FirstWatt SIT-3

Can’t wait for your thoughts. The amp should see about 8.18 ohms, probably perfect. I’m using a 12 ohm resistor which gives me about 7.2 ohms at the amp. I might experiment with different values but am loving what I hear now so why mess with it. :)


Please keep us updated.
 
There is also a review in new issue of The Absolute Sound. Don't recall seeing a new product release that got full blown reviews in both the month they were shipped. Too bad it is on a product that is probably sold out when the reviews hit our mailboxes.
 
I’m able to get a few more if anyone is interested. Delivery will be END OF SUMMER.

PM me if interested.
 
Mike said:
VERY SET like. Does not sound at all like SS. Needs a high gain preamp.
Click to expand...

How much gain in a preamp would be sufficient?

I have a SIT-3 being delivered to me next month. My speakers (JMR Offrande Supreme V2) are 90 db efficient at 8 ohms. My usual listening levels are below 80db, so I don't need the last word in power.

I am currently using an integrated amp, so will need a pre. Was looking at the Wyred4Sound STP-SE, but only 6 db of gain there, so 17.5 when added to the SIT-3's 11.5 db gain. Wondering if that would be enough?
 
MudslideSlim said:
How much gain in a preamp would be sufficient?

I have a SIT-3 being delivered to me next month. My speakers (JMR Offrande Supreme V2) are 90 db efficient at 8 ohms. My usual listening levels are below 80db, so I don't need the last word in power.

I am currently using an integrated amp, so will need a pre. Was looking at the Wyred4Sound STP-SE, but only 6 db of gain there, so 17.5 when added to the SIT-3's 11.5 db gain. Wondering if that would be enough?
Click to expand...

I’ve been using an STP-SE stage 2 with my SIT3 and it’s wonderful. Granted my speakers are more sensitive but I never felt it was an issue. I have plenty of gain and volume is not a problem. I’ve never even come close to the active part of the STP-SE stage 2. The difference between the regular STP and the stage 2 is pretty dramatic. I owned the original but the upgraded one is superb.
 
Thanks, Joe. That is encouraging.

I wonder if I can do the resistor-across-the speaker-terminals trick to bring my speakers down to 4 ohms and take advantage of the SIT-3's 30W at 4 ohm rating? Might be worth a try.
 
I’m not sure you want to go that low impedance wise. An email to Pass Labs should help answer your question. They have great customer service.

Your speakers might be 8 ohms nominal but I’d be curious to see what they could dip down to.
 
MudslideSlim said:
Thanks, Joe. That is encouraging.

I wonder if I can do the resistor-across-the speaker-terminals trick to bring my speakers down to 4 ohms and take advantage of the SIT-3's 30W at 4 ohm rating? Might be worth a try.
Click to expand...
If your speakers have an 8 ohm impedance, then to bring that down to an effective 4 ohm load would require using an 8 ohm resistor in parallel with each speaker. (The formula for parallel resistances is to multiply their resistances and then divide the result by their sum, so for this example: (8 * 8) / (8 + 8) which is 64/16 giving you a net 4 ohm load.) While the amp would then deliver its 4 ohm power rating, half of that would be going through the resistor and not to the speaker. So in addition to taking into consideration whether the amp may sound better driving an 8 or 4 ohm load :S, you would only get 15W of the total 30 available to the speaker. :(
 
MudslideSlim

The Reynaud Offrande is a great speaker and your V2's are the 7th version. I owned the 4th version for five years. It is the one Bob Neill reviewed for Enjoy the Music back in 2002. I had them in a 15'x19'x10' room high passed to a pair of Vandersteen subs at 80hz. Even with the burden of the bass regions removed from the main amp the lowest powered amp I ever felt comfortable with was the Music Reference RM-10 at 35 wpc. So unless you are in a much smaller room or listen at "background music" levels I am not sure the SIT-3 is going to be enough to suit you in the end. If you haven't you might want to talk to Bob at Amherst Audio about amp matching with the Offrandes. He personally had a pair for over 15 years and may still have his even though they were discontinued last year. He favored driving them with hybrid's if I remember correctly probably Blue Circle and also Audiomat. I have their "little brother" the Twin Signature in my Office system and drive them either with the RM-10 or a Kora hybrid integrated.

Also don't know when Jean Claude started listing them a 8 ohm speakers as they and most all of his father's designs were 4 ohm speakers.
 
Jack said:
MudslideSlim

The Reynaud Offrande is a great speaker and your V2's are the 7th version. I owned the 4th version for five years. It is the one Bob Neill reviewed for Enjoy the Music back in 2002. I had them in a 15'x19'x10' room high passed to a pair of Vandersteen subs at 80hz. Even with the burden of the bass regions removed from the main amp the lowest powered amp I ever felt comfortable with was the Music Reference RM-10 at 35 wpc. So unless you are in a much smaller room or listen at "background music" levels I am not sure the SIT-3 is going to be enough to suit you in the end. If you haven't you might want to talk to Bob at Amherst Audio about amp matching with the Offrandes. He personally had a pair for over 15 years and may still have his even though they were discontinued last year. He favored driving them with hybrid's if I remember correctly probably Blue Circle and also Audiomat. I have their "little brother" the Twin Signature in my Office system and drive them either with the RM-10 or a Kora hybrid integrated.

Also don't know when Jean Claude started listing them a 8 ohm speakers as they and most all of his father's designs were 4 ohm speakers.
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Yes, the Offrandes do indeed make for great listening. Sadly they have been discontinued and the current version is the last.

I am actually driving them with a 10 watt per channel tube integrated at the moment with fine results. My room is fairly small, 13' x 20' or so, and I listen at low to medium levels. However, I am pretty sure my little 10 watt DIMD PP10 has more than 11.5 db of gain. Hence my curiosity about what pre-amps to look at.
 
audio.bill said:
If your speakers have an 8 ohm impedance, then to bring that down to an effective 4 ohm load would require using an 8 ohm resistor in parallel with each speaker. (The formula for parallel resistances is to multiply their resistances and then divide the result by their sum, so for this example: (8 * 8) / (8 + 8) which is 64/16 giving you a net 4 ohm load.) While the amp would then deliver its 4 ohm power rating, half of that would be going through the resistor and not to the speaker. So in addition to taking into consideration whether the amp may sound better driving an 8 or 4 ohm load :S, you would only get 15W of the total 30 available to the speaker. :(
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation. Not an option then.
 
In his 6Moons review of the SIT-3, Srajen easily drove the the amp with the STP-SE into a much larger room as did Joe so I don't think you would have an issue. I have owned an STP-SE for over five years and not encountered an amp it wouldn't drive and never come close to engaging the active section.
 
I’m running the SIT-3 with the VAC Master Preamp and it’s just incredible. This amp is like none other. It doesn’t sound tube or solid state.

I tried it with the ARC REF6 and it was a mismatch. Normally, ARC Preamps with Pass amps are great. But this was not ideal.

So, I think the preamp matching with this amp is key.
 
Mike,
Any idea why it did not work well with the ARC preamp?

Mike said:
I’m running the SIT-3 with the VAC Master Preamp and it’s just incredible. This amp is like none other. It doesn’t sound tube or solid state.

I tried it with the ARC REF6 and it was a mismatch. Normally, ARC Preamps with Pass amps are great. But this was not ideal.

So, I think the preamp matching with this amp is key.
Click to expand...
 
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