$$$Sensitive Speakers with $$Amps?

Nope very little to lose on the MiniWatt. I use one with Psvanes (Grade A from Grant Fidelity) in my bedroom system, which had HornShoppe Horns.

ALO Audio also sells these and offers some upgrade tube packages as well.

I have also heard that their are sonic improvements to be had from bypassing the volume control and running the N3 via a preamp, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet.

When considering an amplifier, I would require at least three inputs.

Hi Charles,

I am welcoming suggestions and thank you for yours. I will keep the First Watt on the back burner.

Single drivers and simple circuits seem to go hand-in-hand. There are only a handful of different ways to design simple amplifier circuits. One can complicate the design by adding tricks to make their's unique, but that's getting away from the purity of sound IMO.

This tells me that great sounding low-watt amplifiers can be built inexpensively and this has already been revealed. Other things that I've come to believe, for example, is that point-to-point wiring is ultimately superior to circuit board wiring. Again, this is my opinion. However, good looks and other features drive up the costs for boutique designs. I don't want an ugly duckling, but a compromise seems reasonable.

I like to challenge what I've become comfortable with. When I get my speakers of choice, I will use my current Sam Kim amp to see how it does for noise and SQ. Sam can also build me a low-watt design, but a 300b or 845 may not be Sam's choice. This is why I'm seeking everyone's help, so I have more viable options and can narrow down my listening when I'm ready to get serious.

Our amps only have one stage of gain. Hard to get simpler than that. In general its been my impression that cost is less important than the simple fact that some amps sound more like music than others. So my answer is now 'depends' as there are expensive amps that do deliver.