First Watt SIT-3 preamp pairing advice

Thanks @vinpic! Your notes are super helpful - thanks for sharing. And very nice speakers you have there!

@coachpoconnor - thanks sharing your comparison. Why is the LTA the clear winner in your comparison of the 2 preamps?

Check out Aric Audio. Aric builds a a couple great 6sn7 tube preamps. Variable gain output up to 20 dB. Call him and discuss your needs.

@longinc My speakers are 95db Omega single drivers, and in my system/room and my listening tastes, I have no gain issues using the MZ2 with the SIT-3. Others may have different experiences, of course.

The Don Sachs is an excellent preamplifier, but after extensive A/B with the MZ2, the different strengths and weaknesses of each are immediately apparent. Both excellent, and more than anything I think the choice comes down to personal tastes/preferences rather than any objective sense of which is “better”.

My advice would be that if you are looking to land on the cooler side of neutral rather than full-on classic tube bloom, the LTA would be the better choice. And for bass management, to my ears, the LTA is definitely much cleaner and tighter. Again, all a matter of taste.

Also want to second what Nelson Pass said, and which @vinpic highlighted earlier in this thread: the SIT-3 behaved like a different, happier amp when I wired resistors in parallel with my 8 ohm speakers to drop the load the amp sees down to 4 ohms.  I felt kind of dumb trying this with 8 ohm speakers, and wasn’t expecting much, but it definitely improved the overall presentation, which was already excellent. A fun, inexpensive tweak to try.