For this review the integrated amplifiers were replaced with a Leben RS-100U vacuum tube line preamplifier combined with the First Watt SIT-3 stereo amplifier. The Leben was connected to the First Watt SIT-3 with the new Acoustic Revive RCA Absolute FM Interconnects that are in for review, with the Leben and the SIT-3 being powered by an Acoustic Revive Power Reference TripleC NCF AC power cord, and the new Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cord that is in for review, respectively.
As I alluded to, the 16 Ohm vintage Altec 832A Corona loudspeakers are just the sort of loudspeakers the First Watt SIT-3 was made for, with its 10 watts into 16 Ohms being more power than I could ever reasonably use even on huge dynamics swings, or when playing music very loud.
Listening to the Jazz24 stream with the First Watt SIT-3 was truly impressive, and I would never have imagined that Jazz24 could be so present, dynamic, tonally rich, and so incredibly musical.
To be candid, the in-the-room-corner placement of the Corona's doesn't support that sort of feathery and deeply layered soundstage that some audiophiles crave much at all, however, the First Watt SIT-3 still puts the images solidly onto the soundstage, and into the room with great presence, nicely spaced across the width of the soundstage, and with a room-filling sense of ambient space that makes my room the recording venue!
Truth be told, the deep feathery and layered soundstage that many audiophiles crave doesn't sound like live music much at all, it just sounds kind of cool and mesmerizing in an audio-visual sort of way, but you just don't hear that sort of thing with live music much.
Actually, the way the Altec Corona's project music into the room sounds much more realistically like a live music experience than does the typical audiophile-style presentation of a deeply layered soundstage.
What the First Watt SIT-3 does in this vintage Corona-based system is excel on the musical content of a recording, with a very convincing level of timbral realism, the resolution of tone color is superb, melodies are full of life and vibrancy, harmonies are enchantingly realistic, rhythm and beat are physically involving, with tempos conveying the speed they should to inform the mood, and dynamics sounding as real as the jazz stream allows for (i.e. I suspect they are using a leveling amplifier / compressor like the Teletronix LA-2A, or something similar, to get their great on-air sound quality).
The musicality aspect of the First Watt SIT-3 is so sublime and enjoyable, that I could easily imagine a music lover giving one listen to my vintage Altec 832A Corona loudspeakers powered by the SIT-3, then abandoning their current system and buying a pair of vintage Corona's (or other Altec's) and a SIT-3, and never looking back. That's even with my rather modest digital front end streaming music! The SIT-3 combined with the vintage Altec 832A Corona's is so musically inspiring that I think one listen could change your audio priorities forever.
Now just imagine what the SIT-3 could do with vinyl and a pair of vintage Altec's, eh? That's our next stop on this tour of the First Watt SIT-3.
Listening Impression with Vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre Loudspeakers
The third system used for this review was my audio-visual system, which is based around restored vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers with 825 bass horn cabinets, 515B Alnico low-frequency drivers, Altec 288C Alnico compression drivers, and 10-cell Altec 1005B horns.
The vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers were designed for professional use in movie theaters with up to 750 seats. The stock Altec crossovers were designed with that sort of application in mind, where the high-frequency horn had to have a proper balance to project through a movie screen, and with the low-frequency driver subtly driving the movie screen like a big driver for additional low-frequency enforcement, it took adjustability and specialized equalization of the drivers to make it work, with the end result being the Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers needed to sound well-balanced to movie goers sitting in the theatre where lots of bodies were damping the sound.
Using the stock Altec pro crossovers designed for theaters in a domestic listening environment produces very harsh and unpleasant results, to say the least, so it is necessary to replace them with crossovers designed specifically to compliment a domestic environment, like the Hiraga-inspired crossovers that I use with my A5's.
With Hiraga-inspired crossovers taming my vintage Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers for domestic use, they provide a rather wonderful and completely immersive vintage theatre-like experience for video sources, as well as superbly musical vinyl reproduction for music listening (above).
I use Duelund DCA16GA tinned-copper wire for speaker cables, a Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier for amplification, with Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects connecting it to a Leben RS-30EQ phono preamplifier, which in turn connects to a Thomas Schick 12-inch tonearm mounted on an Artisan Fidelity Thorens TD124 Statement Long-Base turntable. The phonograph cartridge was the superb Soundsmith Carmen Mk II phonograph cartridge (reviewed HERE) mounted on a Thomas Schick graphite headshell fitted with DIY Art of Tone 22GA tinned-copper headshell leads.
AC cables were a combination of Acoustic Revive Power Reference TripleC NCF AC power cords, and the new Acoustic Revive Absolute Power Cords that are in for review.
For video duties I use an aging Philips television hung up on the wall between the A5's so I can watch movies or TV shows, kept company by an OPPO UDP-203 Blu-ray player for spinning DVD or Blu-Ray movies, an occasional CD, or by streaming video from my MacBook Pro.
