For some time I'd wanted to try a low powered SS amp with my Maargas instead of the Lyrita 2A3. A little over a year ago I found a used Valvet E2 and it sounded very good. That gave me some confidence and I always had a FirstWatt at the back of my mind given the fan following. I thought to try a FirstWatt SIT3 but they sold out and my only option was to get an F8. The SIT were special but I wasn't sure about the F8. I had considered the DIY route but most of the designs the Toshiba JFETs (or the Semisouth In the J2) which are no longer available. I was very lucky to find someone who had all the parts for an F6 and decided to bite. The F6 is rated 25W into 8 Ohm and 50W into 4 Ohm. That was much more than I needed but I had no choice. Figured if I liked the amp that much I could use it with lower sensitivity speakers as well.
Here is the final build of the amp. It's just been a few hours so still breaking in but it is super silent and sounds wonderful. The enclosure is also DIY - sketched it in CAD and got it laser cut on 3mm Aluminium and then anodised. I'm currently playing the amp with my DIY Open Baffles and will try it with the Maargas as well. It gets very hot though especially with the ambient temp around 42C. Plan to try PC cooling fan inside the chassis. Sharing a few pics.
Thanks for reading!



Here is the final build of the amp. It's just been a few hours so still breaking in but it is super silent and sounds wonderful. The enclosure is also DIY - sketched it in CAD and got it laser cut on 3mm Aluminium and then anodised. I'm currently playing the amp with my DIY Open Baffles and will try it with the Maargas as well. It gets very hot though especially with the ambient temp around 42C. Plan to try PC cooling fan inside the chassis. Sharing a few pics.
Thanks for reading!



