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.
I listened at length to the AGDs at Axpona and was impressed with some of what I heard. I attribute much of this to the speakers and the synergy of the components. What I didnt like about the AGDs was a marked lack of depth and the sense that the music never left the speakers entirely. What was superb was the sense of correctness of the individual instruments, but they never seemed to entirely meld as a cohesive unit. Best representation, to date, of this promising technology.
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Hey @wolf_garcia if you don’t mind me asking, which output tube set are you running in your Inspire to compare to the XA-25? The other reason I ask is I found my former DH Hot Rod Inspire with smallish transformers just not have the drive, sound stage, or presentation I was hoping for. Some of it speaker match related, yes. I still run one of Dennis’ former 98 preamps too, was part of my former Cary amp setups too, fwiw. Also a xa25 fan, and coda fan, and a few around me comparing FW and Pass lower watt amps on occasion. Being located right near both factories and have a bunch of pass friends around me, and with a dealer who’s carried both in the past - fun to compare. Wanted to keep trying tubes to see how close I could get to the sound you mention. Went a different direction with my tube mono blocks and super glad I did. Running the same tubes I had in my former Inspire, now in QS Mono 120s, its very nice. Against the status quo, my QS are tweaked up some with really good caps and better small signal/driver tubes. While not truly SET or strapped triode like Dennis did with his former PSE amps, I find these better for my own setup, more true to the sound, cleaner, better separation, more expansive, and when the stout transformers warm up for 60+ minutes, it’s good. Used the exact same type/model caps I had in some of the former amps too, in order to keep it closer for comparisons. Curious to know, have you ever had the chance to hear or try a pair of newer well-tubed Quicksilver tube monos with your aforementioned Hersey III, IVs? |
I will preface this post by mentioning that I have unfortunately never heard a Pass amp, would love a XA25, but like what I have enough to keep my current mono amps for now. But it sounds like you may have inadvertently purchased a F7 that has something wrong with it that needs repair. A while ago I heard from another audiophile that his Pass amp, one of the most popular that has been released in recent years, sounded substandard from the time he purchased it used. This was unlike any of the reviews of the amplifier out there. One of several items of concern was its lack of bass. Like yours, it was working, but just not up to snuff how anyone else had described which leads to the possibility it may need a checkup. |
@audition__audio Whatever deficiencies you heard in the AGD room, I can assure people that they cannot be laid at the feet of the amp(s). It was most likely the hotel room and the setup. In my system, only very poorly recorded material (e.g. hard left/right pans) ever seems to come directly from either speaker, and there is (are?) oodles of depth. |
