sns,
I'm with Charles. I would be very interested in your assessment of the AGD amps.
My experience with the First Watt F7
I think that many of us have a mental list of components and speakers we would like to try if circumstances and finances allow, and I'm no different. My finances are more limited than many members, but within my means I have been able to try quite a few different things over the years.
About six weeks ago I saw an ad for an F7 in great condition and having efficient speakers, it had been on my wish list to try not only because it was made for speakers just like mine, but also because I had never read a negative review of it or any of the other First Watt amps.
I want to say here that I have a lot of respect for Nelson Pass as a innovative designer and a businessman, and I once had a very positive experience with Pass Labs on a service issue. The reason that I am writing this brief review is because one member who knew that I had bought it had requested my impressions, and I am also curious to know the impressions and experiences of others here who may have owned this amp.
When I first received it, I gave ir a couple of hours to warm up. I sat down to listen, and initial impressions were good, but not great. There was good clarity in the mids and treble region, and stage width was very good but not better than what I was accustomed to. I noticed two negatives on the second day. The first was that the perceived size of instrumental images, for instance Stan Getz's sax, were 15-20% smaller. That wasn't a deal breaker, just an observation. I also noted that the timbre/tone of the sax, as well as other wind instruments and strings was not as natural sounding as I am used to.
Three days in, I was listening from the next room while working, and by now I knew that there was something else about the presentation that was more serious that was bothering me. I stopped what I was doing and put on a couple of specific songs to test a hunch, and that is when I identified the problem. The amp had no "flow", and even though individual instruments were well separated and clear sounding, nothing hung together like a real group playing together. Each instrument sounded like a separate event that didn't relate to the others. I had never had this experience before, but once I identified it, I couldn't "unhear" it. I also noticed at that time that electric guitars sounded different and less authentic than they had on other tube and solid state amps I have owned.
Finally, and this was surprising, the bass was noticeably opaque and lacking detail. I sat there in front of it listening one day, and I thought that if I was young again, and new to audio, this would probably be an amp that would impress me.
I sold it within two weeks, confident that it was not the amp for me, but grateful that I had the opportunity to try one for myself.
I would like to hear the experiences of others familiar with the F7.
Showing 11 responses by roxy54
Many years ago I had a demo of an Atmasphere amp in a salon in Princeton NJ with ProAc Response 2 speakers, and it was very memorable. Those amps have a see-through transparency that is unlike anything else that I have ever heard. If I could afford them I would own a set. If I had any criticism at all, it would be that they had a bit (not much) less solidity or substance to the holographic images than some other designs, but I could easily live with that. |
Charles and sns, Yes, I agree with you both. I did own and regret selling a 300b based integrated amp that had all of those qualities, but my modified Mac 2105 has the same qualities in spades, and it was even so similar in direct comparison to the 300b when I owned that. Both have the ability to simply pass through them the feeling of air, and a realistic and complete picture of the performance. "Breath of life" as you said is a good descriptor. With the F7, I always felt that it was trying unsuccessfully to piece together a plasticky picture of the performance. Someone asked which speakers I was using. I am using the Klipsch Epic CF-4 version 1. They are not ruthless in any way, but they are revealing of any change made to the system. All of this was really surprising to me considering the small parts count and deliberately simple and direct signal path of the design. Further proof that you can never guess what something is going to sound like. Of course I have to say that this was my ears on my system. |
i realize that all of the First Watt amps have different topologies and semiconductors and from what I've read they all sound different. It was a little unsettling that th professional reviews that I read didn't seem to mention any negatives with the F7. I guess that different ears hear differently, but I owned another solid state class A integrated that didn't sound this way at all. |
I will disagree with the previous poster who thought that the F7 was built to a price point. Firstly, $3000.00 for a pretty simple amp isn't cheap, and it actually appeared to be beautifully made, so no complaints on that front. I do realize that the SIT3 is a different animal, and it might have worked out better. As I said earlier, I have no regrets because I wanted to try it for myself, and with the funds from selling it, I bought a used Canary pre, and I have to say that it is the best that I have ever owned. |
I agree with Charles of course, there’s room for every preference. I know that many love the amp, and the positive consumer and professional reviews were the reason I had wanted to try one for years. What was surprising to me was that my speakers have always been easily revealing of the sound of amps, cables etc. without a lot of editorializing, and within my system, the F7 had such an unnatural sound, so far removed from what I had expected or previously experienced. If it had been additive or subtractive in a pleasant euphonic way, I would probably have liked it a lot more, but it seemed to be attempting to "reconstruct" the music rather than letting it flow naturally. I understand that this isn’t what most people hear. |
You're a real comedian @arcticdeth . |