First Watt to Pass Labs

I went from F5 to XA30.5. In my system F5 sounded more delicate and detailed, but didn't have enough power to drive my Electras. XA30.5 sounds warmer, more dynamic and has excellent bass control.

Although First Watt and PASS labs amps are from the same designer, they are designed with different philosophy. Each First Watt amps are designed with specific purpose. They are not for everyone and for every speaker. You should make sure that your speakers are compatible to the First Watt amp that you want to try. If you find First Watt amp that works well in your system you may never look back again.

I agree with both posts above. I have a J2 that I think is the best amp ive owned. The imaging, detail and articulation are beyond reproach. BUT...I have two other pieces of equipment that mate with the J2:

Hovland HP-100: Needs an amp with high input impedance, the J2 is 100K
Avantgarde: 102DB and horns need little dampening

The First Watt amps ARE very speaker specific, and Pass or Reno Hifi one of their main distributors will be the first to tell you that. If you've low power requirements, i.e., Abby's, or a pair of monitors then sure one can hardly do better than a First Watt amp.

Observing more first generation First Watt first amps on the used market of late I assumed was attributed to the fact that Pass made a major design change with the use of mosfets. I was considering buying a used F1 a month back. An email to Pass requesting the cost for the upgrade received a reply stating Pass isn't even allowing upgrades to those first generation amps until all first generation buyers have had the opportunity to upgrade their amps. In other words, I as a second owner couldn't upgrade the amp. I first thought that's fair, until I observed upgraded first generation First Watt amps available en mass from distributor Reno Hifi. So obviously dealers get the head of the line too. Sonically speaking First Watt matches well with single source driver speakers. But they'll not drive 65% of speakers on the market, hence the reason for distributor's offering a 'buy and try' sales strategy.