I’ve had the Fosi for about a year now and it’s awesome. Couldn’t recommend it more.

I own this preamp after a while of listening to it. Ended up throwing in a pair of Voskhod 6J1P-EV tubes. I was very surprised at the substantial difference it made. Everything just a bit more natural. Bass really cleaned up but still had a nice but realistic punch to it.

This is the exact preamp I have, and I love it. A+ value for the money. I have some vinyl playthroughs on my channel using this preamp, and it sounds great.

Part of my system with the Fluance RT85. Rolling the tubes help fine tune the sound. Sounds great, warm with detail. Really enhances the vinyl sound.

I’ve used that phono preamp for about a year now. Previously was using the internal preamp on my Onkyo tx-nr636. I can’t tell much of a difference. For $60, I like it. And it looks good.

i know im late to this video but i love these cheap units i got a garage build using these. also so happy im apart of this channel family can wait to see you hit that 50k. loving it man

That was very interesting Frank. I have a built in pre amp in the Onkyo amplifier but have never thought of trying a seperate pre amp as I quite like my current sound.. You have now got me thinking !!

I've had one for about a year. I was using a Pro-ject Debut turntable. Now I'm using a U-Turn. Both have sounded very good. No complaints or criticisms at all.

Love your channel. Keep spinning.

Nicely done home-theater room. Thanks for sharing.

New subscriber here, enjoy all your conversations. I really enjoy the vinyl dens you preview from around the world, it certainly gives great ideas for making or creating changes in your own place! Thanks.

Frank, You have a great looking home theater. John Carpenter's "The Thing" is my favorite Sci-Fi movie. Happy Holiday's to you and your family!

Happy holidays Frank

THNX for a great review👍

I bought the Fosi tube preamp earlier this year as my main preamp and it’s been great!! I have it hooked up to my Fluance RT85, playing through Edifier 1280DBs with an external subwoofer. I have to say, for a cheaper setup, it has quite a punch and a nice soundstage. I been looking into other preamps because upgrading is fun, but I really like the sound I’m getting with the Fosi. I def recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable preamp. Sounds great and looks cool. Great video, Frank!! Love the channel. Cheers!!

I used to own that Fosi Phono Tube preamp, in fact, I upgraded the tubes and noticed an improvement. That thing can punch above its weight. This video really got me thinking about the multitude of choices a person can face when getting into the audio hobby... Regarding Frank's thoughts on AV receivers ability to produce quality 2-channel stereo audio; I think it may depend on how much money that you can spend among other particulars. I don't know the exact model of AV receiver Frank owns, but from the picture, it appears to be a Yamaha receiver from their general purpose lineup instead of their Adventage line. If I'm correct, those Yamaha receivers can punch above their weight regarding home theater. They're great receivers for the money. From my own personal experience, I've owned the Yamaha RX-A1080 (from their "Adventage" lineup) Marantz SR6013 and the Sony STR-ZA3100ES AV receivers. All of them produced excellent stereo and multi-channel stereo sound from records, CD's & streaming sources, in my opinion. Keep in mind that this group of receivers ranged between $1,100-$1,700 US Dollars brand new, which may not be considered very entry-level friendly. That's only part of it. The other part, I think, is the manufacturer. I find that Marantz, Denon and the new Onkyo AV receivers are generally reviewed as very capable dual purpose AV receivers, where Yamaha can often have a more mixed-bag of opinions that favor outstanding home theater, but not as glowing toward the music playback, and of course, listening is still a very subjective concept. What I always tell people who are looking for audio equipment is to firstly decide which end of the spectrum is most important? Stereo or Home Theater?....and go from there but be aware of what the choice will mean. I tell people who are far more TV/film orientated to get a high quality soundbar with a sub. It will more than get the job done and take up very little space. Sonos & Bose are fantastic choices to consider along with their general ease of use, though they both offer good musicality for what they do. They're not the only brands out there to consider but certainly have very enthusiastic reviews most of the time. Stereo...now that's a different rabbit hole that can involve a lot of components, and then of course, two speakers with a possible need for a subwoofer. And that leads to the need of more space and a little or a lot of shelves. It can be done effectively on the cheap, but can very easily eclipse a high quality soundbar system before you know it, regarding cost. My best advice on that one is to start off by getting the best speakers you can afford first, then look at integrated amps, players, afterwards. But that's just me.

