Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/musical-fidelity-a1-integrated-amplifier

In this month’s Gramophone Dream (p.21), I describe my experiences with First Watt’s new SIT-4, which uses new, industrial-grade “SIT” output transistors. I couldn’t stop myself from checking out the flavor achieved by pairing Tim de Paravicini’s line and phono stage to Nelson Pass’s latest no-feedback, low-power (10W into 8 ohms) amplifier.

The SIT-4 costs $5000, and I was relishing its effect on my LS3/5as fed by HoloAudio’s $3098 Serene KTE preamplifier. I was curious whether the A1’s Pre Out would be as uncolored and transparent as the Serene’s, which I regard as state-of-the-art invisible. And by golly it almost was. It was at least 90% as transparent as the Serene.

This arrangement also let me compare the A1’s power-amp section to the SIT-4. Powered by the A1-pre/SIT-4 combo, the Falcons presented bolder, cleaner, more liquid, tactile, and exciting than they did powered by the A1 integrated—its preamp stage and output stage. This suggests that the A1’s signature boldness and tactility are spawned largely in the preamp section, which appears to be a world-class component in its own right.

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