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Mike's right. It's SOP for manufacturers to keep a stock of repair parts for post-production products, usually with a policy of support for X number of years. Our company does it for a service period of 10 years (laboratory test equipment), but it could be more or less, depending on the technology and period of relevancy.

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Even with a diy project such as the V-fet amplifiers, I have both SE and PP, Nelson has stated he has kept a number of the obsolete 2SK82 and 2SJ28 V-fets in case of any failures by diy'ers. I am sure if he is looking out for non profit projects his companies will take care of any problems in his for profit companies. Unless I am mistaken any PassLabs or Firstwatt product will be serviced if out of warranty for a nominal fee for as long as you own it. 

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/24/2022 at 5:13 PM, VDS said:

Got a F8 hooked up. OMG!  I find it both smoother and clearer than my F3 and Xa25.  Somehow it is more transparent than the xa25, but smoother.  Clearer and more aggressive than the F3, but just as smooth, or smoother.

this is better in all categories for my system. Did just what I wanted, smoother, but more clear and transparent at the same time.

How punchy is it compared to the xa25? I listen to a lot of music, including a lot of 70s British rock.

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19 minutes ago, JohnW said:

How punchy is it compared to the xa25? I listen to a lot of music, including a lot of 70s British rock.

I’m only using f8 for midrange( >400hz) my guess is that the xa25 would have better punch in the bass. But I’ve never compared…0verall the sound is similar in the mids, but id take the F8 (or f3) as the  winner, excluding bass.

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On 10/9/2022 at 10:29 AM, VDS said:

I’m only using f8 for midrange( >400hz) my guess is that the xa25 would have better punch in the bass. But I’ve never compared…0verall the sound is similar in the mids, but id take the F8 (or f3) as the  winner, excluding bass.

...with La Scalas? I only ask because I'm currently using a Dennis Had Inspire SEP amp...which I love, but the Pass bug has grabbed me.

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  • 3 months later...
On 10/9/2022 at 10:29 AM, VDS said:

I’m only using f8 for midrange( >400hz) my guess is that the xa25 would have better punch in the bass. But I’ve never compared…0verall the sound is similar in the mids, but id take the F8 (or f3) as the  winner, excluding bass.

 

F3 is my favorite. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey FW guys,

 

I am in the middle of trying to decide if I want to try a First Watt amp(s) with my active Peavey FH-1s (Crites Cast woofers) / K-402 (K 691)s.

 

For a while I have been running:

 

Preamp: Wyred 4 Sound, STP-SE, Stage 2.

DSP Crossover: Xilica, XP-4080.

LF amp: Classe, CA-150 (XLR to XP 4080).

HF amp: Triode Labs tube amp, 2A3 SET at about 3.5-4wpc (XLR adator to RCA to XP 4080).

 

I do love how my 2A3 SET sounds, but am wondering if either the J2 or F8 will hopefully retaining most of the SET presentation, while lowering the noise floor and adding that last bit of detail and resolution?

 

My CA-150 seems to me handling the bass bins fine and does have XLR inputs, but also wondering getting

a 2nd FW amp for bass would yield any improvements.

 

At first I guess I am really looking for thoughts and comparisons between the J2 and F8 for driving the K 402s in a similar set up as my speaker system?

 

Logistically the J2 make the most sense with it's balanced inputs but if the F8 is sonically much better, I would rather go for form over function.

 
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Nelson makes SS amps that sound like tube amps. IMHO tubes still rule when it comes to sound though. The majority of his amps sound more like pentode tubes than triodes. It is in the curves of the devices he works with. Other than the discontinued SIT amps the mosfets he uses have curves like a pentode tube and not a triode. SS amplifiers rule the market so there is more money to be made building SS amps. 

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"IMHO tubes still rule when it comes to sound though."

 

I have thought the very same thing, especially with Heritage Klipsch speakers.

 

But I also believe tube have some things that "can" be bothersome.

* can have some noise issues.

* can be extra work to find "that" ideal tube, weather it be new production or vintage tubes.

* can be expensive to find "that" right tube(s)

* there is some tube maintenance involve as they are a wear item.

 

Back in 2008 I had a Rawson F3 clone on my then KHorns and it was not bad at all.

Later in 2014 I tried another Rawson F5 clone on my Cornscalas.

 

From memory these were both pretty good, but I admit I never really warmed up to the "home made" nature of the builds.

Since I never had access to compare to the real First Watt versions, I could not say these clone were comparable.

 

 

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I enjoy the sound that my ACA/Heresy Combo creates.  Even with that being said, with your set up, I'd be intrigued to try a full digital setup with a ROON ready DAC to the Xilica, then the Xilica to some high-end digital amps such as Cyruss or alike.   

