Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Nenuphar journey, part 4.

The next amp to listen to with the Nenuphars was the FirstWatt F-1. The F1 was the first model of the then new First Watt enterprise. The amp in my living room was serial number 017, put together by the master himself at home.

The general idea with amplifier damping factors is that the Cubes can be overdamped so that lower is better. And the most obvious 'better' with low DF is more bass. The F-1 is probably unique in that its output impedance is a whopping 80 ohms. Since the DF is calculated by dividing the speaker impedance by the amplifier output impedance, for the Nenuphar and F1 combo we have 8/80 = 0.1....Yowza!

Well, yes. It seems the F1 is a bass beast. Too much so for this boy when listening to Yellow's Toy album, but great with the growling intro to Biloxi (off The River & The Thread album by Rosanne Cash).

If anything, there was a bit of bass overhang, probably from too low a DF. There was a touch of sibilance on Joni Mitchell's A Case of You. The soundstage was average/normal for my setup.

Next up, the SIT-3

@rwpollock  Thanks for your ongoing updates. They are fascinating and informative!  Neat storylines as well!

@yorkshireman  Welcome! Did @toetapaudio 's response answer your question? Can we help with anything else?

@mac48025  Tom, welcome back!!!  @redwoodaudio had asked, on Page 10 of the thread, for comparisons with his Omegas. I know you haven't heard the Nenuphars but have been thoroughly researching them. Perhaps he and you can connect, since both of you have Omegas?

Nenuphar journey, part 5

The next amp to be paired with my Mini Monitors was to be the SIT-3, which needs no introduction here. I had heard the combo at AXPONA, so that when I unexpectedly acquired a SIT-2 from a fellow in Hawaii the new boy jumped to the front of the line.

The SIT-2 made for an overall more refined sound than the previous amps. It was mid-centric which accounts for the 'tube-like' descriptions found in some reviews. There was a large soundstage and the presentation was more forward -- Sinatra had moved to the front of the stage. Lots of bass and no problems listening to beat-heavy music. Beck had swirling swashes of sound, sufficiently psychedelic. Who knew 10 (or 12) watts could make this much music?

It made one wonder what a pair of SIT-1s would sound like (the SIT2 is basically the stereo version of the 1s).

To be continued....