Fosi Audio Luna3 Prima Turntable – Orange Disc Of Music Fate
Fosi Audio Luna3 is a $349 USD Turntable for Vinyl Disc lovers, aiming to deliver a clean analog signal path, timeless visual presence and a slower, more relaxed listening experience. Today we will review the Luna3 and see how it stacks against the world, and how it sounds like.
Introduction
While in the past Vinyl Disc Players or TurnTables have been pieces mainly designed for diehard audiophiles, and while the Discs are still incredibly expensive, Fosi audio tries to create a timeless piece that will not break the bank and Luna3 is an interesting, simple but highly efficient turntable centered around purity. While Fosi Audio started from the bottom, with really affordable and easy amplifiers and desktop units, they are nowadays gaining popularity, often stealing clients from FiiO thanks to Fosi having a very competitive price point and still excellent performance. Luna 3 is not currently available on Amazon, but should be in the near future as people have crowdfunded it on Kickstarter and Fosi is known to deliver on this type of campaign.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Audiophile-Heaven has no Ads and our Youtube Channel has no midroll ads, and our work is supported by Affiliate Links and Donations. Huge thanks to Fosi Audio for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/45Buiki
Official Link – https://fosiaudio.com/pages/fosi-audio-luna3-turntable
Build Quality – Design
To keep our expectations low but hopes high, Fosi Audio notes that Luna3 follows the path of LIM or Less Is More, Less is Better, so it has an ultra minimalist design that has just the turntable, arm and motor, with no built-in phono stage. Support is provided by the Acrylic Platter and to read the music, Fosi Audio is using a popular VM95E Cartridge from Audio Technica.
Holding the cartridge is a Lightweight and Rigid ToneArm, and Fosi made sure that there are fewer circuits for a cleaner signal. This is taken to an extreme actually, as there is actually no active circuit, just the tonearm, and the cartridge, with the output going into an 2 x RCA output, to which you will have to connect a phono stage down the line.
Complementing their design and language, Fosi uses an orange mat together with the heavyweight transparent acrylic platter, and precision-crafted metal details. The headshell of the arm is CNC-Machined, and every single element on the Luna3 is painted orange, in line with other Fosi Audio products. Rotating the platter we have a Servo Motor with a Hall Sensor to ensure steady rotation, with a 0.11% accuracy.
ToneArm is Lightweight and rigid, has excellent anti-skating control and it also is super accurate. To pair with it, we have the copper core motor, with a minimal resonance. You can easily remove and replace the VM95E stylus and replace it with others for a different experience. You can actually replace the entire headshell as it has a standard universal connector.
Among the controls of the Luna3 we have 2-Speed control, for both 33 and 45RPM, Trigger output support, and auto stop function for when the recording stops, to make sure that you’re not scratching your discs. Technically, Luna3 is impressive, it has a max power consumption of 5W, and a weight of 3.5 kG, but it has an Overhand of 22mm, arm length of 218.5mm, and a 300mm platter, with a 65 dB SNR. Wow And Flutter is 0.1% for 33RPM, and 0.15% for 45RPM. Speed variation is 1% for both. Most of the unit is easily user serviceable, and it is one of the most solid turntables you can ask for.
Subjective Usage
At first glance, Luna3 is incredibly simple, it has just the TurnTable, motor and reader head, with no digital or analogic active components other than the motor and the head. This is unique, and likely the best way to get a clean signal in this price range, because while I have access to multiple phono amplifiers, even a meager one like SMSL PH-1 has better and more solid amplifiers and circuits than what you could build within a TurnTable.
Even so, it is inconvenient at first, and one has to really understand that the signal coming from Luna3 cannot be played with no Phono Pre, and that is a component it does not have, feeling super old school in this aspect. In fact, there is very little sound quality to it, as most of the sound quality will inevitably come from the Disc, and the Phono Pre rather than the Luna3. This is a pro and a con, as a simple turntable like this, where you can easily replace the whole cartridge and reader head exists more for its shape, color accents and motor quality, which is top notch. Naturally, it does not have speakers, but you won’t hear the motor sound either, as it is dead quiet.
Sound Quality
There is no driving power, only synergy with different phono preamps, and in this sense Luna3 works wonderfully. It combines well with affordable, entry-level phono preamps like SMSL PH1, but also with high-end and flagship phono preamps like Cyrus One Cast, Qualiton APR204. It is essential that you do buy a phono and it will influence the sound far more than Luna3 can, as Luna3 only has the reader head that can have any kind of sound, as the motor should not have any kind of sound, and instead it only turns the platter, and there are no other active elements that can color the sound.
