First Watt amp thread, SIT / F / J2

dB_Cooper · June 5, 2024, 6:10pm

I have been doing a lot of listening of late. Primarily because of the sheer enjoyment of it. I’ve bought a shitload of CD’s from under the radar bands which I’ve ripped and just let the album play at night. Late night, low volume and the enjoyment is at the same elevated levels as mid day high volume listening. Enjoyment for different reasons but still counts as such.

Putting a fuse in the F8 really helped to extend it its technicality which is probably the only area where it didn’t clearly measure up to the UL+. Then again, that wasn’t a fair fight because the UL+ excelled there.

I also switched the power cable to a different Shunyata Anaconda Helix Alpha was much better suited to the LTA pre and the Python Helix Alpha is better suited to the F8. Funny that when I dove back into the hobby about six years ago now, I would have laughed at reading that comment from someone else.

Anyway, the F8 is a perfect dance partner to the Microzotl pre, they enhance each other and it’s truly a better sounding pair than they would be if judged individually. I say this because the only audible limitation to the F8 is it’s relatively narrow 15 dB or gain. The LTA can more than make up for that with its gain window and “audiophile” volume range setting, where another pre may struggle as I can easily see the sweet spot being too narrow otherwise.

Camus · June 6, 2024, 12:23am

What do you mean by this, and which fuse did you settle on for the F8?

dB_Cooper · June 6, 2024, 2:02am

Settle is the wrong word, I bought what was best avail used. It’s got an SR Orange in it. I didn’t try anything better than that but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m leaving something on the table. I’m convinced and have confirmed from crazies I trust that have tried, that a good copper or silver slug is the the optimum but… yeah, don’t.

By technicality I mean the ability to present detail and texture. Where things like slam and body, grip, control I don’t consider technical but more about power. Semantics, as it’s all technical really but these are certain things that are more about the amps power and delivery ability. You would argue that something like coherency (is technical and power) the ability to play complex or busy passages while still being able to differentiate soft from loud and each instrument from others.

I was thinking about these things as you hear a reviewer something talk about a particular piece of gear and I wondered how they’d have described that piece of gear were it presented in the best possible way, with good power, good cables, a fuse.

Nelson Pass himself says not to waste too much time and effort on cables and fuses, but there’s obviously gains to be made there. I guess I agree with the sentiment but not until you find the one you love. When you find the one you love, then max the foundation for it. In that context I can see no being too fussy.

Camus · June 6, 2024, 5:07am

Settle in the sense of what you picked to go with it , since you had been trying a lot of different fuses lately. Not settled as in compromised.

Perhaps it is my colloquial, when you settle on something you make a decision on it. Not negative or positive, just a deliberate decision.

dB_Cooper · June 6, 2024, 11:34am

You’re not wrong on the meanings. That was my point. lol I do believe that I’m leaving something on the table. But money isn’t infinite and satisfaction can be had for less than the best.

NickMimi · August 18, 2024, 12:32am

Oh, another keeper… SIT-3 pulling duty on Charney Companions and doing a really nice job taming their energy. I don’t know how i lived without this amplifier for so long she has joined the stable now though and is staying put.
It’s not the amplifier alone outputting the flavor, she has company, a variety of components and parts operating together will adjust the flavor of the sound output of the transducers and the presentation and I’m getting a rich deep flavor of midrange beauty i absolutely adore at the moment w/ the pictured combo.

Innuos Sense > Innuos Zenith MK3 > Line Magnetic LM32 DAC > SPL Phonitor X (pre) > SIT-3 > Charney Audio Companion w/ Lowther DX65

dB_Cooper · August 18, 2024, 12:36am

I must be better than my F8 because it has one extra LED.

NickMimi · August 18, 2024, 12:36am

Twice as gooder

Christof · August 18, 2024, 3:00pm

Glad you like it!