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On 2/26/2021 at 7:25 PM, rplace said:

First Watt J2. Sold my VRDs and George Wright 2A3 mono blocks. That good.

 

Hey Rich,

 

Can you elaborate a bit more on how you are with the J2 VS. your previous Wright 2A3s?

 

I have been happy with the SS Classe CA-150 on the bass with my Triode Labs 2A3.

Maybe I could be also happy with the F8 and or J2. 🤔

 

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28 minutes ago, HPower said:

Can you elaborate a bit more on how you are with the J2 VS. your previous Wright 2A3s?

 

Of all the tube amps I have had if I was only going to keep one of them it would have been the Wright 2A3s. They might have lacked just a bit of power when you really wanted to rock but they did so much else perfectly. There are a couple of other low power tube amps that I've not heard like 45 and 300B but I loved the Wrights. That said, the First Watt offering I'm using had balanced connections. I was moving toward an all balanced system with active crossover (xillica) and bi-amping....big powered Crowns for the LF and "something" (Carver, First Watt, Wright, VRD, et.) for the HF. The VRDs were the first to move and it was an easy decision. VRDs are great but a bit of a one trick pony, even with the triode/UL switching and tube swapping. In the end I found myself using the FWatt more and more than the Wrights. They sounded more similar than different. I also found I was not constantly scouring web sites for one more "magical" tube that cost more than the amps and just might add a bit more ferry dust. I'm glad to be off the tube chasing hamster wheel.

 

There comes a point where everything sounds great. There really is nothing, and I mean nothing that sounds bad. Just different levels of personal preference. I preferred the FW overall. Some of that had to do with the balanced connections. I could have been more than happy with the Wrights the rest of my life. They were the one amp that every once in a while when I was not paying attention would make me sit up, snap my head in the direction of the music and think WOW that was amazing. I'm sure I would have been happy if I kept them but they would have sat more then they got used.

 

Hope this helps

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He ain’t wrong. But, I have to admit just two short weeks ago I sold the last of my tube amps “thinking” I was finished with tubes. Well a friend lent me a Dyna ST 35 he beautifully built and man, this sounds damn good. Even my wife agreed it sounded equally as good as the F3 it was compared with. Then - was always intrigued with Decware, one popped up for sale and grabbed it. Being a big FW fan, as painful as it is, the F3 and F5 just don’t have that “something” the Torii has. So there’s that - 

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5 hours ago, richieb said:

Being a big FW fan, as painful as it is, the F3 and F5 just don’t have that “something” the Torii has. So there’s that - 

 

I’m 😲 and in utter disbelief…!!!!  

Don’t let the F3 go till you see if that “something” last the test of time..!!!

 

😄 So which Decware Torii version do you own now..?

 

miketn

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That’s pretty good Mike. The F3, or F5 for that matter ain’t going anywhere. I’m glad with the opportunity for comparison. Version 4 running KT88’s. Only been a couple days but it does things the F’s do not, all with roughly the same power output. Tor and F5 about 25 watts, F3 at 15ish. There is certainly more sparkle on top, at least equal bass, and surprisingly more transparency. 
Let the games continue - 

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Just looked at Decware site...

I am not sure I could afford to re-tube that Torii. 🙃

 

Just for fun I dragged my H3s into the main room and connected them to my CA-150 to see

if they sounded terrible with this old SS amp.

Not sounding too bad... Hmmm

 

OK, lets hear some opinions on F8 vs. J2?

 

 

 

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I spoke to Mark at Reno HiFi about just this - an F7 or F8. I explained I had experience with the J2 to which he said if I wanted something a little different than the J2 I had don’t buy the F8. Said they are very similar. Ironically he had just taken in an elusive F5, only 100 made, so I grabbed it. The J2 is the only model that has remained in the lineup from the beginning and still in production. Buy a used J - Reno shows one like new. They are on Audiomart quite often - 

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10 minutes ago, richieb said:

I spoke to Mark at Reno HiFi about just this - an F7 or F8. I explained I had experience with the J2 to which he said if I wanted something a little different than the J2 I had don’t buy the F8. Said they are very similar. Ironically he had just taken in an elusive F5, only 100 made, so I grabbed it. The J2 is the only model that has remained in the lineup from the beginning and still in production. Buy a used J - Reno shows one like new. They are on Audiomart quite often - 

 

Sounds like right place right time!

 

Most of the professional reviews say the same, that the J2 and F8 are very similar,

with the F8 having just a bit more of everything.

I think Mark may also have a like new Demo F8 available right now as well as the J2 demo.

I cannot help but think the newer model (F8) must be better, was hoping we might have some

real world users here that could shed some light.

 

Speaking of new models... I think need to trade last year's Titleist irons in for the new 2023 models. 🙄

 

 

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