Source: Corporate website, Last Accessed: 2020/09/24
First Watt exists because Nelson Pass wanted to explore a variety of amplifier designs in what he thinks of as neglected areas - amplifiers that might not fit into the mainstream and are probably not appropriate to his more commercial enterprise, Pass Labs.
With oddball characteristics and output power ratings of 25 watts or less, First Watt is not for most people, Pass says, but if you have efficient loudspeakers, listen at reasonable levels and are obsessed about subjective performance, then First Watt products may interest you.
According to Mr. Pass, small amplifiers have a number of advantages over “big iron” in that very high quality can be achieved with simple Class A circuits using little or no feedback. Towards this goal, First Watt recently announced the availability of the F8 power amp, a 25W8Ohm per channel minimal design.
Originally created almost 6 years ago, the F8 is a stereo two-stage single-ended Class A amplifier using the NOS Toshiba 2SJ74 P channel J-FETs and SemiSouth R100 SiC power J-FETs for signal gain, plus IRFP240 MOSFET mu-follower current sources, for a total of three devices per channel.
F8 is similar to the J2 amplifier, but has only one front end transistor instead of six, operated as a current feedback amplifier (CFA) as opposed to the J2's voltage feedback (VFA) differential input. This front end is more consistent with the single-ended approach to amplifier design and yields a purer second harmonic character, less distortion with lower negative feedback, greater bandwidth and higher damping factor.
Availability is September 2020 at a list price of $4000.
For more information: http://www.firstwatt.com/