J2

About the J2

The First Watt J2 is a two-channel, direct-coupled power amplifier designed by Nelson Pass under the First Watt brand. It uses a minimalist two-stage, pure single-ended Class-A circuit: a differential JFET voltage-gain input stage followed by a single power-JFET current-output stage per channel. It provides both balanced XLR and single-ended RCA line inputs, one set of speaker binding posts, and is particularly suited to efficient loudspeakers and listeners seeking the characteristic low-order harmonic profile of a single-ended Class-A design. The published nominal rating is 25 W per channel into 8 ohms; the owner’s manual also specifies a maximum of 30 W into 8 ohms at 1% THD, 1 kHz, and 15 W into 4 ohms under the same measurement condition. Production is discontinued; First Watt products are generally limited-production designs, and distributor information explicitly identifies the J2 as production complete.