The FirstWatt J2 is the perfect amp

I’ve had the J2 for 2 weeks. If you run high sensitive speakers ( like my Zu Onen defs), the J2 is loud clear, quiet and has deep bass. I am amazed every time I listen. I’m running the amp with my PS Audio BHK Preamp. The most musical sound that has ever filled my audio room. Even with metal, the power is there at ear deafening levels. I would guess the Pass xa25 is even better. I cannot see myself upgrading my amp for many years. Many, on various forms, say the Pass XS-XP pre amps are fantastic as well. The recent review in Stereophile compared the new XP22 to BBC the lower cost BHK. The BHK was really close.

 

I think that the XA25 is RCA only, no balanced inputs. The J2 sounds like an amazing amp and should have way more juice than the Zu speakers need. Why do you feel the need to replace your PS Audio preamp?

Scott

 

What does it cost? ...

 

Reno HiFi has a used J2 listed on their website for $2195 and a demo unit listed for $2495. I cant imagine a better way to spend equivalent amounts on an amplifier.

 

I've never been impressed with the BHK preamp. I feel one can do much better for equivalent money. It's one of the more lifeless tube preamps at that price point. For $6K I'd be looking at a Herron preamp or spend $4K on an Audible Illusions tube pre. Just a couple of examples.

 

I don’t. I was just making a general comment based on what I’ve read on various forums.

 

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around a preamp with 30 dB of gain - that's mind boggling to me. That's power amp sort of gain. My preamp has 12 dB of gain, driving a power amp with 28 dB of gain. At half power, I can probably demolish the building I'm in. I simply cannot imagine the reason to have a preamp with 30 dB. Am I missing something here?

 

This is the class A at a 2 watt max?

Enjoy, I will never dip below 300rms , ever again.

 

I’ve thought about upgrading to one for years. I currently have the Aleph 30, which I have convinced myself is so close that I still haven’t upgraded yet. Still like seeing talk of the J2, I may upgrade someday. Has anyone compared the J2 and Aleph 30?

 

Good to hear. Looking at FW amps myself. What have you used previously?

 

The raw gain of the unit is about 30dB but the L3 uses stepped attenuators to set overall level and balance, and along with control of volume with the master volume pot I've heard the sound is very smooth and refined. I think most people set the attenuator to at least -15dB. I only hear rave reviews about the sonics of AI linestages although I've never owned one. The 30dB gain could possibly come in handle if paired with a really LOMC cart. I personally love preamps that use transformer coupled inputs and outputs like my VAC Ren MK5 which I pair to a Pass XA30.8 - sonic heaven! But unless the OP buys the VAC used (which is what I did), it's out of his price range.

 

There was a reason for that. At the time the Audible Illusions preamp was designed, CD-level signal sources were not that common. They chose to use the 6DJ8 tube, which has less gain than the usual 12AX7 preamp. So the AA phono preamp only had 30dB of gain. A typical preamp like an Dyna PAS, Audio Research SP3, or Marantz 7 had 40dB phono gain and 20dB line gain. AA added gain to the line stage to make up for the phono stage, to get a total of 60dB for the whole preamp.

 

Oh, same here - anywhere I read, the AI preamps are described as some of the best in existence - period. I simply don't understand the logic of 30 dB gain for a line stage, if most of that needs to be attenuated to begin with. And, btw, the 30 dB is only line stage alone, AI Modulus also has a built-in phono stage, for another 28 dB of gain

 

If the unit is meant primarily for vinyl playback - it sort of makes sense, although 58 dB of gain is nothing to write home about, even for an average 0.3 mV LOMC cart. However, for non-vinyl playback, 30 dB gain is just huge - and their L3A model is just that - a line stage with 30 dB of gain, which is mostly redundant, I think.

Please, don't misunderstand me - I'm certainly not dissing AI, I'd love to hear their legendary products, and perhaps own one, in due time. I'm just trying to understand their rationale, conceptually, for, if you look at the competition, most line stage preamps out there offer gain in the 11-14 dB range, with some going as low as 8, and some as high as 17-18, but none that I know of go as high as 30.

 

I don't think Nelson Pass has ever built a bad amp and I think they just keep getting better. From old to new, I really enjoyed his Threshold SA series, Aleph's and currently his XA.5's... and this is coming from a tube lover.

Contrary IME, I loved the old Krell KSA250 but did not like their next two generations.

Enjoy.

 

Agreed but there are a few fine line stages that run high gain, I think partly to pair well with their brand of amps - Aesthetix also comes to mind - Calypso using XLR runs at 29dB. My VAC pre only has 10dB gain.