Been using one for quite a while....it's quite good for the price provided you have a good amplifier as well....don't forget a good turntable too!

I have one of these. Different tubes absolutely made a difference.

Swapping the tubes out for new old stock GE5654's worked wonders on my setup. Great little thing.

Good video Frank! I like to see you do more videos on equipment as well as music. I have an external preamp ( sorry I don't recall it's name) that I bought for my NAD 316BEE amp. But the NAD crapped out on me so I bought a Yamaha AS301 amp that I'm very happy with. It has a built-in phono preamp that I'm happy with. But I kept my external preamp for possible future use.

I use Cambridge Audio phono preamps but, I use an FX Audio tube preamp into a QSC stereo amp as my main system. I RTA'ed my room with an Audio Source EQ (the one seen in Ferris Beuller) to as flat a response at possible. The tube preamp/buffer ROCKS! I just tweak the bass and treble controls on it very slightly when needed. I listen to records and open reel tapes, exclusively. Everyone who hears my system is impressed. The buffer really does make for a pleasant improvement.

Love the spinal tap drop when discussing volume. You get a like!! Also, good info. Going to upgrade to a turntable with no preamp built in. Looking for a good place to start and I've been hearing about these Fosi amps. 🫶🫶

I have purchased 2 Fosi preamps very similar to yours. About the only difference is that they have volume, treble and bass controls on them. Two surround receivers I used for a work office and at a friend's lake house sounded very flat plugging the turntables straight into the phono jacks. So I bought the Fosi Box X4 Phono Preamps for them. Being able to increase the volume and bass, as well as the sound already coming from it really brought the music to life and sound really good. I did try it on my '78 Pioneer SX-750 receiver just out of curiosity, and I liked the Pioneer's internal better. But for the surround receivers, it was pure magic!

Just put in the GE 5654 and what a huge improvement. Stock tubes like I said were grainy. This little Fosi easily beats my NAD pf 2e for musicality. Glad I swapped tubes as was ready to return it. So my rig is Fosi TB10D with Fosi X2 phono pre.

This is a great little phono preamp. I own one for over 2 years now and I'm quite happy with it. It's sadly a little different nowadays, but when I bought I also got the Riverstone matching tubes set with it. I think I paid $16 for the set. Now, I think the set is close to $30. Not crazy expensive but for a $60 preamp paying more than half its value in tubes would be overkill to me. Though, those Riverstone tubes improve the sound. More refined I'd say. Now, my Fosi will probably go to a secondary system (when I make one) because I upgraded my receiver to a McIntosh MAC4100 and the built-in phono preamp is great so that or just use it as backup. I might try to do the A/B test too just for fun.

Hi Frank & Sherry Us Brits pronounce Yamaha the same way as you do. Merry Christmas. 😊

I use my phono pre-amp with 6N23P USSR tubes. Sounds fantastic! Most of good and empressive pre-amps buit on this tubes/valves.

The Churntable, I love it! :D

I had an NAD PP-1 for years, then upgraded to a Schiit Mani and now have a Lounge Audio LCR mkIII Silver phono preamp connected to Mofi Studiodeck w/ Mofi Ultratracker cartridge. I've been using a tube preamp for over 20 years currently it's a Schiit Freya+ with Electro Harmonix Gold Pin 6SN7 tubes.

Due to space limitations, I have my music and home theater all in one, so I’m currently using a phono preamp through a Denon 5.1 amp. I was having trouble finding new preamps that had good reviews at the price I was willing to spend, so I went vintage - a Realistic 42-2101A. It’s a simple little box, but I’ve been very happy with it, and it only cost me $25!

