Preamp recommendations for First Watt F3

[Mikeb]

Can anyone recommend a good preamp to use with a First Watt F3 power amp and my AKG K1000 headphones, preferably one that would be available in the UK where I live, I am not worried about the number of inputs, but it must have lively open sound and be very quiet in operation.

Thanks

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikeb Can anyone recommend a good preamp to use with a First Watt F3 power amp and my AKG K1000 headphones, preferably one that would be available in the UK where I live, I am not worried about the number of inputs, but it must have lively open sound and be very quiet in operation. Thanks

Congrats on the F3! It should be a fantastic match for K1000 in many ways.

If your source has high enough output, you may want to see how the passive approach sounds before going active. This could be volume control on the source or computer if you use one, resistor-based passive vol control, transformer volume control, etc.

If that approach is found wanting b/c of the low input impedance (10 kOhm) and low gain (13dB) of F3, then an active pre may be needed, but it's going to be very difficult to find an active pre, at any price, that won't interfere with transparency of F3 and K1000..