Overall Signature – Luna 3 sounds rather detailed, control is excellent and flutter and wow effects are kept under control really nicely. Vinyl listening is different from CD and digital, as it is an analog medium, and I did my best to compare Luna 3 with FiiO TT13, but as TT13 has a Phono Pre integrated, the differences will often be dictated by the phono stage of each, as well as other elements. The same media will sound slightly different between the two, TT13 sounds a bit more energetic, more analytical, more detailed while Luna3 sounds smoother, warmer, and a bit quieter, almost like the dynamic range is more extended and less compressed, at the cost of some resolution and revealing power. Luna3 is quite good for rendering complex passages, even for music that is normally clipping like Metallica’s recent albums, but it is also quite clean in the background.
Something to keep in mind with a turntable in this price range is that there will be needle noise, but if you keep your records super clean, you can theoretically always close the lid on Luna 3 and this will keep the dust out, allowing for a better listening experience with less needle noise. While CDs are also considered an analogous format, Vinyl in particular is very sensitive to how clean the disc itself is, and the condition of the disc, hence why I mentioned earlier on that you should buy new discs when possible, for the cleanest listening experience. With vinyl discos, different press release, different print date and locations can have vastly different sounds, and I managed to find some magical vintage discs here in Romania, second hand, which have been printed on unusual materials like old X-Rays, as in the past, before the fall of communism, there wasn’t enough material to print those on. Happily, Luna3 can read all of them, and it all sounds great, I heard no noise coming from Luna3 and experienced no issues.
If anything, it is the Pre stage that changes the sound drastically, and increasing the PRe from SMSL PH1 to Cyrus One Cast or Qualiton APR204 will have a significant impact on what you hear. In fact, with this Qualiton from Audio-Hungary, I can literally test TT13 against the Luna3, and there I heard how Luna3 sounds a bit more intimate, a bit more personal, and a bit less compressed, but then again, for luna3 it was acting like the Phono stage, while for TT13 it was acting like the preamp stage, but phono was handled internally in TT13.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – There are two things that vinyl can struggle with, and those are volume control and dynamic range, because the dynamic range itself is much lower than for digital formats, while volume and SNR are also far lower than for a basic digital player. Keeping this in mind, most vinyl discs have a far wider dynamic range printed, because since the recent digital era, there was a significant push for dynamic compression, to squeeze more detail and a clever sound in Radio transmissions, and that tradition continued to Youtube and more recent music releases, and volume control is excellent with Luna3, mostly limited by the phono pre stage rather than the player itself. Overall, Luna3 is a perfectly transparent, disc turntable and a it does its job perfectly.
Value and Conclusion
When looking at the price of Luna3 you might feel it is pricey, especially if you’ve been spoiled by Chifi IEMS and DAC AMPS, but when you take a closer look, if you’re buying new discs, which is heavily recommended for vinyl, Luna3 costs between 3 and 5 discos, which is insane. It is so much more affordable than the listening medium, and while you do need a phono pre, SMSL PH1 costs 69 USD, less than a single Vinyl Disc, which is often around 100 USD if purchased new from an authorized local music shop, at least here in Romania. This means that a complete working setup will be affordable compared to how much you’ll be paying for the discs to play on that setup. Either way, this is a really fun hobby, I just feel like Luna3 has such an incredible price for what it offers, and that it is an excellent product you can’t afford to miss.
If you’re looking for a highly efficient, stable and smooth turntable, with easy to replace cartridge, and made with reliable parts, a beauty with black and orange accents, and if you want to have one of the best sonic experiences but stay on a budget, Fosi Audio Luna3 is a fully recommended product that I love and can easily recommend to any music lover looking for fun.
PROs
- High-end details and beautiful orange accents that work really well with all other Fosi products
- Excellent sonic quality, with very low wow and flutter
- Easy to replace cartridges
- Universal and fun, easy to use
- Very stable, heavy platter, stable and sturdy arm
- Very low noise and high dynamic range for the format
- Highly detailed sound with very few elements in the path of the signal
Cons
- You have to buy the phono preamp separately
- Quite large and bulky
- Keep in mind that vinyl discos can be very pricey if buying new discs
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/45Buiki
Official Link – https://fosiaudio.com/pages/fosi-audio-luna3-turntable
--- Please remember to stay safe, and always have fun while listening to music!---
- If you have a dime to spare, please donate, and help us! It would make the day brighter for me and my wife-
Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
--- Contact Us ---