I have 2 - one for certain albums with the riverstone tubes and another with Ww2 era rca tubes for others - happy with them

Haven't tried the Fosi but a few years ago I a/b'd a bunch of under-$250 phono pres and the Radial JD33 was the clear winner

I have a secondary cheaper music system in the basement I listen to when the wife takes over the family room where my main system is. The basement system is a Cambridge Audio Topaz entry level amp and CD player with a Fluance TT. I used the onboard phono input with the amp for a couple of years and then decided to look around for an external phono amp. I found the FOSI Box on sale on Amazon and I gave it a try. For the price it does an amazing job and really does outperform the built in amp in the Cambridge. I may at some point down the road purchase a more expensive external phono amp but this one is just fine.

I just purchased a Fosi Audio Box X4 Phono Preamp (updated version of the X2 has bass & treble controls) with JAN 5654W Vacuum Tubes for MM Turntable Phonograph Record Player with Volume Bass Treble Control hooked it up to a vintage Pioneer pl 510s TT with an audio-technica AT316EP cartridge feeding my Onkyo HT-R520 surround receiver and love it. Headphone out is not so hot but not what I wanted it for.

I use an Arcam Phono Preamp. I like it because I can adjust the capacitance to match my cartridge. Sounds great to me!

I have one of these and I like it.

I have been using a NAD PP2 external preamp for a number of years now, paired with a vintage Technics amp and my SL1200 MKII. I think it sounds great to my ears. I'd have to say easily better than the stock preamp in the Technics.

I have a Fluance RT85 running into the Fosi tube phono preamp and into a Rockville Blutube amp. It sounds great to me!

I have a pro-Ject Tube box S pre amp which really adds a lovely tone to the vinyl on my system.

During lockdown I decided to put together a system for my office built around the idea that I'd listen to records on my headphones while I was working. That system used a 90's Gemini belt drive turntable I bought from Jerry Raskin's Needle Doctor in Minneapolis back in the day that had been relegated to a box after I bought a Sony Direct Drive turntable at a garage sale. For that system I was using the Bravo Audio tube headphone amp I got from Parts Express and I bought a non-tube Rolls VP29 phono pre-amp off Amazon. This pre-amp was rated really well. The headphone amp also had the blue LED glow (necessary since the tube heaters wouldn't be hot enough to make the tubes actually glow). The general consensus about the headphone amp was that most of the amplification was done by a standard OpAmp with only some slight coloring by the single (in this case) 12AU7 tube. I suspect that your Fosi tube pre-amp is fairly similar in design implementing a standard OpAmp and a secondary circuit that provides the RIAA EQ curve with some slight impact due to having tubes in the circuit. Since all of these cheaper pre-amps and headphone amps seem to use a solid state OpAmp as part of the design, the tubes seem to act as an additional power buffer, but not full power tubes like on a regular amplifier. Overall, these work, but it seems to have little to do with the tube. For these products to work at the price point, they necessarily have to use off-the-shelf parts. It's not like these are boutique hand-soldiered point-to-point circuits. But, this pre-amp is entertaining and more interesting than the red box I was using.

Haven't heard the FOSI, but a few years ago I bought a $50 US Breeze Audio mini-amp with a similar build, probably using the same Texas Instruments chipset but powered by Class D instead of tubes. You can still buy these on Amazon or eBay and FOSI also makes a similar version. I was surprised to find.that this cheap little amp sounded excellent and was powerful enough to drive even tower speakers. I use it in my garage with a pair of Wharfedale Diamond II bookshelf speakers. Like you, I was very impressed with the performance of these little amps.

I use the phono stage in my Audiolab integrated amp. Thumbs up for the SL-1200, I enjoy mine.

I used to use a Vinyl Style hybrid phono stage.. They use 12ax7 tubes, but anymore I just use the pre amp built into my trusty Marantz 2230 vintage receiver, which sounds good enough for me. 👍

FRANK! Super impressed with your home theater. I know this channel is mostly music related but you should do a video on your theater gear if you haven't already. I turned my back porch into a theater of sorts during the covid shutdown (complete with popcorn machine, concession stand, and rope lights around the deck) & I absolutely love it. Unfortunately I can only use it for 4-5 months a year comfortably since I live in NY state. Also, I noticed the horror movie posters.. we have more in common than I thought. I might have to send you some goodies next fall. On the topic of the video though: I had this exact preamp in my Amazon cart for a while, even though I have no complaints with my super basic Pyle preamp. I think I just liked the look of it more than mine, but it would sit pretty hidden in a component shelf, so I never felt like it was a worthy purchase. A buddy of mine ended up getting it though and a tube blew in under 2 months. The replacement tubes aren't super cheap from what I remember so I removed it from my cart. Doesn't sound like I'm missing out on too much anyway. Cheers & keep up the great content!

