The Fosi Audio LC30 VU Meter Amplifier And Speaker Selector

A Little Bling For Your Stereo System

The LC30 Adds Convenience, Flexibility, And Load Protection

Fosi Audio has been trending towards simplicity lately, with their amps dropping all but the volume control. The LC30 is a complete change in direction, offering lights, moving pointers and even a remote control!  This VU meter will let you connect one or two amps to use it as an A/V switcher, allowing you to toggle from one audio source to another, as well as letting you connect your speakers in an A and B banks.  That gives you four separate sound setups, all at the push of a button.

It isn’t just about convenience, the LC30 also includes built-in load protection, automatically switching to a built-in load level when an amplifier is not in use, which is very important for tube amps as well as some digital ones to a lesser degree.  You can happily leave your amps on, even when not in use, without worry about damaging them over time.

The two moving pointers represent the left and right channels of the currently select amp, and will move along with your music.  The amber back lights have four brightness settings you can toggle with the remote, so you can enjoy them shining brightly or completely turn them off. It is an old aesthetic we have lost over the years, what was once common place in home theatre has returned and at a decent price of $100 to enjoy.

A Boon For Wiring

Fosi Audio’s amps are small, around the size of a paperback novel and so perfect for installing in small spaces or bringing with you on the road.  This does mean that there is limited real estate on the back of the amp which can be make wiring somewhat onerous unless you only use banana plugs.  The LC30 on the other hand has enough space for larger posts, which makes connecting bare wire much easier on the fingers!

The amplifier connections are on the right of the LC30 and the speakers on the left, so if you do switch sources on a regular occasion you don’t have to worry about disturbing the speaker wiring when you do so.  Once you are all set up you can sit back and use the remote control to handle everything from power, to switching between sources and speaker banks to toggling the light level.  Sadly, as this is simply a passive pass through and switcher the + and – buttons handle the brightness of the light and not the volume.  In order to manage that, the LC30 would also have to be an amp and that is not what the idea behind it is.

As you can see, power is delivered via USB-C which is a wise choice for a device requiring such little power to run.  Fosi chose not to include a wall wart adapter, which is very common nowadays as everyone is expected to have a half dozen lying around from old phones.  Unfortunately not everyone constantly upgrades their phones, so it would have been nice to see a USB power adapter included, but they are cheap to pick up and if you happen to set this up near your PC or a USB-C display then there is no need for that adapter at all.

If You Want It … You Want It

Those wondering why anyone would want to buy a box that features dancing needles and lets you customize your sound stage at the press of a button are probably not going buy into the Fosi Audio LC30.  On the other hand, those that see it and immediately recall a favoured old amp that had a built in VU meter are probably already checking to see if Fosi has any stock left.  This is a purely aesthetic addition to your audio setup, and frankly aimed in the most part at a slightly older crowd.

When setting it up, the centre dial determines the load received by the VU needles so you should start at the lowest level and slowly turn it up until you get the desired movement; remember that the instruments behind them were and remain rather delicate.  Unfortunately, my preferred sources wouldn’t make the LC30 dance until the volume hit rather extreme levels and that remained the same regardless if bare wire or banana plugs were used.  Your mileage may vary, especially if you have a power amp in the chain, however it is a common complaint from backers who have received their LC30 already and not unique to this particular sample.

That’s not enough to dissuade me, the comfortable amber glow and slight movements at the bottom of the VU meter are enough to put a smile on my face.  It may disappoint those hoping to hit the red without the neighbours getting upset.  The second amp channel in this case has been the BT20a Pro with it’s Bluetooth connection, as it makes it easy to quickly play audio from a phone.

On a more selfish note, it will also make reviewing future Fosi products much simpler, as all I need to do is swap the banana plugs instead of rewiring everything.  It might inspire a round up, to see if there is much sound difference between the amps sent over the years and if some make the VU meter more excited than others.  This will also apply to others that have a collection of different amps that they prefer to use in specific situations.

As always, it is a pleasure to see what Fosi has come up with and sharing it.