Vfet / SIT Amplifiers

I recently acquired a First Watt SIT-3 and I like my F2-J much better. I know I am in the minority in not loving the SIT-3.

It may be that the SIT-3 doesn’t like the impedance swings of my particular speakers.  Not saying it’s not a good amp, just not good synergy in my system.

In my system, the SIT-3 sounds like a computer simulation of an SET amp.

You guys are making me jealous I can't get more out of the SIT-3 in my system!

My speakers are 95db efficient and are 8 ohms. I tried dropping resistors in parallel to reduce the impedance down to 4 ohms but honestly didn't notice much of a difference.

The main issue I'm having is that I listen at low to modest volume most of the time and I can't get enough out of the SIT-3 at low volumes.  It sings at higher volumes but usually I don't want to listen that loud. 

This might be an issue with my preamp's gain, which is only 10.3dB.  Combined with the SIT-3's low gain, maybe this is a recipe for failure.  I haven't tried it with another preamp yet.

@sonetduo haha, it's definitely a synergy thing... I am a big believer in the genius of Mr. Pass!  

@atmasphere curious what you think about the idea that a preamp with relatively modest 10db of gain (Microzotl MZ2) paired with the SIT-3, itself a low gain amp, might be contributing to the issues I’m having with the SIT-3. Is that likely to be a "problem’, so to speak, or is it more likely that my speaker’s impedance swings would be the defining issue here? (If I had another preamp just sitting around to try, I would - but wondering if I should invest in a higher gain preamp.)

Basically, in my system the SIT-3 sounds a little dark, limp, anemic, and closed down, especially at the volumes I listen: ~65db.

My F2-J on the other hand - pure heaven. Literally designed for the single driver, crossoverless speakers I use.

That explains it!  I was confused.  It seemed like @atmasphere might be talking to me, but I wasn't sure.  I was jealous of the answer @sonetduo was getting!

So yesterday I ended up pulling the trigger on a Don Sachs model 2 - going to try that with the SIT-3 and see how it does!