I use an external, though the one in my 1984 Pioneer sounds really good can't beat my ART DJ pre II... inexpensive and versatile with a gain, I increased the power supply to 12v on it, really turned it on!

I have a Pro Ject Essential III that I plug into my Technics SA-GX390 receiver phono amp and then into my Dayton Audio HTA50BT. The Technics provides plenty of power and good sounds all on its own, but I like the mellowness from the DA 50. Nice combination.

I bought one of these units earlier this year and I was blown away by it. I run my Thorens TD 165 into it, and those run into my Marantz 2226b. Fantastic pairings. Fantastic sound.

I recently got the 2018 Animals digital/vinyl set and just wasn't thrilled with the LP. Put a new belt on the turntable, tried a couple of different carts (Orofon Red, Bronze and an AT540ML) and it just wasn't happening through the phono amp in my Yamaha pre/pro. Then I ran a Schiit Mani 2. Holy Schiit, what a difference! I'm sold on separate phono amps.

It took me a couple of deep listens with my Fosi P3. Btw, my GF did not really hear the difference. I do. It's more spacious and warm sounding. The controls are incredibly sensitive on my P3 but it has a Bass & Table knob. These little devices are great. And the tech support is outstanding..

I had that Fosi for about a year before I upgraded to a Moon preamp, but that Fosi definitely did a decent job. My only issue was I could hear a bit of a hum at higher listening volumes which I don’t have with the Moon.

I just ordered the Fosi for my 2nd turntable the Technics SL-BD35 I can't wait to see the difference it will make from my current Pyle 4444.

Great value for the money - change the tubes. I run the Fosi directly into a Aiyama A-07 amp (with volume control) with excellent results. (or 6v6 5 watt tube amp)

I’ve got the same marantz pm6004 amp and never needed to upgrade the preamp. Sounds great to me

Damnit Frank! I do have a UTurn Orbit with the built in pre-amp! You trying to get me buying? Dang, man. Now I'm curious!

Great little amp! It definitely can hold it down...

You’re gonna have the audiophiles hissing at each other with that review. lol

another awesome video brother

I use the built in phono stage of my Cambridge Audio AXA35 integrated amp at the moment. About to upgrade to a Rega Brio amp and that has a built in preamp too which I will use. I have a secondary system that uses a cheap external preamp (Chinese, from Amazon) that I use with Edifier powered speakers and a Technics linear tracking turntable, it sounds just fine to my ears.

I’ve got a Lehmann audio black box love it.

Bought one to use in my second system with a Technics SL7. Amazingly good for the money; better tubes do make a difference.

Like the previous commenter, I've had mine for about a year; it's been great. The deal with the tubes is that they are acting as a buffer-- it still has a solid state preamp inside. It still adds the tube character, though. This is my first external phono preamp, connected to my Fluance RT-82. It has an Ortofon OM-10 cartridge, which is detailed and really helps lead guitar and vocals cut through the mix-- but it can sound a bit harsh to me. The Fosi phono preamp adds bottom end and smooths out the harshness, making it a highly complimentary pairing!

There seem to be a lot of talented designers in China making gear like this. I have a few valve headphone amps from about $150 to $1,000 USD from Schiit, Woo & FatMan (wasn't that a TV detective series in the '80's?). If you keep using that gadget, Frank, it may start to sound better as the tubes break in.

My beloved Lounge LCR Mk. III has gone up from the $300 US I paid in in 2016 to $380 US today. I had the chance to A/B it with a Schiit Mani back then and although we all preferred the Lounge, we also thought the Schiit offered good value for money. I haven't heard the Fosi for myself but I'd probably reach the same conclusion. BTW I would buy a Fluance RT-85N if I had to start over.

