First Watt J2 & speaker pairing ?


I'm trying to decide if the J2 is worth the effort ?  All reviews are favorable , some even glorify the sonic nature of this 25 watt amp.  I'd like to see what the deal is with a class A amp - it seems like it's all I could ask for in an amp * Except and this is a big exception -the need for highly efficient speakers to appreciate the amp.

  Don't mind shopping for another pair of speakers  but  realistic choices seem so limited.  Zu audio seems to be a big favorite pairing .

 I'm running a Rogue audio cronus mag lll with Dahlquist DQ 10 speakers ( older speakers ) also have  Spendor s5e's    Don't think either will ideal match with J2

 Really enjoy the open ,wide range of the DQ10's 

Any suggestions are most welcome 

thanks in advance 

 

 

mfm22
Post removed 

The First Wat amps are intended to be simple expressions of their output devices.  If you get a chance to try one with your current speakers, you may find the power adequate for your needs.  If not, there are more powerful class A amps to be had, including other Pass designs. 

I've been told by a knowledgeable audio retailer / friend that the FW J2 is just about the best class A he has heard . 

This piqued my curiosity . It'd be nice if it was more powerful making speaker matching easier . It's not and that is probably part of the reason for its pure sounding nature. ?  Don't really know ....yet . 

What I do know is what I'm looking for  better sound stage & imaging , dynamic with reasonable accuracy. I've been using an older Stereo 70 with older speakers and there are moments that are just astounding.   Just want more of that.  

@rocray, No feathers ruffled here. You gave a more informative, helpfull answer. This didn`t surprise me, I expected such an answer after my prior post.

I was just poking fun at myself.

The J2 has a 20dB gain so from that perspective it is similar to the XA-25 from Pass Labs. I owned a J2 and an F6 which has a 14dB gain but a 25wpc into 8 ohms and 50wpc into 4 ohms spec which is also a characteristic of the XA-25. Yet neither sound like the XA-25. I now own an XA-25 and it is fantastic. With that said, the J2 when paired with a Rogue RH-5 pre having selectable gain (3dB, 12dB, 16dB) there is magic to be had with any 8 ohm nominal speaker capable of 90dB efficiency and above. I used all 3 of the aforementioned amps with Focal Kanta No.2s, Mirage M760s, and Wharfdale Linton Heritage speakers (6 ohm nominal). The J2 will drive any of those speakers well but since all of those speakers have a tendency to dip down into the 3 ohm range at lower frequencies you should focus on 8 ohm speakers that have a flatter impedance profile. The J2 will lose potential volume since the wpc dips along with the impedance. Someone mentioned Tannoys and they likely are the better candidate as their 8 ohm speakers have a relatively flat impedance profile. Late in the J2 game I picked up a set of Moth Audio Cicadas with 94dB sensitivity and 12 ohm impedance and everything seemed to gel, so to speak. I was impressed with the sound that came out of those single driver speakers and the amp really seemed to be at home with them.

A Zu Audio speaker with a higher nominal impedance with higher sensitivity would probably work very well with the J2.

However...

I did have a pair of Zu Audio Soul Mkll RevC speakers that would get very loud with the J2, F6, and XA-25 but they seemed to put forth a sound like an empty concert hall, almost like an echo, that I could not tune out. They did not seem to mate well with any of the Pass amp designs. But...when I connected those speakers to my custom built 15wpc tube amp they sounded great. All else the same, only the power amplifier was changed.

Bottom line: Find and audition speakers with efficiency ratings above 90dB and impedance of 8 ohm or above with a relatively flat impedance curve.