NickMimi · November 2, 2024, 3:02am

I got into a “grumpy-nitpicking-snit” of a mood tonight, sometimes tubes will do that to me, so i decided to go completely tube-less fuck them tubes, who needs them? Not this guy

I went in and flipped the switch on my Vinnie Rossi and went all JFET buffer linestage. Ha, tubes need not be my slave masters! The First Watt SIT-3 synergizes well w/ various speakers in my home and the ease of use may push me over the edge enough that i go looking to trade some tube amps for a variety of Nelson’s amplifiers I adore the glow of tubes, but the constant fiddle-fucking around trying to find just the right combination sometimes grates hard on my nerves making my left eyeball twitch in frustration and annoyance.

The most pleasing dimensionality of the soundstage using open baffles in my larger room has kept me going back for more a few days in a row now and i’ve completely ignored my box speakers so much i swear they may be conspiring against me in allegiance through my tubes and my inability to get a completely silent and stress free roll the past few days. Despite having suffered a bit of hearing loss, at least according to my lovely missus, i can hear a crackle or even light hiss at 10 paces after dark when i use only the lowest volume notches and evenings like tonight it makes me lose my mind and I start pulling the little bitches out of their sockets. I am genuinely pleased at the moment that i need not be a slave to the cute little fuckers, they don’t lord over me

I know i have issues, but Nelson Pass’s First Watt amps aren’t currently one of them and the versatility and performance of the Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE hasn’t disappointed me yet.

Gratuitous grainy photos for your enjoyment and a visual reminder to myself later on (after this evening is long forgotten) that i can go tube-less and still have an enjoyable listening session.

I had completely forgotten that little by-pass switch was in there…

dB_Cooper · November 2, 2024, 3:16am

If you sell your tube, you’ll have enough money to retire.

I am a Nelson Pass Firstwatt fan for life; despite it being the least costly component in my chain, it was the missing piece of the puzzle that made it all click together. Everything before it was a struggle, the F8 and Voxitiv have synergy in spades.

Did you finally get around to changing the fuse on it?

NickMimi · November 2, 2024, 3:23am

With some trepidation, but yes i finally put the fuse in and nothing blew up. I’m sure it’s a fine fuse but fuck if i can hear a difference, i swap components and move speakers so much that it’s impossible for me to keep track of any changes that fine. I do sincerely and genuinely appreciate the fuse though
The amp sounds great and has not frustrated me one bit.

NickMimi · November 5, 2024, 10:33pm

I’ve been trying to really understand what I’m enjoying so very much about the SIT-3 amplifier, and ultimately my conclusion is that it does 2 things so very well that they hit my own personal “soft spot”. Beautiful midrange quality and space.
Combined with a good front end it reproduces spatial qualities in a superior fashion to even other very good amplifiers. The width, depth and space between instruments and voices when you get your speakers placed well is really excellent. I got a good taste of this in my larger room using my open baffles and I’m enjoying it immensely. So much that I have not moved anything or tried different speakers in this room yet for fear of possibly messing something up and not being able to get things just right again That’s a first for me.

NickMimi · February 23, 2025, 6:46pm

With a beautiful Sunday morning ahead of me I decided to try and get out of a foul mood I’ve been in by doing my FAVORITE activity which is swapping components around to see if i can make some magical synergy happen.

Today I am highlighting the First Watt SIT-3 and Musical Fidelity X-PSU-v3, X-DAC v3 and X-10 tube output buffer.

Total system components include:
Innuos Zenith mk3 running SENSE streaming output > Matrix X-SPDIF2 DDC > Musical Fidelity X-DAC v3 > X-10 tube output buffer > PASS HPA-1 pre-amp > First Watt SIT-3 > Charney Audio Companion speakers using brand NEW Lowther DX-65 drivers at about 100db sensitivity (+/- 2db). (I have had the speakers playing 24/7 for 12 days straight w/ SS equipment, Martin at Lowther recommended a few hundred hours burn in. They were sounding a bit “Wonky” 2 days ago so I don’t expect a particularly great listening sesssion today )

Let’s begin by complimenting all the equipment in having ZERO hiss or perceptible noise output. At times i get tube hiss or other annoying buzzes or crackles from my Higher Sensitivity speakers, for years now it has been minimal and usually you have to put an ear right up against a tweeter to hear it, but it’s a pet peeve and I’m always on the lookout for it when i swap pieces around. I work hard to hunt down the culprit, it’s a game of cat and mouse my equipment plays w/ me to keep me on my toes The First Watt SIT-3 has been a hiss free blessing and the combination of Musical Fidelity gear despite its tube based output buffer also exhibits silent operation.