I just bought this a few weeks ago. I was going to return it as I just wanted to see how it compares to my internal phono amp with my Audio Technica LP120. This was way better. So I decided to keep it and use it until I can afford a better one. 🤘🏼🎸🤘🏼

I use an icon audio ps2 phono preamp. It is a tube Amp. The sound quality was a huge leap compared to the internal preamp of my Peachtree nova 150. The tubes add a warmer sound and it has more gain compared to the internal preamp . Before this preamp I had a musical fidelity x-lps preamp. ( solid state) . It was also an improvement in sound.

0:06 Thanks, got my answer, gonna check out here-

ifi iphono 2 at my place, sounds great

I’ve been using it for about 6 months since I got a Dual 1219 TT, I do not have an amp, I’m always in low budget; so I’m using a Yamaha RX-V373 receiver and combined with my speakers Boston Acoustic CR-95 and a sub Boston Acoustic Micro 90PV it does the job pretty good. Sorry but I can’t compare with some other one yet. Keep on spinning!!

Nice to see a couple of Quo albums in view.

I bought one about 6 months ago just to see if it would improve anything and have been nothing but impressed with it.

Hi. congratulations on the videos. (Brazilian in the area) with modest system: at-pl120 and denon 600ne (pma + dcd), Bookshelf Klipsch R-15m. in order to improve the sound and add an equalizer. which would indicate preamp phono ? and equalizer? Thanks in advance!

I have been using the pro-ject tube box s and I really like it. Huge upgrade from the phono stage in my reciver.

I just purchased this little tube amp. You and many others convinced me to give it a whirl. For $60 bucks, what the heck. Paired to a Denon 600, Technics SL 1600c, Ortofon Red, driven to Martin Logan Foundation 1. Wilkens sub woofer. Nothing special. I'm not going back to the Denon integrated amp. I leave the Fosi set in the middle. I think it brings out the true analog sound. YMMV, but the next thing that may happen is try a different set of tubes in a few months, maybe not. Best to enjoy the sound, listen to the music and NOT pursue the rat into the rat hole. Yea sure. Thank you! I appreciate the review, and of course I am subscribed.

I use a Pro-Ject Audio Phono Box DC, which to my ears sounds more than fine. It's going into a low end Sony 5.1 receiver, and I agree with Frank, those types of receivers don't do a great job with 2-channel audio.

Bellari VP130 MK2 Found one of those barely used on OfferUp for about $100/$150. HUGE difference

Ha! I am looking for a preamp for my secondary sound system and you saying that exactly that was the clincher!

I use a Pyle model PP999 preamp, it does exactly whit I want it to do. It reverses the RIAA curve on the LP and sends an output to the amplifier in my computer. The sound comes out of my PCs surround sound speakers. Having my turntable patched into my PC makes it much easier to digitize my LPs for use in the car via my phone.

I just spent $1300.00 AUD on a brand new vinyl setup about 4 months ago. I got the Audio Technica LP-140XP, upgraded the cartridge from the standard AT XP3 cartridge to a AT VM540ML RigB, then ended up getting the Pro-Ject Phono Box S2 phono stage. I can’t fault this phono stage, it’s really nice sounding with a dual mono design and fully adjustable impedance load to suit MM and MC cartridges. This phono stage is considerably more expensive than their basic Phono Box E, but for my MicroLine cartridge, it made sense to upgrade to a better and more suited phono stage.

I use two Schiit Mani originals and one Schiit Mani 2. I've watched numerous reviews on this little tube preamp and yeah from a few reviews said to tube roll especially to the GE tubes for a better sound. For me, I plan on building my own phono tube preamp sometime soon. I've been crash coursing on how to build one and watched many vids on how tubes work and how to build tube amps. I would like to buy one of these just for the fun of it, but maybe some day in the future.

A lot of amps this cheap use the tubes as a buffer and not for actual amplification but this could be different. In the moderately priced solid-state world, I definitely experienced an upgrade on my Orbit when I upgraded from the internal preamp to my Black Cube Statement which I still use with my SL-1210GR. I will be looking at one of the flat Rek-O-Kut preamps or Re-EQ or something like that for use with my 78s instead of the RIAA curve making them sound a bit muffled due to that treble roll-off.

I actually put my CD player through mine. Very good it is too.

