Honesty above all

By Anonymous -


First Watt J2 Stereo Power Amplifier



OK, at this point I’m starting to realize that I will fall in love with 100% of the First Watt amplifiers and preamps that come through The Music Room.

So much so that it has me diving on a box marked Pass Labs or First Watt so my coworkers don’t grab it first.

Oh, this is a competition, make no mistake about it. We see some of the coolest audio gear of the last 30 years roll through here, but often it’s the luck of the draw when it comes to who listens to what.

Today must be my lucky day. I’m listening again to a First Watt, this time the J2. A different amplifier completely from the F4, the J2 has all of that same First Watt goodness: the speed, the detail, the pleasing character, the honesty.

This one is perhaps a simpler circuit than the F4, featuring modern high power JFET transistors made available because of the electric car industry. As Nelson explains in the manual’s forward, this builds on a previously used approach of single stage, single ended, high-dissipation power transistor amplification.

I’ll let you do your own research and learn more about the J2 design from the nimble mind of Nelson Pass. I’m just here to tell you this thing is a special piece of audio gear, and it pushes all of my buttons. I wonder why these First Watt amps capture my heart so, but I think it is a fairly natural reaction coming from a recording engineer.

I’ve spent a lot of time recording music and listening back to it, so at this stage in my audio hobby one of my major preferences is for honesty, transparency and coherency.

Paired with revealing speakers, this type of amplifier can get me close to my own audio nirvana, and I think I am probably not alone out there.

I should mention that the J2 is a lower-gain amplifier (helps with the noise specs!) so you will have to be careful about preamplification. I used the single ended output from a balanced preamp to feed into this J2 for testing, and actually pegged the volume control at max just to reach enjoyable listening levels. I would have had to switch to balanced or look for another preamp with a higher output if I wanted a single dB more.

But you probably know by now that listening volume depends on my speakers too. My new DIY speaks are somewhat insensitive, at least compared to my 92dB-efficient home speakers. The J2 would probably scream in my living room.

If you’re curious about taking the First Watt plunge, you have my full encouragement. But do so after a little reading and make sure your sensitivity and output voltage numbers make sense. If you do, you will be in for a profound musical treat.

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