Posted by Ed Schilling [ 4.153.2.78 ] on August 29, 2004 at 10:13:45:
In Reply to: New: First Watt amplifiers by Nelson Pass posted by Norris Wilson on August 04, 2004 at 15:36:54:
I first spoke with Kent about the First Watt amps back in Nov/Dec. last year. I sent Kent a pair of my favorite speakers for testing. I don’t think Nelson ever heard them! I also sent a driver back to them a month or so ago for more “testing”. A couple weeks ago I called to check on progress and had the privilege of speaking to Nelson again. What a great fellow he is. He said that soon I would get an amp to play with. This I am very much looking forward to…..I have been using ( I bought it) a Pass X 150 for a year now. I am not sure why so many believe that high efficiency single driver speakers do not “like” SS. My X150 sounds excellent…..so does my Audio Note 300B or Fi X 2A3. I hear no “solid state” problems at all. I would be willing to bet that most people could not tell which amp is actually playing…..this I have demonstrated more than once. It seems in my case my room is more of a problem than the type of amplifier used. It will be very interesting to hear (if possible) the difference between the First Watt amps and the X150. I do not think the power difference will be much of a factor as (at least in my case) my favorite speakers are more limited in output by “doppler distortion” than anything else. The mighty X150 is only good for a couple more DB than the 2A3 for this reason. It does not sound “more powerful” even though it is, a lot more. It simply sounds musical, the same as the tube stuff. I love tubes, and yes I think it is easier to get “music” out of tubes than SS but that does not HAVE to be the case. There are plenty of expensive bad sounding amps of both types…..and I have heard examples of both (no names, please). I’ll post impressions when it comes. Glad to see people are interested in them.
Ed Schilling
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