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Fosi Audio BT20A Pro, is it a real amp?

MrDevonair said:
The Fosi BT20A Pro is a wicked bit of kit. The company have definitely hit a niche in the market after learning from their previous products. I have a friend with who drives a pair of Quad 11L speakers with it and it sounds great. Even the bluetooth is absolutely decent if you’re not sitting down for a full blown critical listening session. I went to buy a pair of ZA3’s but found they had sold out quickly however I believe they have stock again now, but as fortune would have it I found an online French retailer that shipped them to me in the UK all in for £230 which is a steal. I have used my Arcam Solo Mini as the preamp for these little mono blocks and am pretty staggered with what you get for your money in terms of performance. Can’t wait to see what they come out with next. Long live Class-D
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The ZA3 is sold out again. I managed to snag one from Fosi's ebay store before it sold out for the second time. If it performs even close to the reviews I have seen I should be very pleased with it.
 
Gigantic said:
meanwhile, I'm counting my blessings... When I met my gf nearly 8 years ago, I had a bluetooth speaker and a subconscious desire to play guitar again. I now have somewhere around 20 guitars, 4 amps, 16 pedals and turned her home office into a recording studio. Meanwhile, in the living room, in the past year and a half, we've gone from a projector and a Bose wave radio, to a 7.1 home theater, Tri-amped LaScala clones, tube amplification, a pair of turntables and somewhere in the ballpark of 100 vinyls. she enjoys the music, although she may occasionally admonish me to turn it down.
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I'm single now, but my last GF, who I was with for a decade, certainly put up with my hi-fi and cabinets full of records (she was into music herself). I think that there's an idea, not just with women, but all around, that a living room is supposed to be some kind of space that needs to be set up primarily for people to gather and not much else. A TV then might be appropriate, but not much else. I don't see an issue though with a living room being all that, but also a place to listen to music and as a library of music and books. Not everyone has the space to have both a living room and a dedicated listening room. There's something nice too, I think, about having all of that stuff accessible in one room. I just don't see why a living room has to look like a hotel lobby. I think that if can be far more interesting and more personalized than that...
 
Just ordered the BT20A Pro with the 48V 5A power supply bundle ($139.00 w/free shipping) Amazon. I've had a Fosi TB10A for years on a little near field, desktop system and have always been amazed at the sound quality of such a little amp.
I was seriously tempted to purchase 2 of the new Fosi ZA3s to build a mini, mono block system, but decided on buying the WiiM Pro instead.

Rolling Op-amps sounds fun, but I want to check out the stock BT20A with the 48V power supply first......Just to see what all the Hub-Bub is all about.

More to Come............

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Well the Fisher went into the bedroom today. Seems like the Topping will stay in the living room for awhile. Now I need another DAC for the bedroom.
 
I guess that in the end, buying one of these will be inevitable. Not only are they cheap for what they offer, but they can also be carried with ease around the house or even when travelling. Basically, a pair of small bookshelf speakers, one tiny amp and a phone is all the sistem most people need.

I have to say that the Bluetooth connection comes in handy even though I prefer other inputs, it just makes life easier. I guess that's why Bluetooth speakers are so popular, cause SQ is definitely not a selling point. But they are convenient.

I appreciate all the replies I got and will go through all of them.
 
rochester21 said:
I guess that in the end, buying one of these will be inevitable. Not only are they cheap for what they offer, but they can also be carried with ease around the house or even when travelling. Basically, a pair of small bookshelf speakers, one tiny amp and a phone is all the sistem most people need.

I have to say that the Bluetooth connection comes in handy even though I prefer other inputs, it just makes life easier. I guess that's why Bluetooth speakers are so popular, cause SQ is definitely not a selling point. But they are convenient.

I appreciate all the replies I got and will go through all of them.
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You said earlier that you don't use streaming, because the streaming services don't have the content you listen to.

I'm curious as to how you will be getting the content you want, using your phone as source?
 
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spark1 said:
You said in a related thread that you don't use streaming (because the streaming services don't have the content you listen to).
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I find this curious, as the leading streaming services have almost everything, unless you're one of those unwashed, tape-trading types...
 
Lucky Pierre said:
How well do these little amps work with inefficient speakers? Something like AR3s or others that like high power, high current amps?
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I got a BT20A Pro off eBay from the FosiStore for $108 and free shipping. I run it as a power amp wide open. It powers my AR-10Pi quite nicely to loud with the preamp turned to 9:00 and I’m seriously thinking about selling off several of my current amps.
 
Well........I've got my mini "near listening" system set up and it sounds fantastic.
Components as follows.....Fosi BT20A Pro amp, Wiim Pro streamer, (using Amazon Music Unlimited). Speakers.....Sony SSCS5 bookshelves and a Sony SACS9 subwoofer, plus a little $35.00 Sony DVD player for CD playback, through the coax digital out, to bypass in internal DAC of DVD player. (using the internal DAC in Wiim Pro........not bad sounding at all. )

On Amazon Music Unlimited, I'm pulling 24bit-192KHz, on the provided Ultra HD music, and I must say, the dynamics and tonal richness of the sound is really surprising for such little,compact components.

So far so good.......Next is maybe trying to roll the op-amps to see what kind of different tonal flavors I can get with the little BT20A Pro.

Having Fun............
 
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UPDATE.........
I just finished setting up a little "near field" listening system, using the Fosi BT20A Pro ( with Sparkos op-amp up grade ), 2 Sony SSCS5 bookshelf speakers, Sony SAC59 10" sub and a Wiim Pro streamer. I'm using Amazon Unlimited on the Wiim app, and I'm pulling 24-bit 194kHz on their ultra HD offerings. I'm an old school vinyl snob ( lol @ 68 yrs) , But I must honestly confess....what I'm hearing, sounds as good and detailed as my main set-up that cost me many thousands of dollars, over the years,
All these years, I've been totally convinced that nothing could sound better than a "new" nicely pressed LP or a master tape.
Now I see lots a streamed music in my future.........with the rare exception of that "must have" LP.
 
The Fosi ZA3 with 48v PS I bought for $135 at the beginning of the year has changed how I will purchase audio gear going forward. It produces very good results even without a preamp being involved in the process. My 2.0 system now goes from a USB (via computer)/coax source--->DAC--->ZA3--->JBL L100t3/L80t3/L20t3 speakers. The only thing I will do going forward is install a pair of Sparko op-amps at some point and maybe get another ZA3 to run a dual mono mode configuration. I have half a dozen late 80s and early 90s receivers and integrated amps that might not be used again going forward. An amp like the ZA3 can easily power an average, to above average. 2.0 or 2.1 system and drive a wide variety of speakers quite well. As these small class D amps advance further, the impact they will have on amps up to around the $700 price point might be substantial.
 
Sounds like Fosi makes nice affordable stuff.

When I get too old to move around my big, heavy class A, and class A/B stuff I’ll be moving to the class D fast switching amplifiers. The sound quality is mighty nice with the newest stuff that I’ve heard my younger co-workers using, and I expect it to get even better by the time I move to it.
 
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