First Watt F5

For the three and more legged things
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Nick
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#1 First Watt F5

Post by Nick »

One of Nelsons finest (and possibly simplest)
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Last edited by Nick on Tue May 10, 2011 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Paul Barker
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#2

Post by Paul Barker »

Looks like a quality build :wink:
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IslandPink
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#3

Post by IslandPink »

I see the administrator gets special privileges on the file size .

Nice work of course .
Hopefully it will inspire me to try and get the Mosfets fitted to the heatsink this weekend !
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ed
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#4

Post by ed »

yessum.....

I didn't build one finally cos I have a quote somewhere from NP where he says he can't decide between that and the F4.......in the end I just lost the momentum., if he can't tell then how the hell will I!!.....

looks good though....did you put self-tappers through that angle or are there clinch nuts underneath?

still want a listen though, what sort of window of opportunity is there?
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Mike H
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#5

Post by Mike H »

IslandPink wrote:I see the administrator gets special privileges on the file size .
Cor 'tis innit Image


 
 
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Nick
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#6

Post by Nick »

That any better?
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#7

Post by Mike H »

I think it was just an observation, not a complaint Image

But yes very good


 
 
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Paul Barker
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#8

Post by Paul Barker »

Nick brought the F5 over the other night. It is really nice. Obviously much better at bass than a low power valve amp. We were only able to listen using Spotify, but we got imaging, actually very good imaging for solid state. The bass information goes below my low powered valve amps. The general pleasure of listening is much better than I remember from solid state, and we weren't fatigued.

Nick says he has been listening to it at home quite happily.
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shane
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#9

Post by shane »

Any idea what sort of power output you're getting from it?
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Nick
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#10

Post by Nick »

28W I measured at home. Nelson spec's it at 25W. This page has the numbers for all the first watt designs.

http://www.firstwatt.com/prod.html
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#11

Post by colin.hepburn »

Nice Job nick
Nothing wrong with a good Solid state amp my little S.E.P.P Pioneer SA500 and 500A sound great They do have the knack of giving the feeling of turning the lisnting room into a Smokey Jazz /Blues Club with the right Artists on vinyl of course 8)
It really annoys me when people dismiss sold-state amp without ever hearing them as a local chap I know does with Valves but he's a naim fan :shock:
But of course there are good and bad sold state and valve amps
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#12

Post by Mike H »

FWIW I think a lot of the time (if my own experience is anything to go by Image ) a lot of it can be down to passives, a good or bad component can make or break an amp


 
 
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#13

Post by Mike H »

colin.hepburn wrote:They do have the knack of giving the feeling of turning the lisnting room into a Smokey Jazz /Blues Club with the right Artists on vinyl of course 8)
I like that .. Image
 
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Paul Barker
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#14

Post by Paul Barker »

Just played it to my son he gave it the thumbs up. He does also like the 6em7 boatanchor.

It is very tricky because the Nelson Pass does things so nearly like the 6em7 but contains additional low level bass information.

The gain built into the 6em7 is much more though, and of course with the soft clipping of single ended amps, without an active preamp the perceived volume is about the same.

Following last nights session with nick and Brian I suspect the Nelson Pass would benefit from a buffer preamp with a small amount of voltage gain and a low output impedance.

The 6em7 I have of course designed to be self sufficient.
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#15

Post by shane »

Nick, was this a scratch build or a kit? Did you make the PCBs?
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