Considering a First Watt F-4

I owned a Rawson F4 clone. Sound quality was outstanding, but it just didn't work very well with my Zu Druids. With the F4, it's difficult to separate power issues from gain issues. My preamp had 20dB gain and I suspect that wasn't enough, but it's also possible the F4 didn't have enough power. If your preamp's gain is higher than 20 dB and you have relatively high efficiency speakers, it may work great for you.

David

David,

I suspect you ran into the difficulty I mentioned, that the F4 requires a very large voltage drive to achieve full power. This is a separate issue from gain. Some preamps are capable of outputting the voltage necessary; some aren't.

My pre-amp has 20 db of gain. How much output voltage are you talking about?
What pre amps would have enough gain and output voltage to make an F-4 sound good?
I know about Marks offer at Reno Hi Fi, How ever I would like to here more about the amp from all the experts in this audience before I take the plunge and get one.

I would go all the way and ask Nelson Pass himself all of your questions! His email is right there on the FW site.

You'll need about +/-20Vpk drive, or 14Vrms to get full power.

http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/prod_f4_man.pdf

Francis