Love the humor at the end there Matt 😂.. There was something you touched upon that we did not see any other reviewers mention and that is there is no pass-through without power and personally that’s something that would matter to me since I don’t need another device powered on in my equipment chain when not necessary. (I know the meters are there, but does not mean I wanna see them all the time ) I made a comment when you did the review on the ET 30 about using my Douk switch device with my vintage Pioneer receiver and other hi-fi equipment for the exact same reasons you touched on in this review. I was glad to see your SX-880 and it is a beauty. My wife and I have been following your channel since the beginning and we have both noticed that you’re so much more relaxed in your reviews now then when you first started,and we really think you have a great channel and we always look forward to your upcoming reviews.
Wouldn't the Neohipo ET30 be a better option? It has a mic for simple use, it's passive, the sensitivity of the metersis higher, and it has been measured at ASR (though not in parallel)?
Great video. I bought an LC30 as part of the Kickstarter. My unit arrived defective (no left channel for the "B" speakers), and (as you point out) the power meters are virtually useless without running tons of volume. I returned my LC30 to Fosi, and (with extreme difficulty) was able to coax a refund of them.
You had me at VU meters. I have the Douk One Little Bear VU-3 and I like it. The sensitivity is very adjustable and you can make the meters move very far with not a lot of input. This Fosi actually looks nicer and it may be better built. Great review Matt!
I received mine yesterday directly from FOSI ($120). I think its pretty cool and does what I need for my two amplifiers and one set of speakers. But I can confirm the vue meters do not move at normal volumes. All in all glad I purchased it.
It is just a copy of the DOUK audio little bear that has been in the market for several years now. Also the sensitivity of the VUs is horrible on the Fosi unit. Get the Little Bear by DOUK audio it is cheaper and works better.
I'm surprised to learn that this was a Kickstarter campaign. Why in the world would a company like Fosi need crowd funding to bring a product to market? It seems to me they release new models twice a month, lol.
Fosi do this a lot. It's actually a great way to get a bargain as they discount substantially during The campaign and it's very unlikely you won't get something at the end. I think they do it to gauge demand so they can tailor the size of the initial production run. Also Fosi are very keen on customer feedback which may feed into the development process. In terms of customer engagement and service they are amongst the best in the industry right now. I had a P3 preamp fail just after delivery. They sent a new one right away and gave me loads of technical info and advice to help me fix the other one. It was a tiny SMD capacitor not soldered on to the board properly.
I've been seeing a few posts about this thing, and I don't understand the draw. It's not really a meter, look at the scaling on the front. That's not how power scales, for example the difference between 20w and 100w is not 10db, nor is the difference between 100w and 200w 4db. All of the scaling is off. it's completely information free. The meter readout is completely useless, all this is is a dancing meter, it doesn't offer any information. If all you're using it for is a switch, there are better and cheaper options available.
A flawed product. Lots of two and three star reviews because of the sensitivity issue and the lack of passive pass through is disappointing. Expect a V2 soon. Got to give them credit for the dummy load. I use switchers to go between tube and solid state amps, and getting one with a dummy load is tricky and usually expensive.
Fosi is becoming rather well known for the "Missed it by that much" meme from Get Smart. It almost feels like they have a Department of Dumb Decisions working in the basement... th-cam.com/video/ox-NkyEFTmo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=krug8vlS5bwXZY8H
I get it, but to be fair a lot of people buy these for the nostalgia rather than the switching capabilities. Myself, I have care more about the switching as well.
@Douglas_Blake_579 yea on a very very high end amplifier but on this cheap $150 unit it's more gimmicky I hardly think they are accurate for any real testing.
@@991carreras3 They're accurate enough for A-B testing ... all you're trying to do is get two amplifiers to the same volume level... select amp1, send in a test tone and note the reading on the meters.... select amp2, send in the same test tone and adjust the amp's volume for the same reading. You don't care if it's 10watts vs 10.1 watts... you simply care they both read the same. The meters don't have to be accurate, just able to repeat the same readings.
Love the humor at the end there Matt 😂.. There was something you touched upon that we did not see any other reviewers mention and that is there is no pass-through without power and personally that’s something that would matter to me since I don’t need another device powered on in my equipment chain when not necessary. (I know the meters are there, but does not mean I wanna see them all the time ) I made a comment when you did the review on the ET 30 about using my Douk switch device with my vintage Pioneer receiver and other hi-fi equipment for the exact same reasons you touched on in this review. I was glad to see your SX-880 and it is a beauty. My wife and I have been following your channel since the beginning and we have both noticed that you’re so much more relaxed in your reviews now then when you first started,and we really think you have a great channel and we always look forward to your upcoming reviews.
