BOX X1

I’m very pleased with this amp. Packaged nicely. Looks great. Affordable. Sound/volume is good. works well with my turntable. Exactly what I needed. I would recommend.

This is simple electronics that just works and occupies a small unobtrusive box ... uh called "BOX." Just plug and play insertion of the RCA cables from my turntable into the input and from the box outputs to the input of my amplifier. No earth loop issues and no need for the fairly well written small manual. The purchase of the preamplifier allowed me to continue using my old stereo amplifier, which does not have a phono input. Previously, I had daisy chained my even older amp with a preamp between the turntable and the main amp. It is much simpler now. The first photo above shows the small form factor of the preamp. It fits in underneath the RCA cables behind the main amp. I glued felt feet to the box to provide better airflow and cooling and to prevent slipping. An earlier reviewer suggested including stick-on rubber feet. I agree, that would be helpful. The power pack which comes with the device is the usual annoying wall-wart type, which we all know uses too much real estate on the power board and blocks other outlets. It is the uppermost one in the photo. You will note that I use Miady Short Power Extension Cords to resolve this issue. These are cheap 8in/20cm extension cords which come in a 10-pack for less than $20. On the upside , the power pack is universal voltage/frequency. On the whole, this was a cheap, direct and simply installed solution to my problem. I did not notice any audio distortion from the preamp; nor did I expect any. Although, I do use it to transcribe my old vinyl records to digital. And the old vinyl is well loved. The scratches are reproduced perfectly.

FOR THOSE WHO CAN REMEMBER.... The 1970's and the first audio renaissance when every magazine, newspaper had an ad about a cool new audio product. Great times! but unfortunately, you probably had to skip a car payment. This time around in this millennia, the audio products are even better and more of them. Best part, you get to keep your car! The FOSI BOX X1 Preamplifier is just that example. UNBOXING: I bought this, the FOSI Audio BOX X1 on Amazon for $29.99. In my experience there are a lot of preamps on the market and they usually sell for $100 and much, much more. depending on what they can do so I was interested to see what this unit can do. As you open the package you see the carton is actually pretty nice. You get the impression that Fosi Audio really cares about it products and wants you to enjoy the product. Hence the inscription "Hi-Fi Made Fun" This means a lot and it's better than just a plain box. Inside you have protective foam which is holding the unit securely and was designed for this particular device. The Preamp itself, the 12 volt power supply, user's guide which incidentally, are very easy to read. All is packaged well and we're ready to go. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: When you first see the BOX X1, you notice the boxy, utilitarian design. Hence the name. Right away you realize this product is all business. Fosi could've put fancy metallic trim and more for the aesthetics but that would have been really unnecessary in this case and probably added to the cost defeating the purpose. What we're looking for here is a preamp that does what it's supposed to do and hopefully do it well. The build quality is really good. Solid. It could take some abuse. You should fully expect this product should last for a very long time. Holding it you feel some weight. Not heavy but beefy. For the most part you would lay this flat but it can be stood up on edge if space is an issue. Making it a good choice for desktop applications. I would have liked to have seen rubber feet to keep it from sliding but you can always buy them at the dollar store. On the front you have the Fosi logo, The model number in a metallic bold print and note that it says in bold print "MM Phono Preamp" which is important to know that it's for moving magnet cartridges only. If you attempt to use a moving coil cartridge or "MC" you will find that the volume is too low as MC cartridges run at a much lower voltage and need more amplification. Finally on the front you have the Power On/Off "button". Now it's unusual to see a push button on/off switch these days on a product this size but there's actually a little engineering know how here. If you were to use a toggle switch you commonly see, in time it would probably get damaged or broken off entirely because of where it's at. In this case the push button is the way to go and besides it's easier to use. The connection panel from left to right, a 3.5mm headphone jack which is an interesting point in it's own. It is actually a low-level audio output. If you connect headphones to it you will notice that it will be at a fixed volume. Usually at a "mild" volume. In the old days a DJ would use this as a "queing" device for the next record to be played. You can use this as another audio output to send to another amp, recorder or measuring device. Next you have the color coded line outputs and phono inputs, a thumb screw ground connection using either a spade connector or bare wire, and finally the 12 volt power supply jack. All seem to connect rather easily. THE SET UP: We will be using an Audio Technica AT-LP120X as a reference table. It's a proven winner and uses the ATVM95E cartridge that's been upgraded with a Shibata stylus so we know we will be sending a good signal to the BOX X1 preamp. The amplifier will be Fosi BT30D 100 watt amplifier with the Sound Appeal 6.5 bookshelf speakers. These speakers are the best budget speakers I've used and we'll get a real good sampling. It's a good habit to get into that when you go to power up the system to always turn on the preamp first before the amplifier. This will prevent speaker "bursts" which over time can damage your system. The record I've chosen is Marty Gold and his Orchestra's - Sounds Unlimited. It's actually a "Dynagroove recording and has incredible detail and dynamics. I'll also play Rachmaninoff and Led Zeppelin IV on 1080 gram vinyl for genre testing. SOUND TEST: As I listen to the Marty Gold I get that euphoria that I usually get when this record is played well. Sharp detail of the horns and strings. The quietest triangle to the loudest kettle drum. The BOX X1 is doing it's job and almost seems proud to do it. The Rachmaninoff is a little tougher yet I can hear ALL the strings as if one-by-one. The Led Zeppelin took me back like it should and sounded very good with probably better detail than I was expecting. I found myself pulling out a few more old favorites and was really enjoying myself. REVIEW: Although it may look like a simple little box, the Fosi BOX X1 phono preamp is a great basic preamp. Solid as a rock. It does everything you need it to do and with the extra output, even does a little more. It processes the audio signal transparently without coloration. For the super affordable price this is perfect for someone just starting in the vinyl record journey, the advanced audiophile needing a basic preamp for a second system or for testing and service purposes. PROS: Solid build Easy to use Maintains sound quality 2 Outputs Very affordable CONS: Utilitarian looks Cannot be used for Moving Coil (MC) cartridges <X1 1.jpg>