When it comes to the tubes (or valves as we call them the the UK) I believe EEVblog did a teardown on a headphone version of these and found the sound IS going through them but the actual amplifier circuitry in the valves aren't actually active, mainly due to the fact that it needs a heaving big transformer to power them properly. For example my true vale amp, the little dot MKII has a huge heavy transformer hidden in a black box behind the valves. but these things are designed to give people a "tube" sound on the cheap.

I just picked up the Pluto 2 with the intention of pairing it with my AT-LP120XUSB + Yamaha RX-V4A. However I’m also curious to do an A/B comparison with my other set up to see if an external phono amp sounds better than input in my Onkyo TX 8220 & U turn Orbit. Might have to give the Fosi a try.

A matched pair of 5654Ws tubes will do wonders for that little preamp!

I have the fosi for a long time now, I am searching for bad reviews, but they aren’t, the only thing that I can find are positive reviews for this Fosi

Returned the box2 for the box4 because of bass treble knobs and tube upgrage.this turned out to be a bit of a hassle because of language barrier or passive /agressive employies.daily texts for 3 weeks, before refund got text of $7 discount then next day $20 price increase.went to differant seller and got original price.unit does the job.

Excellent review and a fair assessment of the unit. My Onkyo TX-NR787 built-in phone preamp is not good at all. The sound is very flat lacking any definition. So, I ordered two DJPre-II preamps and send both of them back. They both had a buzz and crackling sound I could not get rid of. The audio quality was pretty good though. I then ordered the Fosi Box X2. The unit is buzz and crackle free but the sound is not as good as the DJPre-II. I think the top end is lacking. Mids and lowes are just ok. Did anyone else experience the same flat high end too? It lacks definition and sounds flat. Am I expecting too much, or do I have a faulty unit?

No Phono pre per se, but I am using one of the inputs in my Focusrite Clarett audio interface with a custom made RIAA EQ curve and it sounds fantastic.

I've been using this pre amp with my Technics turntable and Ortofon Bue rig. It's not great, but a fairly solid performer. It's always sonded better than the 3 built in pre amps I've tried. I upgraded the tubes right away. I heard no real change.

I ordered one of those last year I upgraded tubes

I brought a Fosi Audio Box X3 2 months ago. It makes my vinyl and CD collections sound much better . It produces warmer and smoother sound to me . The bonus is , it comes with bluetooth connection feature, so I can listen to Pandora and my iTunes music collection from my iPhone directly. For this price range, it is a very nice upgrade.

The device looks good and sounds good too..a little different with the original tubes on your Marantz...it's possible it would sound the same or even a little bit better with other tubes.

I like mine. It took forever to break in though. Give it time.

I recommend trying from Black Ice Audio - FOZ SSX Sound Stage Expander (Tube based) preamp.

I have an inbuilt phono stage in my Demon Amp. I purchased the Rega Mini Fono at £110.00. Yea, I have the same result as it doesn't sound that different. Both are good though.

I use a (modified) Suca Audio tube phono stage (it looks identical to yours)with my much modified Rega Rp3 at the moment (video on my wee channel 😉) I have tube rolling videos of it , and changing tubes definitely makes a difference. I also use a Remton Audio MK1 383 phono stage on my (much modified) Rega Rp6 . Jim 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙂

If it goes toe to toe with a Marantz, it must be pretty darn good. I’m gonna try one - worst case scenario, even if I don’t like the sound, it sure looks cool sitting next to the TT….😉

I have an ART DJPRE2 Preamp that I don't use. Tried it out twice and now back in the box after a few anomaly's like sound getting super loud on one channel or another completely cutting out. Not much difference in overall sound either. Pioneer receiver w/speakers (circa 1981). Paired with my cheap Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB with an upgraded cartridge. I have been eyeballing tube preamps. I just want to improve my system with a low budget. Thanks for the review.

No question Frank. I used the $500 Parasound XRM phono preamp and the Fosi blew it away hands down.

1. Most users swap out the stock tubes for GE jan 5654W tubes. I listened to both and the GE's are better. Better how? Less harsh on the top end and fuller mid and lower. 2. I use a first generation Schiit Mani preamp. Always liked it so I guess the new version should be better.