The Musical Fidelity combination of DAC and Tube Buffer integrated easily with my PASS Labs HPA-1 being used as a pre-amp. (I friggin LOVE my HPA-1, it has served me so faithfully ) Overall my choices of albums have had a beautiful liquid character, this morning. There have been some ugly sounding moments though. Depending on the age of the album and style of vocals there have been some spikes and glare in the upper midrange and lower treble but i can absolutely attribute these issues to antiquated recordings, repeated re-mastering of the albums, in general poor quality digitization and the particular traits of the speakers i’m using. The Lowther DX-65 drivers genuinely dislike spikes in certain frequencies and do nothing to smooth over or hide bad mastering. One of the potential problems of resolute transducers is that you need to search for well mastered and recorded tracks to fully appreciate and enjoy their capabilities and digital streaming of old Delta, Swamp, Mississippi blues and torch vocals is not the best medium for this. I’m a believer in torture tests for my equipment and what better way to break in new drivers than to feed them some of what they dislike most

The Musical Fidelity pieces are on loan from a friend of the forum, (@Camus ) I’ve used the full kit to include the matching HP amplifier on both my HP rigs and absolutely enjoyed it w/ various HP’s. The equipment works well w/ a clean front end, it doesn’t need super expensive gear to do what it does and offers great value for older gear, i would snatch up an old set-up of the full package in a heartbeat. My Shipibo Audio Waira (Grado clone)HP paired particularly well w/ it and I actually spent time enjoying music rather than just listening to the equipment. (That’s particularly high praise coming from me.)

I’m going to leave this set-up alone for a few days, the Lowther drivers need more break-in time, I’m enjoying the Musical Fidelity Burr Brown chip based DAC, the tube buffer is not hurting anything, and truth be told I adore the First Watt amplifier (I want/need/desire/crave a few more Nelson Pass, First Watt pieces now )

I did NOT want to spend more money on my Charney Audio Companion speakers, I was into them for $2K. The one driver needed a re-build and I’m annoyed as all heck that Lowther in the UK and nobody that I could find in the USA would rebuild my driver for a few hundred bucks . Lowther UK to their credit discounted a new pair of DX-65 drivers! Shipped they cost me just shy of $1500 USD. Mr. Martin Thornton, is one of the NEW owners of Lowther. He reached out to the old owner with the serial numbers of my old drivers to make sure he built me new drivers w/ the same spec’s as those my speakers came w/. He offered me a good discount on the new drivers over their standard retail price and did NOT require my old drivers as trade in which saved me shipping them to England and allows me to offer them for sale to someone who has the ability to rebuild them in-house and use them. Mr. Thornton of Lowther UK was patient w/ me, he was very polite, extremely professional, knowledgeable and took time & effort to answer my needs very specifically. Overall it was a wonderful experience The First Watt amplifiers are a very good fit w/ Lowther drivers which is why i broke down and decided to purchase new drivers and keep playing around w/ this combo. Nelson Pass and folks who work with/for him have also been so extremely helpful to my needs when i reached out that i am absolutely biased towards their products also. I plan on spending more time and putting more effort and fine tuning my smaller listening room over the next few months thus hopefully next time i prattle along I’ll have some higher praise and adoration to throw at the gear .

I have fairly decent listening rooms, I’m getting better at speaker and seating placement and fine tuning my own listening preferences as the years go by. I’ve met good people on this site willing to share or swap equipment and i’m having fun. Rambling on for a few hours helped me get past the real life issues I’m dealing w/, playing w/ the equipment and enjoying some music can be therapeutic and in the end, that’s what all this is about. We can’t take anything with us, learning to live and enjoy life when we can is a good thing. Change is coming, choices will be made, people’s lives will be impacted, until then happy listening to all

Camus · February 24, 2025, 12:32am

It’s okay to leave these on 24/7, in fact I recommend it opens up with more hours on. You can be crafty and pass the second set of outputs which bypass the buffer to input 2 of the Pass HPA-1 for a comparison of how the tube buffer is affecting the signal.