I bought the First Watt F4 amp for a nice price from Reno HiFi long before having the requisite speakers I do now. I primarily chose the F4 as I wanted to believe what designer Nelson Pass claimed: That the F4 is a chameleon amp; it will take on the sonic signature of whatever line source is driving it. https://www.firstwatt.com/product/f4/
I knew that even after I got ~ 93db efficient speakers it might be forever until I could afford a superb sounding 300B integrated amp, let alone mono block versions.
I’m now hoping that enough time has passed where many current or former F4 users may have found a line source or preamp that had the F4 closely mimicking at least some of the best traits of 300B SET amps: awesome billowy sound stage size, spot on imaging, organic and textured mids, airy but detailed highs and neutral, dynamic and tight bass.
As for required preamp output voltage, said Mr. Pass from the F4 manual: My Lowther DX55’s (93 dB/watt) mounted in Alerion enclosures adequately fill my 11,000 cubic foot listening room with about 5 volts (the equivalent of a 4 watt amplifier). Presumably, those enclosures boost the effective efficiency of that Lowther driver even further. But as my room is one quarter the size of Nelson’s, a preamp with 5 to 7 volts output should be fine to drive the F4, and thereby my speakers effortlessly.
Might you know of the perfect preamp for the F4 to morph into a killer 300B SET?
ALSO, any fully balanced preamp/line stage sounding nearly as good and with to drive the F4 in its balanced bridged mode to power my center channel speaker.
Please share your experiences and recommendations.
I knew that even after I got ~ 93db efficient speakers it might be forever until I could afford a superb sounding 300B integrated amp, let alone mono block versions.
I’m now hoping that enough time has passed where many current or former F4 users may have found a line source or preamp that had the F4 closely mimicking at least some of the best traits of 300B SET amps: awesome billowy sound stage size, spot on imaging, organic and textured mids, airy but detailed highs and neutral, dynamic and tight bass.
As for required preamp output voltage, said Mr. Pass from the F4 manual: My Lowther DX55’s (93 dB/watt) mounted in Alerion enclosures adequately fill my 11,000 cubic foot listening room with about 5 volts (the equivalent of a 4 watt amplifier). Presumably, those enclosures boost the effective efficiency of that Lowther driver even further. But as my room is one quarter the size of Nelson’s, a preamp with 5 to 7 volts output should be fine to drive the F4, and thereby my speakers effortlessly.
Might you know of the perfect preamp for the F4 to morph into a killer 300B SET?
ALSO, any fully balanced preamp/line stage sounding nearly as good and with to drive the F4 in its balanced bridged mode to power my center channel speaker.
Please share your experiences and recommendations.
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