Thoughts on the First Watt SIT Amps

Upon rereading the 6moons review, it does not seem to argue that the SIT amps are a replacement for tubes as implied by Phil. The reviewer did state that

While this SIT platform does bridge transistors and tubes, it doesn't clone the latter. It remains distinctive. Depending on your triggers and their sequence and what music you fancy, you still might prefer valves.

I am seeking just a bit of that SET tube magic myself, so I still want to hear a few more views on these amps.

As I explained in the review, you can get better than SET performance from the SIT if you precede it with a single-stage DHT preamp. Those are rare critters but I listed a few models from Coincident, Jeffrey Jackson, Trafomatic and Wavelength. Now you hear a direct-heated triode in an ideal circumstance (no harmonic dilution from a driver tube, no massive turns ratio for the output transformer and the valve is driving a stable amplifier input impedance rather than reactive loudspeaker load), far better than the tube would sound in a multi-stage power amp. This combo of DHT/SIT goes places most SETs can only dream of. No noise. More bandwidth. More control in the bass. More resolution. More linear THD. And, the THD can be strategically shifted.

The SIT by itself doesn't sound like transformer-coupled tube amps at all. It's much more linear and far quicker and more open. If you reference an OTL however it gets much much closer...

Hello Srajan,
I thought you made these points clearly in your review. I believe also that phil heard what he so very clearly described. All this means to me is the two of you simply value different sonic attributes and as a result individual preference hierarchies will naturally exist.

I suspect my listening /sonic taste probably(even though I use a DHT single gain preamp) are more in line with phil(as those differences he heard the DHT SET excel matter most to me). As always horses for courses.Thankfully there are choices for nearly all taste.I`d still like to hear the SIT amps if the opprotunity arises.
Regards,

I'm going to make it a point to hear the SIT-1 monoblocks with a DHT preamp in front of it. I have listened to DHT preamps and have heard the SIT-2, but have not heard the two sequenced together. I'll give Srajan benefit of doubt, and I do believe the adjustable bias monoblocks will get closer to being musically convincing than the SIT-2 regardless of what's in front of it.

At the moment I have no reason to believe that putting a DHT preamp in front of the SIT will correct truncated note decay, nor the dynamic compression due to limited power and headroom. I agree the SIT amp has better bass control than any SET amp I can think of. I don't agree that it meaningfully outresolves every SET amp (though certainly many or even most), at least not in any way consistent with how instruments actually sound instead of how they sound close-mic'd and hot in the mix. But there's another thing: It's not just ears and mind but the body. There is a state of engagement, involvement -- full-body response, that I reliably experience listening to live performance. I have never had the identical full body response to recorded music played through transistor amplification nor through any push-pull vacuum tube amplifier. Nor, of course, to live music heard exclusively through electronic processing and conventional amplification. I did not have it with the SIT-2 either. The sound was "over there." I have the same full-body response listening to recorded music that I can have with a live orchestra, for example, only with a small range of exceptional SET amplification and crossoverless speakers. It's not "similar." It's the same organic response. I don't even have to analyze what I'm hearing. I feel it, in binary fashion. It's there or it's not. It's always been that way for me. Many times when I have noticed a small change in a sound system, it's because of what I felt before hearing something I can immediately pinpoint. Give me a solid state amp that can induce the same full-body engagement in recorded playback that I can get with certain SET aplification or upon hearing it live, and I'll buy it.

I am intrinsically interested in hearing proof that the SIT devices can compete with high-grade SET implementations. I want Nelson Pass' adventurism to pay off. He's always pushing in the right direction for the right reasons. I'd like an electrically more efficient and consistent successor to a high-heat triode tube if the sound warrants. Put another way, I am predisposed to like the SIT amps but the actual sound hasn't moved me yet. It's closer than other solid state options offered so far so I'll give it every chance to convince me.

Phil

Phil,
When you do get the chance to hear the SIT-1 amp with a DHT single stage preamp I`d love to read your impressions. If you lived nearby(Michigan) I`d certainly lend you my Coincident Linestage for comparison(and Frankenstein amp also).
Regards,