I appreciate the continued support! Good to hear your thoughts too.
Wouldn't the Neohipo ET30 be a better option? It has a mic for simple use, it's passive, the sensitivity of the metersis higher, and it has been measured at ASR (though not in parallel)?
Yes
Ngl ”pirate metal folk polka” sounds pretty awesome
HA, I would listen at least once
Inspired me to break out my late MIL’s “Stanky & The PA Coal Miner’s” box set. Relive classics like “Who Stole the Kisha?” and “Beer Barrel Polka”.
Great video. I bought an LC30 as part of the Kickstarter. My unit arrived defective (no left channel for the "B" speakers), and (as you point out) the power meters are virtually useless without running tons of volume. I returned my LC30 to Fosi, and (with extreme difficulty) was able to coax a refund of them.
You had me at VU meters. I have the Douk One Little Bear VU-3 and I like it. The sensitivity is very adjustable and you can make the meters move very far with not a lot of input. This Fosi actually looks nicer and it may be better built. Great review Matt!
As i understand it, Fosi have now fixed the VU meter issue.
I received mine yesterday directly from FOSI ($120). I think its pretty cool and does what I need for my two amplifiers and one set of speakers. But I can confirm the vue meters do not move at normal volumes. All in all glad I purchased it.
It is just a copy of the DOUK audio little bear that has been in the market for several years now. Also the sensitivity of the VUs is horrible on the Fosi unit. Get the Little Bear by DOUK audio it is cheaper and works better.
Hmmm... even my 45-year-old Technics had a multiplier for the meters to activate during low volume. What say you, Fosi? (Technics SA-828)
I have one but i have to crank up the volume higher / too high than i want to make the VU meters move at all. Such a pity…
If only it was an actual integrated amp with a low pass filter and parametric eq and a decent phono stage.
They'd sell like hotcakes
I really like the form factor on these, I hope to see an amp in something like this eventually.
I'm surprised to learn that this was a Kickstarter campaign. Why in the world would a company like Fosi need crowd funding to bring a product to market? It seems to me they release new models twice a month, lol.
Fosi do this a lot. It's actually a great way to get a bargain as they discount substantially during The campaign and it's very unlikely you won't get something at the end. I think they do it to gauge demand so they can tailor the size of the initial production run. Also Fosi are very keen on customer feedback which may feed into the development process. In terms of customer engagement and service they are amongst the best in the industry right now.
I had a P3 preamp fail just after delivery. They sent a new one right away and gave me loads of technical info and advice to help me fix the other one. It was a tiny SMD capacitor not soldered on to the board properly.
Does it get warm?
Not really, I put my hand on it at one point during testing as I was curious too and nothing to really note there.
Why would it get warm? It is only relay and switches.
I've been seeing a few posts about this thing, and I don't understand the draw. It's not really a meter, look at the scaling on the front. That's not how power scales, for example the difference between 20w and 100w is not 10db, nor is the difference between 100w and 200w 4db. All of the scaling is off. it's completely information free.
The meter readout is completely useless, all this is is a dancing meter, it doesn't offer any information.
If all you're using it for is a switch, there are better and cheaper options available.
A flawed product. Lots of two and three star reviews because of the sensitivity issue and the lack of passive pass through is disappointing. Expect a V2 soon.
Got to give them credit for the dummy load. I use switchers to go between tube and solid state amps, and getting one with a dummy load is tricky and usually expensive.
Fosi is becoming rather well known for the "Missed it by that much" meme from Get Smart. It almost feels like they have a Department of Dumb Decisions working in the basement...
th-cam.com/video/ox-NkyEFTmo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=krug8vlS5bwXZY8H
Would be nice if they offered one without those gimmicky useless power meters.
You can get a Dynavox AMP-S A very sturdy passive amp switching box. Excellent binding posts and internal wiring.
I get it, but to be fair a lot of people buy these for the nostalgia rather than the switching capabilities. Myself, I have care more about the switching as well.
The meters are very handy for level matching during A-B testing.
@Douglas_Blake_579 yea on a very very high end amplifier but on this cheap $150 unit it's more gimmicky I hardly think they are accurate for any real testing.
@@991carreras3
They're accurate enough for A-B testing ... all you're trying to do is get two amplifiers to the same volume level... select amp1, send in a test tone and note the reading on the meters.... select amp2, send in the same test tone and adjust the amp's volume for the same reading. You don't care if it's 10watts vs 10.1 watts... you simply care they both read the same. The meters don't have to be accurate, just able to repeat the same readings.
Thanks, you helped me not to buy it.