Thanks very kindly for the response George. I tried this with an Aleph 5 clone a few yrs back with DIY speakers in the mid 90's as far as efficiency and had to run the volume all the way up to get moderate output. Glad to hear it should work better this time around. I appreciate the input!
can I drive Firstwatt amps directly from the source?
I'm wanting to experiment with the Firstwatt line of amps. I'm a transparency/detail junkie and have loved the sound of my SET using 805/300B tubes and have been mostly pleased using gainclones/chipamps and want to move on to these Nelson Pass amps. I see that their gain is on the low side. I'm not sure exactly what that will mean for me. I will want to go directly from the source into the amp(s) sans preamp. I like the purity I hear running this way. I've used a Theta Miles, Consonance Droplet 5.0, and Raysonic 228 with the results I want and should be getting a DAC like the Auralic Vega soon. I will also be acquiring some Tektons for this purpose, possibly Perfect SETs or Double Impact SE. Will this combo play at higher volumes or will the lower gain on the Firstwatts necessitate an active preamp, in which case I'll likely abort the endeavor. Thanks for the input!
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can I drive Firstwatt amps directly from the source? Yes agreed, nothing competes with direct source to amp if it’s possible, for purity, dynamics, no coloration, and the minimal amount of noise, compared to having an active preamp in circuit. Yes all the FW’s (except one the F4 ) are "possible" especially the higher gain ones if the source has enough volume. Your Aurilec Vega has 4.37V output (more than double the norm), and nice low output impedance 4.7ohms better than most preamps, so you have a real good shot with the Tekton’s that I’ve seen, that are 98db!! efficient Except for the FW F4 which has zero gain dB, I don’t think you’ll find a source with enough voltage output for that one. http://www.firstwatt.com/prod.html Cheers George |