Fosi Audio Box X2 vs Pro-Ject Tube Box S2

most of the recordings from the 70's-80's just stink though. I was hoping the records might do better. They didn't

The first two were when the tube box was brand new and just turned on, and again after 45 minutes of warm-up. Then I left it on for 48 hours straight ...

Let's go ahead and get this open and take a look at it, so like I said it's sealed, so I got my knife here and we got that there, we're going to go ah...

it can do that without increasing the decibels of gain above the gain rating on the inferior built-in amp! (How is that possible?) And if you do choose to increase the gain using the adjustable gain feature..

the soundstage shows a huge improvement as well, with a much grander sound. the bass is kept tight, where you can hear the notes themself, unlike the sloppy sound of the amp's built-in phono. i really enjoy the highs as well, a few times where i thought they'd sound piercing and too overboard, they were still controlled. overall: if you're looking for a starter external phono-preamp, i'd highly recommend this!

But what I can say is these upgrades combined made a dramatic improvement with my system. What I hear is more detail that is smooth, spacious soundstage, with improved highs, midrange and bass response. To say the least I am very impressed and happy with my purchase. The tube box looks really cool at night with low level lighting from the glow of the blue led’s and tubes

Sound Quality. I would say Schiit Mani wins a bit on instrument separation and clarity. It's more CD like, picking up more details on high end (as well as pops and clicks) compared to Fosi Audio. Does it mean Mani wins overall? NO! For quite few genres of music I would prefer the analog and full sound of Fosi Audio! I was also surprised by myself and I even doubt it in the first place

e., you'd better have some secondary filters or tone controls to compensate for your cruddy old vinyl.])

This is probably the biggest bang for your buck. If you’re just starting out you can’t go wrong here. Just upgrade your tubes and you’ll be really pleased.

This is the real deal. Cost led to knocking off a star. That said, I guess you get what you pay for.