For this review the Leben CS-600 integrated amplifier was replaced with a vacuum tube Leben RS-100U line preamplifier and the First Watt SIT-3 stereo amplifier, connected with the new Acoustic Revive RCA Absolute FM Interconnects that are in for review.
As I experienced with my vintage Altec 832A Corona loudspeakers, the First Watt SIT-3's 10 watts into 16 Ohms easily power my Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers to live-like volume levels, just as the vintage 9-watt Western Electric 91A 300B amplifiers did for them in the old theaters.
With the First Watt SIT-3 I did not want for power on most of the vinyl I listened to, or on videos I watched (I saw peaks as high as 110.3dB running the SIT-3 wide-open). Just as an aside, the SIT-3 is so low in distortion and so natural sounding on the A5's that even at high-SPL's it didn't cause my ears to shut down or make me feel stressed as a listener.
I decided to spin an old favorite album of mine on the Thorens, Chester & Lester, featuring two of the greatest guitarists that ever lived, Chet Atkins and Les Paul (RCA Victor APL1-1167, 1976).
There's a nice review of Chester & Lester HERE on Rolling Stone you might want to read when you get the chance.
The First Watt SIT-3 demonstrated its powers of natural sounding über-resolution on the Chester & Lester album with all sorts of musical and technique related subtleties come to light that I had not noticed before. More than ever with the SIT-3 providing the juice, I came away from my Chester & Lester listening session awed by Chet Atkins and Les Paul virtuoso technique on their guitars.
The first thing I thought was, "Oh my gawd, listen to that tone!" You could be forgiven for thinking there was a Western Electric 91A amplifier driving the A5's given the luscious mid-range performance, well except that the First Watt SIT-3 was way more resolving and transparent, provided oodles more resolution as deep as you'd care to go in the lower-frequencies, and into the higher frequencies as far as A5's can go, while still maintaining that pleasingly rich sweetness that the best DH-SET 300B amplifiers are capable of.
I should say that the imaging, transparency, resolution, dynamics, and sense of ambient space were first-rate with the SIT-3, which gave the instruments (and the music as a whole) a vivid, articulate, and live-like presence that could be really mesmerizing.
I found the timbral textures on the Chester & Lester album to be eerily realistic, and the First Watt SIT-3's presentation of tempos, dynamics, rhythm & beat on my Altec A5's was particularly impressive in the way it increased the musical drama.
One of the bottom line aspects of the First Watt SIT-3 for me was the way in which it so easily illuminated the musical techniques of artists, both in their virtuosity as musicians, but also in revealing their emotional state when playing. It was easy to tell when Chet and Les were really getting into what they were doing, versus laying down a track in workmanlike fashion to satisfy a particular take in the studio.
The First Watt SIT-3 gave me more insights into the music on vinyl than any other amp I've had in my Altec A5 audio system.
I found it nearly impossible to resist the temptation of getting out some of my most spectacular records to listen to, just so I could experience the new things I would hear in them with the First Watt SIT-3 in the system.
One of those records for me was the 2009 Analogue Productions 45RPM reissue of The Gil Evans Orchestra's Out of the Cool (Analogue Productions AIPJ 4, Universal Music Special Markets B0012101-01, Impulse! A4).
The lineup of musicians on Out of the Cool was impressive (with arrangements by Gil Evans), Ron Carter on bass, Tony Studd on bass trombone, Bob Tricarico on bassoon, flute, and piccolo, Elvin Jones on drums, Ray Crawford on guitar, Charlie Persip on percussion, Budd Johnson on sax, Eddie Caine & Ray Beckenstein on saxophone, flute, and piccolo, Jimmy Knepper & Keg Johnson on trombones, and Johnny Coles & Phil Sunkel on trumpets, and Bill Barber on tuba.
The first track of "La Nevada" is mind-blowing in its timbral diversity and complex interplay of instruments, and the First Watt SIT-3's resolution, transparency, and dynamic prowess highlighted that to fine effect, creating a dizzying swirl of timbral textures and a complex interplay between musicians that's almost too much to keep up with as I was listening due to so much going on—a true sonic spectacular and a tour de force example of the art of arranging by Gil Evans!
Next, I wanted to listen to something more laid back and relaxing, so I chose the Analogue Productions 45RPM reissue of Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus by the Vince Guaraldi Trio (Analogue Productions AJAZ 8089, Fantasy 8089), a longtime favorite of mine for the beautiful music created by Vince Guaraldi on piano, Colin Bailey on drums, and Monty Budwig on double bass.
The First Watt SIT-3 sounded warm, lush, and dynamic on Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus. On "Manha de Carnaval" I was impressed by the beautiful piano tone of Vince Guaraldi, and its timbral realism through the SIT-3. The pitch definition of Monty's double bass was superb, and Colin's cymbals sounded natural and live-like.
