Can you provide context on First Watt?

Excellent! Thanks for your time.

That’s great to hear that First Watt is still around. They sound like such a great company. I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of amp and preamp.

Ditusa, I haven’t purchased speakers yet. In fact, these two purchases came up very suddenly. I need to save up some more, but I think I’ve decided on Zu Audio DWX Super Fly speakers. I have limited placement options, so the speaker efficiency and front port looked good for my setup. It’s hard making these decsions without hearing first, but I’m hoping this system will work well together. I’m also in Colorado, so I’m happy to hear the speakers are made just a few hours west of me. I’m hoping to go pick the speakers up and to meet the gang at Zu Audio when I make my purchase.

Thanks again for all of your input!

Rocray, thanks for the testimony. I’ve read a lot of happy First Watt customers. Can’t wait!

gkelly, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll look up YG, for sure. 

Also try to look into Omega Speakers.  I’m super happy with my Alnico Super 6 XRS that I bought used.  Sounds amazing and since they are single driver and high efficiency speakers, they will pair well with your first watt amp.  Luis Chochos makes them in the USA.

I think my Youtube algorithm heard you. There is a review on Omega speakers as a Zu Audio alternative in my feed. I'll check it out.

The Colorado audio society is having a club meeting this Friday the 17th at YG acoustics at 5:30 pm. Might be a great time to go check out their speakers and have a listen.

That sounds like fun, but I'm 3 hours west of Denver, and I'll be listening to the great Jeffrey Foucault performing in my neck of the woods Friday. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Here is my journey with First Watt F5v2.....Totally one of  the best sounding amplifiers I ever owned...And in the article is the GoTo guy to help fix the First Watt DIY products.... http://rvbprecision.com/stereo/nelson-pass-first-watt-f5-turbo-v2.html

Oh good. I thought I'd read everything online about First Watt amps before making my purchase. I look forward to checking it out.

+1 for adding Omega Speakers to your list.  

Yes, I'm happy that I posted a thread about this. Before posting I had not heard of Omegas. Now, they are a front runner for my net speaker. I'm still several months out from making a speaker purchase. When I get close, I'll definitely contact Louis and have a chat.

Thanks

I suggest choosing amps for speakers, not speakers for amps.

Interesting, and why is that? Is it the speaker that primarily determines the quality, or "flavor," of the music reproduction? I'm genuinely curious. I purchased my last system 30 years ago, and the salesperson essentially put the components together for me. 

Either way, I'm kind of committed at this point. I got a great deal on my Wyred4Sound preamp and First Watt amp. All the reading I did indicated that those two components would "play well" together. So at this point I'm trying to select a speaker that is easy to drive.

Each First Watt amp has a somewhat idiosyncratic sound, and all are low power - they are great amps but your choice of speakers for each model is limited...many/most amps are designed to work with a wide variety of speakers, First Watt's are not...

Yes, and I get that. Of the First Watt amps, the J2 seems to be the biggest crowd pleaser, or the "least offensive," as Nelson Pass described it. I live in a small apartment and typically listen to music at 60-70 db. In fact, that’s why I originally landed on the Zu DWXs. Reportedly they sound great at low volumes. Surely I can find a speaker that will sound sweet with this amp. Unlike a lot of you, I just need one set of speakers that makes me smile when I play music. My understanding is that Zu Audio and Omega offer in house trial periods, so I may need to try a few before I settle, but that’s part of the journey.

FYI, The Music Room in Boulder is advertising a good stock of the PS Audio Directstream DAC

Thanks for the info. The Music Room may be the end of me. They have a lot of great deals, it seems. I bought my Wyred4Sound preamp from them for a great deal.

The easier the load the better. I am currently running a pair of Nola Boxer II’s, 90db sensitivity, and an 8ohm load without the J2 breaking a sweat.

I checked out those Nolas. Yes, I've been keeping my eye out for speakers with a sensitivity in the 90s and up. 

My J2 was supposed to get here today, but USPS tracking indicates that it is still "Moving in the system." I was hoping to fire it up tonight, but I may have to wait until Monday. I'm several months out from buying my speakers, but the B&W DM 560s that I'll be replacing have a sensitivity rating of 90db, so they may be a good enough speaker for the interim.

Update:

Well thank you to everyone who chimed in on this thread. My system is ALMOST complete. As I explained, I purchased a First Watt J2, and I placed a Wyred4Sound STP SE (2 stage upgrades) in front of it.

Well, on a recommendation from "pangeek," I did a lot of research on Omega Speakers. I was pretty much set on saving up and going through the process of ordering from Louis when a B-stock pair of Omegas dropped on his website. I jumped on them. They're "V8" monitors (RS-8 driver, 98 db sensitivity (!). Best of all, since I'm limited to setting my speakers on top of 2 1/2 foot tall bookshelves, they are front ported. 

I received them today and have been listening for the last 3 hours. Unfortunately, they sound good but not great, yet: acoustic instruments are very realistic, bass is nice and controlled and the midrange is great, but the upper frequencies are a little shrill at times. Now, I've read, and Louis recommended, that they need 100 hours of break in. But quite frankly, I think the culprit is my streamer/DAC. I've assembled a beautiful system, but on the front end I'm using an inexpensive Wiim Pro Plus (a $200 streamer/DAC". 

So ... once I recover financially, I'm going to find an external dac downstream from the Wiim. I think a Chord Qutest could be a good call, but I need to do the research. I live in western Colorado, and I don't have access to audio stores to test drive equipment. I may need to visit my buddy in Denver and shop around.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts. It helped a lot.