Analog Gear News

Relative/upstart hi-fi newcomers Fosi Audio have recently dropped a pair of interesting new products — namely, the Fosi Luna3 turntable and the Fosi Box X5 phono preamp.

As further background, Fosi Audio was founded in 2017, and their company name is an acronym combining the first letters of four of their core founding qualities: 1) Foresight (thinking further ahead); 2) Openness (embracing users’ voices); 3) Sincerity (serving you wholeheartedly); and 4) Innovation (upholding technical excellence). Also, according to their official site, Fosi Audio seek to, quote, “bring a balance of value and performance to the hi-fi marketplace.”

Back to their new gear. First up, Fosi take a minimalist approach to the Luna3 turntable design, with a seamless plinth and clear, “transparent” acrylic platter. Controls are kept to a minimum — on/off, and 33⅓ and 45rpm playback speeds. Those speeds are maintained by a servo-driven motor system with a Hall sensor to maintain rotational speed accuracy within ±0.11% deviation, according to Fosi. Of course, this also serves to minimize pitch shifting during playback. The motor head is made of copper, in an effort to reduce mechanical resonance.

The tonearm, described by Fosi as “lightweight and rigid,” allows for manual anti-skate adjustment. The arm is outfitted with an included Audio-Technica VM95E cartridge (as seen above), so the Luna3 is a complete turntable source setup.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about the Luna3 table is that it’s designed with upgrade options for an analog path forward — as in, that Audio-Technica cartridge can be replaced with another cart of the owner’s choice. And most replacement carts can be swapped out easily via the headshell’s standard universal mount.

The Luna3 is available in just one color, matte black, and the table comes with an orange mat. More orange color pops appear on the Luna3’s CNC-machined metal headshell and speed switch, as seen above — and, yes, that means it’s also Halloween-ready!

Fittingly, Fosi concurrently announced their new phono preamp, the Box X5. Similarly minimalist, the Box X5 is a compact unit with just a single orange button and a tiny orange operating light on front. The Box X5 is suited for MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving coil) cartridges, and it offers adjustable gain in increments of 38dB, 48dB, 56dB, and 66dB via a dial on back.

Input impedance only has two (fixed) settings, a standard 47kohms for MM and 100ohms for MC, via a small toggle. Output impedance is specified to be 10kohms. Inputs and outputs are RCA only (as would be expected in its price range). Fosi’s Box X5 claims an S/N of 92dB (1kHz @38dB, 5mV).

According to Fosi, the unit’s aluminum alloy chassis contains high-grade parts, including Panasonic metalized polyester film capacitors and 0.1% film resistors. Both the Luna3 table and the Box X5 phono-pre come with their own power supplies.

Finally, while the SRP for the Luna3 turntable is still TBD (though we do expect it to be quite reasonable for tables of this nature), the Box X5 phono preamp has an SRP of $110.

For more on Fosi Audio, go here.
For more on Fosi Audio dealer and distribution options, go here.