Fosi Audio Box X2 Phono Preamp, Mini Stereo Audio Hi-Fi Preamplifier with Gain Gear, Pre-Amplifier for MM Turntable Phonograph and Record Player, with DC 12V Power Supply

This review is based on 3 whole days of use. For this reason, there will be no mentions of it's longevity, only its awesomeness. I have an Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB table that's connected the a pair of Klipsch R-51PM bookshelf speakers with a 8" reference series subwoofer. I have been running this system for about a year and a half and have really enjoyed it. The only issue is that streaming content and CDs were so much louder that it bummed me out to listen to my vinyl and only get 75-80% of the volume of the other two. I grabbed this up on a whim. I have the bronze table with the copper speakers and it all looks very nice together, so I figured if nothing else, this little dude would look nice on the shelf next to it, and at like $60, I figured it was worth the gamble. Well, it was. This thing not only offers three levels of volume boost, but cleans up the signal so well that I spent the entire weekend listening to all of my albums over again for the first time. The difference is incredible. I'm not a super-duper audiophile nerd or anything, I just always have music playing and I wanted all of my audio sources to be as close to the same quality as possible. This little box made that happen. If you have a turntable - even one with a built-in phono stage like mine - get this thing! Just trust me. Both my turntable AND my powered speakers have phono amplification, and this is better than either of them. Took a few flips of the switch to get it right (phono from TT to Fosi Box, line in to the R-51s) but now the sound is incredible. Can't believe I went a year and a half without one. Do yourself a favor and grab it now. You will not be disappointed. Side note: the packaging is very impressive. They did a fantastic job protecting this thing and making it look like a thing that should cost more than it does. The directions, on the other hand, are a pretty funny read. For actual setup, bail on the instructions and just google search it. It's not hard anyway.

Love it. improved sound. brainlessly easy to set up. very small doesn't take up any space. very much bang for the buck.

The praise is well deserved. I paired this with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge installed on a Numark TT-100 turntable. The sound upgrade is noticeable. There is a noticeable increase in volume, wide soundstage and warmth. These are mere words, but the point should be well received by audiophiles and newbies alike. I love the look and gives me system a touch of vintage steam punk. Its truly gorgeous. The three gain settings are great, but to be honest, I don't hear any distortion with any of them. I leave in the middle so i can always go up or down depending on the loudness of the album which can vary tremendously. But usually I leave it there and control my volume through my Onkyo receiver. I have not yet used the miniplug for anything yet. Not sure my tape deck needs this. Check back as I do plan on experimenting. I am looking forward to re-listening to my cherished 800 plus vinyl collection. Next up, maybe upgrade my turntable to the Fluance RT-82. But for now, I am very pleased. I was comparing this one to the ART DJPREII and went with Fosi. Two reasons: cheap audio man on YouTube recommended this one, and secondly, looks do matter, and the idea of the bright blue light and the crude design of the ARTDJ was a turn off. Who wants to spend money to make your set up look cheaper. This is a classy design the delivers on the substance, sound quality.

*** MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE RIGHT CABLES TO USE YOUR TURNTABLE WHEN YOU ORDER THIS *** Bought this to replace a very large and VERY heavy old stereo unit that I used to drive speakers for my turntable. I really like it! It has a smooth and even sound quality and is very easy to use. The included tubes warmed up quickly and I like that it has multiple gain settings to boost to the right amount, though I would honestly have preferred a smooth turning dial. I am not a fan of the inputs/outputs. It has one 3.5mm jack on the front that is Input only, a red/white input on the back and a red white output. I had to jerry rig some spare cables together to connect my turntable as it only has one output in the form of red/white cables and the speakers I have only have input as red/white cables. So that is a bit of a design oversight but not a major one. Other than that, the design is very sleek and simple and it's pretty idiot-proof. I am a fan of this purchase. So far it has been very good and I will update later if there are issues with it.

Let's jump right to the most glaring bit of misinformation floating around the reviews here. Several reviewers here are stating this pre-amp is for moving magnet type phono cartridges only. NOW I can't speak for ALL "moving coil" carts, but my, Denon DL 103, moving coil, has no apparent (audible) issues with this amp. None. Sounds perfect. I've been transferring my Vinyl to bits and my disk recorder (records like a tape deck but to a CD) was getting really low levels. I could correct this after the fact with SW with no quality issues, but it was awkward. This amp was just the boost I needed. (no gain control on the recorder) SO the selectable output level switch is nice. I'm ok at the lowest, better at the middle, and just a showing a flicker of red on the highest. This was first time I'd ever seen level-leds show any red. Bottom line, Great little amp for the $. Works with any modern, quality cartridge/turntable. You'll notice the instructions don't say jack about "only moving magnet", but the input is labeled "MM". perhaps that's where the confusion sprang from. Fosi may have done that simply because moving magnet are typically less expensive and hence are likely to be what most people will have. The other thing the instructions don't say what input on your main amp/receiver to plug the output from the fosi into. It's just says "connect to your amp" for the record it's Line In or Aux, NOT phono. I plugged mine direct into the line in on my recorder and returned to the amp from the recorder. Lastly Packing. Several guys groused loudly about packing. Mine too was shipped in plain thin, bubble wrap-type bag. But that's fine the way the tubes are packed inside the Fosi box, you could drop the box from 5 feet(ish) over and over and not damage anything but the outside of the box. Final tip. Installing the tubes. They go in pretty tight. So once your sure you're lined up correctly don't be afraid to lean into it a bit. UPDATE MM V MC cartridge compatibility. To be clear, at first listen, THIS particular amp, SEEMS to be fine with at least one particular MC cartg, my Denon DL-103 MC-type cart. No distortion, no hum. Output level perfect, (best on the middle gain setting of 3). But after applying a more critical "ear" I'm not convinced I'm getting all of the clarity and or fullness this legendary DL-103 is famous for. NOW there are a couple possible explanations for this that don't involve this "amp v MC cartridge compatibility" issue. Age of the cartridge being first. While it's well under the life-span limit in hours played, it IS 10 years old. Also, I have never checked, let alone adjusted, the turntable vs tone-arm for level, so there's every reason to assume this (aka "VTA") setting is not optimum. I was shocked to learn how big a SOUND difference this, the angle of the stylus to the groove (VTA) can make. (follow up on that to come) What I can say for now is that the combination of this MC cart and this amp 'sounds' correct, if not "super'. and after playing it last night for about 6 or 7 hours it doesn't appear that either the amp nor the cart is being damaged by the other. If you're wondering if your MC cart will be similarly content with this amp, be advised the "Recommended Load Resistance" on my Denon DL-103 is "100 ohm or more, (except when a transformer is provided)" I believe transformer is what some MC type carts refer to a pre-amp as. The manual for the Fosi X2 doesn't give any ohm rating, load/capacitance, resistance rating number of any kind, input or output. Bottom line this could be a viable "budget option" amp for at least some, MC type carts. Since "proper" MC pre-amp/transformers, start about double what this one costs and run as much as 4 or 5 times more expensive.

