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.
First Watt SIT-3 preamp pairing advice
Hi There,
I have Nelson Pass's First Watt SIT-3 power amplifier. I am using a ~15 year old VAC (Valve Amplification Company) Standard Preamplifier with NOS Telefunken 12AU7 and 12AX7 tubes for the 2 stages. I am looking to upgrade the preamp and am considering the Passlab XP-12 or the Linear Tube Audio MicroZotl MZ3 preamp. My impression is that both preamps are fairly popular when pairing with First Watt amps. Anyone here have paired both these preamps with the SIT-3 and can provide impressions that might help me decide? If there is 3rd option that you like very much, I am all ears too. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Andrew
I have Nelson Pass's First Watt SIT-3 power amplifier. I am using a ~15 year old VAC (Valve Amplification Company) Standard Preamplifier with NOS Telefunken 12AU7 and 12AX7 tubes for the 2 stages. I am looking to upgrade the preamp and am considering the Passlab XP-12 or the Linear Tube Audio MicroZotl MZ3 preamp. My impression is that both preamps are fairly popular when pairing with First Watt amps. Anyone here have paired both these preamps with the SIT-3 and can provide impressions that might help me decide? If there is 3rd option that you like very much, I am all ears too. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Andrew
- ...
- 33 posts total
- 33 posts total