Works just perfect. Made my Kenwood phonograph and my old LP’s come back to life. Hooked into an older Pioneer receiver. Use the “CD” plug port.

Great product, do your research first. There are two different types of needle heads on turntables, MM & MC. Most common is MM. This preamp is for MM only. It is good quality,plenty of volume, good price and works great, without any noise. If your home surround-sound or home tuner amp does not have a plug-in on the back that is labeled turntable or LP, you will need this turntable preamp to listen to your favorite albums.

I have several line level sources and a switch that selects one and sends it to my receiver's AUX input. When I switched to the Fosi phono preamp, a giant POW! came out of my speakers. So I started investigating. The output of the Fosi had a DC component of about 1.9 volts. I thought that maybe there was a giant DC blocking capacitor between the Fosi's main circuitry and the output. So I momentarily shorted the output to ground. But when I released the short, the voltage gradually climbed back up. See the photo taken a while after removing the short. I modified my switch to have a 120K ohm resistor from each RCA jack to ground for the channel serving the phono preamp. That solved the problem by providing a path for the DC to escape. Now it works perfectly and I can switch between input sources without and giant clicks. There is nothing magic about 120K ohms. Typical line level devices can drive a 10K ohm load, so 120K would be a negligible additional load. And some 120K 1/4 watt resistors were on hand. Finally, there is a tiny bit of hum on the output, even when the cables from the phono pickup are disconnected. But is not audible when the gain is in the normal range.

What a surprise. My 12 year old Emotiva preamp died and was replaced with a new model from Schiit Audio that had no phono section. I rarely listen to my old vinyl so this was not a high $$$ priority in my system. I selected the Fosi X1 for its low price and positive reviews. Used with an AR turntable and a modest Audio Technica cartridge the darn thing sounds better than did the phono stage of my old (and costly) Emotiva preamp! It has adequate gain and a lovely, rich tone quality. Simple setup, good sound, low price. Great!

Plugged the pre amp unit in per instructions and tested the sound- it was not good, distorted and warbley sounding is the best I can describe- I tried different cables and rechecked my connections still no difference ( I have an audio technica turntable which has a MM cartridge) I wound up returning the unit and will have to wait till I can afford something more professional

Le Fosi Audio donne une autre dimension d'écoute pour mes vinyles. Super pour les platines qui ne possède pas d'ampli je recommande.

Fosi good products

I have connected the Fosi Audio Phono Pre-amp to my Technics turntable and line out to my Sonodyne amplifier and speaker out to Philips HiFi-International 3 way speaker system. The line out audio signal is strong and produces hifidelity sound and it's bass and treble combination is truly fantastic. I find this pre-amp a must buy for all vinyl lovers to keep alive and enjoy the magical experience of listening to original hifidelity music since in today's time it is difficult to repair faulty phono lines of past amplifiers and also hard to get new amplifiers with phono line nowadays. We can convert any amplifier or home theatre system into a phono turntable compatible amplifier via this Fosi audio MM pre -amplifier

Rapid delivery and works perfectly thanks. Perfect preamp enabling use of my turntable with my BOSE system PS Item left in the street (but that is no fault of the seller ......it is Amazon delivery services)

Fungerar perfekt! Fick tidigare ut jättelåg volym ur stereon via vinylspelaren men med denna blev det som natt och dag! Kanonbra pris också 👍