I was running the SIT-3 pretty close to wide open on Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, and was seeing SPL's on peaks as high as 104.9dB, for a nice live-like "plus" musical experience. The SIT-3 plays with such ease and naturalness that it can be a little deceiving volume-wise, as even on high-ish peaks I didn't feel any listening stress on the A5's, it just made the music sound more present and real.
Summary and Conclusions
Compared to other amplifiers I have heard in my home music and audio-video systems, the First Watt SIT-3 is one of the best, if not the best, amplifier I have ever heard in terms of its artful balance of musicality & sonics, but perhaps most importantly, for providing such a clear view into the artistry of musicians and the emotional impact of their music, for which it was unmatched in my experience.
I suppose there is a temptation to compare the First Watt SIT-3 to DH-SET amplifiers because of its lower power rating, sheer musicality, and sonic prowess, but it really doesn't sound exactly like any of the DH-SET's I'm familiar with.
While the SIT-3 shares DH-SET's enjoyable mid-range "living presence" traits, it diverges from DH-SET's in the impressive amount of resolution and articulation it brings to the lowest frequencies of my various loudspeakers, in particular, but also all the way up into their highest highs, in a way that DH-SET's I've heard can't match.
The First Watt SIT-3 is very resolving and transparent, yet it sounds so natural that all that extra musical nuance I heard did not come across as etched or artificial at all, but rather it just enhanced the musicality with extra timbral cues, dynamic gradations, and a sense of the musicians being tangibly present in my listening rooms.
The First Watt SIT-3's ability to play naturally at live-like levels of loudness appropriate to a piece of music will be dependent upon the sensitivity of your loudspeakers, how far your listening position is from the loudspeakers, the size of your room, and you will need to take that into account when deciding if the First Watt SIT-3 is for you.
Sonically, the First Watt SIT-3 demonstrated very impressive performance in terms of resolution, imaging, soundstaging, and in recovering the acoustic space of the recording venue, as well as the "acoustic envelope" around individual instruments in DH-SET fashion. I don't think I've ever heard an amplifier resolve as much musical & recorded nuance in such a natural fashion as the SIT-3 does, and I was constantly hearing musical nuance that I'd never heard before in my music.
Musically, the First Watt SIT-3 provided a very satisfying portrayal of natural sounding timbral textures, with excellent resolution of tone color, as well as an articulate, nuanced, and vivid portrayal of melodies and harmonies. The SIT-3's rhythmic abilities were impressive, with beat delivered as physically engaging, along with highly resolved bass frequencies that my tube amps can't match. From the lowest lows to the highest highs that my loudspeakers could produce, the First Watt SIT-3 provided a level of resolution, timbral nuance, and musical articulation that was truly wondrous. Tempos and changes in tempos were easily discerned, adding to the emotive feel of the music.
I'm not sure that I completely understand how the First Watt SIT-3 accomplishes its magic, but it weaves together its formidable sonic and musical prowess into a remarkable revelation of the emotional intent of the musicians while playing their music, not to mention the emotional impact delivered to me as a listener.
The First Watt SIT-3 made me want to get out my favorite and most well recorded albums just to hear what it could do. Conversely, albums of music I really enjoy but were not recorded so well were not put to shame by the SIT-3. Even when the SIT-3 made it clear that the recording quality of an album was not first rate, it still managed to flatter it enough to make it musically enjoyable to listen to.
The First Watt SIT-3 had enough power for listening levels up to about 96dB with my Westminster's, in my reasonably large living room, with a listening seat about 12 feet from the loudspeakers, although there were definitely a few times when I wanted more power.
Power was never a factor while listening to music with my vintage Altec 832A Corona or A5 Voice of the Theater loudspeakers, and the SIT-3 was able to power them to very satisfyingly live-like levels.
Within its areas of strengths (and power limitations) the First Watt SIT-3 is one of the best, if not the best, amplifier I've ever heard.
Here's a thought: The First Watt SIT-3 is such a phenomenal amplifier musically and sonically, and off the charts in terms of emotional engagement, that you might want to consider different loudspeakers that can take full advantage of its strengths if your current speakers aren't up to it, as the SIT-3 is just that good.
If you think you might want a First Watt SIT-3 of your own don't wait too long to decide, as they are a limited production item and only 250 of them will be built and offered for sale.
I would like to thank Nelson Pass for the opportunity of writing about the First Watt SIT-3 for you here at Positive Feedback – thank you, Nelson!
As always, thanks for stopping by Positive Feedback to read my articles, and may the tone be with you!
Contact Information
You can visit the First Watt website to learn more about the SIT-3 stereo amplifier HERE.
All images are by Jeff Day unless noted otherwise.
