[Khragon]

Amp is pretty toasty.. I measured it at around 130F on the heat sink, I can only touch it for 3 sec.. manual said 5 sec or so... I didn't think 130F is that high but will check with Mark. What's your experience with First Watt amp heat @Jozurr and @jelt2359 ?

 

[Khragon]

Nice setup @Khragon

To add a little fuel to the J2 fire....



It really is as good as everyone is raving about.

Sterophile is telling the truth. After my terrible experience with the Creek EVOLUTION 50A I lost my trust in the gentlemen at that rag. This has brought my trust back in spades. It's really that good.

Thanks, same to you, looks like we both have 300B amp

Didn't know you received yours already... my impression so far is very positive, very musical amp. will spend more time and do comparison to my Glenn 300B.

 

[jerick70]

300b amps are magical. I really enjoy my WA5. I've been interested in the Glenn 300bs. Have you compared your Glenn to the WA5?

Yes it came in this morning. I live closeish to Reno Hifi so it was here in short order. It's a superb amp with all of my headphones and my Speakers. I was skeptical that the J2 would be able to drive my inefficient speakers. But it is doing a superb job at it. I dare say it is besting my 220 watt Musical Fidelity M6si. This is a near field setup for my man cave computer so I don't crank the volume.

The layering, instrument positioning / separation, and sound stage is incredible. PRAT is spot on too. This is with my Musical Fidelity as the pre. I'm looking forward to finding a dedicated preamp that will bring it further along in the audio food chain....

 

[jerick70]

Like you said this is one HOT amp. I can touch my J2 for about 4 - 5 seconds without any adverse effects. It's by far the hottest solid state amp I've owned. I owned a Rogue Cronus Magnum a few years ago and that bad boy was a nuclear reactor. It was like sitting next to a fire place... LOL

 

[jelt2359]

I’ve never heard the J2 so cannot comment, but the F7 does get very hot too.

 

[jerick70]

First Watt J2 is in the house...

I didn't like the Freya because I felt it drag the music down a bit, like putting a veil over the music.

That's really to bad that you had that experience with the Freya. I had high hopes for it. Which modes were you using? What tubes were you using in tube gain mode?

I'm going to have to go do some auditions of preamps. I want to find a really good pre to match with the J2 soon. The M6si is doing a really admirable job right now though.

 

[Khragon]

I think tube section is good you find a good pair. I was using a set of Sylvania NOS for the buffer stage and RCA grey glass for the gain stage. I think that combo provided more clarity compared to the JFET or the passive mode. I didn't like JFET too much. I think Saga is a much more resolved preamp, too bad it's only single ended. I'm thinking of getting a Saga again to pair with the J2.

I’ve never heard the J2 so cannot comment, but the F7 does get very hot too.

Thanks for the feedback, that made me feel better. I emailed Mark, will report back on what he has to say regarding the heat.

 

[Jozurr]

Amp is pretty toasty.. I measured it at around 130F on the heat sink, I can only touch it for 3 sec.. manual said 5 sec or so... I didn't think 130F is that high but will check with Mark. What's your experience with First Watt amp heat @Jozurr and @jelt2359 ?

If you cant touch the heatsinks for longer than 5 seconds, you need better air flow to the amp. Try keeping it further away from walls, which helps.

I did not appreciate the Freya in any mode - The SS mode isnt as clean sounding and the tube mode is not really needed with the J2. The annoyance of clicks with the volume knob are another story altogether.

 

[Khragon]

Thanks, yeah I figured a bit airflow would help, especially putting my arm all the way to the back to turn off the unit.

I purchased this, and will get it this Saturday.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GZMMH7K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Keithpgdrb]

Can anyone tell me why I am getting an email notification every time someone responds in this thread? I’m supposed to get one, and no more until I come back to the site to check. Anyone have this problem? It used to work fine. Started acting this way our week or so ago

 

[Khragon]

I unchecked all email notification from the settings:

https://www.head-fi.org/account/ale...dium=email&utm_source=alert_emails_post_quote

 

[ossidian]

I just purchased NOS HiFiMan HE-6 cans. I also ordered the HiFiMan Adapter although it won't arrive for another week.
I have read through many posts and still need to nail down whether it is recommended to use a McIntosh MC-2000 tube amp
with the cans without the adapter. Does having autoformers make any difference in impedance matching? Thanks.

 

[JimL11]

I just purchased NOS HiFiMan HE-6 cans. I also ordered the HiFiMan Adapter although it won't arrive for another week.
I have read through many posts and still need to nail down whether it is recommended to use a McIntosh MC-2000 tube amp
with the cans without the adapter. Does having autoformers make any difference in impedance matching? Thanks.

The autoformers are there to match the outputs to speakers, which run from 4-16 ohms nominal, and so draw much more current than the HE-6, which is about 50 ohms impedance. The MC2000 will barely even notice the HE-6 are connected, regardless of which tap you use.

 

[LarsHP]

To protect the output transformers it is recommended to have resistors in parallel (across the terminals) with the HE-6.

 

[ossidian]

To protect the output transformers it is recommended to have resistors in parallel (across the terminals) with the HE-6.

Sounds like I will use the HiFiMan Adapter. Merry Christmas LarsHP!