This is the official thread for the Flux FA-12S
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- XLR & RCA input, rca pre out, 1/4 inch and xlr out
- 2w @ 16 ohms, 1w @ 32 ohm
- Gain and input selectors
Flux Labs Link
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Z’s review just birth’d through the paywall… Good stuff I enjoyed the topless segment. Overall I’m more interested in the FA-10 or coming TOTL Volot but this is a great value prop @ $500.
This is an awfully quiet thread. Anyone got any experience with this product? Thoughts, opinions, diatribes? I’m thinking about getting it for a Christmas gift for myself. I lean towards this one over the rebel amp because the ticking doesn’t bother me, the remote would be useful for where I plan to put it, and the extra bal in/out might be helpful for the future (I don’t have any balanced gear right now except for IEMs.)
Recently replaced my Schiit Magnius with the Flux Labs FA-12S. FA-12S has a wonderful smoothness to it. The Schiit Magnius is quite dry and boring sounding in comparsion to the FA-12S. Bass notes really got elevated compared to the Magnius. It also seems to be slightly more detalied compared to the Magnius.
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I have the regular FA-12, but my 2 gripes apply to all FA-10/12 I think. The Flux “house” sound is great. Slight warmth, good detail, great instrument separation, good bass. I’m not a big fan of the gain and relay. Going from low to high gain doesn’t really affect volume position much at all and I wish the relay had more steps. But sound wise the FA-12 is great. From other forums the order of popularity seems to be 10, 12, 12S, 10 Pro.
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I’ve been curious about these amps. 3 of them cost exactly the same. What are the differences between them?
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The main differences are single-ended vs balanced topology and the different output powers associated with each type.
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I have mostly high efficiency headphones. I think in his fa12 video, z recommended to leave on high gain and use the first 14 levels for the volume for headphones like the sivga phoenix. Do you think this addresses the issue sufficiently?
It helps a little, but there should be a larger step between gains imo.
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How significant of an issue can the gain be? I use remotes for my volume control so I guess getting out of a chair to constantly adjust would be a PITA. But if you’re within arms reach I would think that the volume control would be a very minimal issue. Unless we’re talking about such a massive jump that one cannot find reasonable volume levels quickly between songs/artists.
It has to do with how the volume increases. I think Zeos describes it in one of the Flux videos. At low volumes you don’t get much increase, but then around noon you get a rapid increase in volume (depends on your chain + headphones though). Not sure if logarithmic is the right choice, but you should get an idea from what I mean. That increase stands out more than adjusting the gain to me. This issue is not as bad as it sounds. I love the amp and would not let that issue make me hesitant in buying.
Thanks was just trying to get a little more precision or understand of the exact issue and it’s significance. Appreciate the specificity!
FA-12: JFET input stage, MOSFET output stage, Fully balanced, 750USD
FA-12S: JFET input stage, MOSFET output stage, single-ended therefore less power then FA-12 ,500USD
FA-10: JFET input stage, BJT output stage, fully balanced, 750USD, should be more neutral sounding and less warm sounding then the FA-12/FA-12S.
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Biting the bullet to order the FA-12S, with the wireless upgrade (+$25) and a yellow/gold faceplate color. I think there’s a promo going on right now, CA/USA buyers that select EMS shipping get a free upgrade to DHL. For me, that’s $100 shipping fee for EMS, but it would normally cost $250 for DHL.
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What’s the wireless upgrade? And yeah if you email them about the shipping, they usually upgrade you to DHL for free. Can’t wait to get your impression of it!
Its an extra 25 dollars for a remote control for the volume. Don’t get too excited for my impression, I highly doubt it will be anything less than “the best thing I ever heard” because all I’ve got to compare it to is a Liquid Spark, and some other old Fiio stuff.
I do have a hand-me-down JVC “Super-A” receiver with a quarter-inch out though, but I’ve never tried it. I don’t know much about old stuff, but I thought the “Super-A” branding was for some sort of psuedo-class A tech.
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Nice are you doing the yellow like what Zeos got or the champagne gold?
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I picked the yellow version, just a nice unique color to me. I didn’t like champagne.
I think everyone here might be disappointed that I didn’t pick red because the dac I’m probably going to pair with this amp is the red SMSL Sanskrit but I had a couple reasons for choosing this. I didn’t have time to go through color matching for the aluminum, so it might be less perfect, if it’s two slightly different shades of red in person, it might be jarring. Also I haven’t really finalized my plan completely but the amp probably won’t be right next to the dac anyways because this is going to be my bedside amp and the FA-12s will likely be above and behind me while the SMSL will be diagonally closer to me, because I’m probably going to plug my phone into it. It’s a very complex plan but I’ll sort it out when the time comes.
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Nice a helluva a bedside setup! I’m probably a bit older so the champagne is just calling my name and the yellow is a bit jarring for me. The red would have been cool but I would have been a sucker for the blue if it had been a royal blue instead of the weak wristed one shown in the picture.
Please post a picture of the bedside setup once it’s all in!
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My dad kept recommending I get the champagne, saying how refined it looked. I can see how people wouldn’t like the intense yellow color, but the energy is more like my Gen-Z gusto, opposed to the super classy champagne. I agree, I thought the blue was a little unsaturated, a missed opportunity…
I don’t want to disappoint, but I probably won’t share a picture of the full setup because the DAC and amp will be a few feet apart, and a picture would catch in the background my very messy teenager-esque bedroom. I’m not super comfortable exposing how much of a hoarder I am. 