by reviewing non-audiophile stuff. (No offense intended, tongue in cheek)
I like the compact size of Fosi. Other than that, i wouldn't change any of my current system.