Great pre amp! Provides a nice sound and look

An interesting design. It uses a high-frequency pentode, not an "audio grade" tube, one per channel, three audio-grade op-amps, and other stuff. From what I understand by reading discussions on other sites, the tubes are used as followers (gain = 1) at low anode voltage between the gain stages. Maybe, I did not check. An interesting design decision. But I made an experiment suggested on one site bypassing the tubes - and to my amusement, the sound became a bit worse. So, even the stock tubes do something! Then, I replaced the stock tubes with Russian 6ZH1P-EB, which look little more substantial and improved the sound enough to justify the expense. So, yes, there is something right in the design of this small preamp. By the way, if you buy Russian tubes, the -EB suffix is quite important. It means 5000 hours of operation, guaranteed. My last experiment was replacing the "dated" as some say JRC2068D op-amps with much newer LM4562NA, which look much better on the paper. Oh well... both are audio grade, and the newer one has better numbers, but I put back the originals. While the LM4562 seems to produce somewhat less noise, I found the sound unexpectedly harsh and less pleasant. The sound of older op-amps is cleaner. I could not find a reason by thinking of it and am not interested enough to dig deeper. Perhaps another peculiarity of this design, but at least I saved those who read this about ten bucks by providing that info. Oh, another thing which I thought of, but do not even intend to try - someone asked about using 15VDC power supply instead of supplied 12VDC. I think for the op-amps it is practically the same, considering the actual signal levels, but I would avoid doing so as it will affect the power system and might kill the heaters of your tubes, and/or damage the inverter that creates -12V rail (if I understand the architecture - I never bothered to reverse engineer it). So, I am happy with this product. just for the reference, I use it with a very modest (an understatement) setup of Orbit U-turn with AT-91 cart (conical needle), Nob Sound Class A 6x2W tube power amp (this one without semiconductors!) and old large Sansui SP-200 speakers from 70-s with 12" woofer, paper diffusors, bass port, etc.). Life is good!

OMG ITS SO AMAZING!!!! The sound quality is so good I was so worried cause some of my records sounded so quiet but buying this helped I can now listen to Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys and it sounds amazing and loud

Il preamplificatore phono Fosi Audio BOX X2 si presenta come una scelta eccellente per chi cerca un upgrade nell'ascolto dei vinili. Con la sua tecnologia a valvole e una serie di caratteristiche avanzate, questo dispositivo offre un suono caldo, regolare e definito che sicuramente soddisferà gli appassionati della musica analogica. Il preamplificatore BOX X2 vanta un rapporto segnale-rumore superiore a 98dB e una distorsione armonica totale inferiore al 0,1%. La risposta in frequenza segue lo standard RIAA, assicurando un'equalizzazione precisa per le cartucce a magnete mobile (MM). Una delle caratteristiche distintive è la possibilità di regolare il guadagno con tre modalità commutabili: 39, 42, 45 dB. Questo offre un controllo personalizzabile sul suono, garantendo un'eccezionale compatibilità con diverse configurazioni audio. Dopo aver provato il Behringer PP440, ho optato per il Fosi Audio BOX X2 e ne sono entusiasta. Il suono è avvolgente, caldo e definito, offrendo un'esperienza audio che si avvicina all'hi-fi. La possibilità di cambiare le valvole aggiunge un valore significativo, consentendo di sperimentare e personalizzare ulteriormente l'esperienza d'ascolto. Nel complesso, un investimento consigliato per chi cerca un miglioramento tangibile nella riproduzione audio dei vinili.

Dei mais pontecia na minha agulha!top

I have a main valve amplifier and needed a phono pre amp to boost signal from an inherited turntable with MM cartridge. Read reviews and got the fosi audio box x2. Being so relatively cheap I thought it would just ok. How wrong i was it's fantastic. Just on the first gain setting is enough for my main amp and tha output is beautiful. I am not a audiophile but I think 10 out of 10 for what I required.

Excellent