Fosi Audio Box X5 Phono Preamp for Turntable, Mini Preamplifier Home Audio for MM & MC Cartridge Turntable/Phonograph Record Player/Active Speakers, 4-Level Adjustable Gain 38/48/56/66 dB with RCA

After reading reviews and watching the videos from the HiFi community and seeing the specs put to the test from places like Audio Science, I pulled the trigger on this phono preamp and I am glad I did. Really brought out the best from my Sumiko moving coil cartridge. It's beating out competition that's three times the cost or more. Do yourself a favor and grab this unit if you're in the market for a phono preamp.Edit: So after about a week the unit stopped working. No output from either channel. Sounded great and was very pleased with this preamp but then it just turned it's toes up and does not function. What a shame. I'll be avoiding a replacement and just get a refund for something better.Edit 2: Update 3/12/25 - In response to my feedback, Fosi reached out to me and offered a replacement that has been updated. As of today, I have been running the replacement for two days with some extensive playtime and the sound is as good as I had remembered and it is holding up. Last time was a week before failure, so in another week or two I will update again. I must say that their customer service and dedication to providing a quality product is refreshing and welcome.Edit: Update 3/21/25 - After a week of running a moving magnet cartridge (38 dB gain setting) and a high output moving coil cartridge (48 dB gain setting), things have been smooth with the new unit. Sound is amazing and there is still zero noise from this preamp. I'm now on day 3 of running a moving coil cartridge with 0.5mV output using 56 dB gain. It is working flawlessly. In a few days I will switch to a 0.3mV output moving coil cartridge and utilize the 66 dB gain option. If all goes well I will give one final update. Seems things have been sorted out and this phono preamp from Fosi is working magic.Edit: Update 3/27/25 - Almost three weeks in now and the replacement unit has been working flawlessly. At this point I would have to say that Fosi made sure that they addressed any issues and were definitely aiming at providing a quality product. Their customer service was exceptional and this phono amp I can honestly say is one of my favorites. It provides above par sound quality and there is no distortion or noise from this unit. I've adjusted my rating...for sound and cost, this really cannot be beat. I would give it a final 4.5-4.75 stars.

Once I plugged it in and used it- i will not go back to my built in phono. It make a world of difference in the quality of the sound coming out of my speakers. It was a surprised to hear the difference made but something that is well within my budget.

3/29/2025 Update: So my right channel stopped working followed by the left channel. I've reached out to Fosi whom I'm sure will replace it however that seems to be a common them here with this. it works great for a bit but then fails and needs a replacement. Why are so many people having issues with this unit? It should just... WORK. Replacements are great but nobody wants to have to wait a week for a replacement... Changing my 5 star review to 1 star. I don't want to have to keep replacing it. Returning it to Amazon and getting one from another manufacturer that has HUNDREDS of replies. This is what I get for following a youtubers sponsored video review.So i'm not sure if this made an improvement in my setup or not BUT it works. So I'll give it 5 stars as the price is basically $100. I'm using this with an AT-LP60x currently (which has a built in pre-amp). I bought this for my new Fluance RT85n that is coming. This arrived first, decided to try it out. It works. I mean not much to it. It sounds good. I'm not an audiophile but i've heard some good things about it. BUT that also makes me wonder if the videos I saw were all PAID SPONSORSHIPS. If this thing is so amazing, where are all the reviews? I'll throw in 5 stars and if it stops working change my rating. But so far a few hours in and she's working as advertised.The power plug COULD be longer though. It's actually NOT that long. They give you a few inches for the AC plug before it gets to the brick and then another few feet of power cord. JUST enough that the brick can sit on the ground and my pre-amp sits on my table. We're talking a bar-top table here so it's not like it's up on a high shelf. A bit longer cord would have been nice!

Was using the internal preamp in my Denon 6700, 6800 and Marantz SR8015. These are $3500 to $4000 receivers, I only point this out to state the benefit to a cheaper receiver should be far greater than I am getting. Running two tables, one with a Ortofon Black and the other a Ortofon Black LVB 250. The mids and highs were much better and bass was tighter. DO MESS WITH GAIN. I had mine set to the highest MM gain, not good, no bass, then I set it at the lowest MM gain and WOW,for the price it's amazing. Equal to or better than $500 external preamp I have had.

I am a huge Fosi audio guy... I have their equipment in both my home office and work office. So this little phono amp is better than my $500.00 Vincent Audio phono amp hands down. And it has only a few hours of burn-in. I would have given it 5 stars if this didn't seem to be a second hand already been used amp. packaging seal was broken and box had food particles stuck on the outside of the box and inside the box. not very happy about that amazon or supplier. I'll give a further review after about 50 hours of burn-in. But so far worth the money for sound quality simply functionality.

Product sounds very good and is highly flexible with mm and mc adjustments as well as 4 different gain positions to suit a wide variety of cartridges.

Great piece of audio equipment. Solid build with excellent output results. Better than other low price preamps with options only found on other hi end amps. You won’t regret this purchase.

Mine was DOA. No output to preamp and I tried two different ones. Order different phono pre amp and it works great.