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Dennis Had Inspire Fire-Bottle SET amp review

Hello to all,
I have been a tube amp lover for years and foolishly parted with a HK-CII and CV a couple of years ago. I have a Don Sachs 6SN7-based tube preamp that is even better than the HK-CI I had, with all the HK gear upgraded by Don with Jim McShane mods. I recently got a pair of Spatial Audio Hologram M4 open-baffle speakers and wanted to make the foray back to a tube amp. I auditioned a Musical Paradise MP-310 with an unfavorable impression of its sound so I casted about for an affordable ~12 wpc tube amp and ran across a Dennis Had Inspire Bottle-Fire amp. It came with new JJ EL34 tubes which, after a few hours on them, sounded quite good at low SPL, but at maybe 85 db, just sounded awful, with the bass distorted as hell. Well, a buddy laid a pair of KT120's on me to swap for the EL34's, and holy hell, the sound is just fantastic! OMG, I can drive them very nicely to 90db with negligible distortion.

 Here is my take on the amp.   With the KT120's, and a 274B rectifier, this is a quintessential "tube" sounding amp. It gives up a degree of accuracy and control compared to my CJ MF80 SS amp, but ah, Dennis's amp creates such a luxurious warm and euphonic sound, like a "warm wet wall of sound", with and enormous soundstage, far beyond the speakers.  Honestly, I have been in search of exactly this sort of sound for decades and the pairing of Dennis's amp with my OB speakers, which are very conductive to a low-powered SET amp, is just a supreme match. The vast array of power tubes and rectifiers available to roll through this little gem very well might tailor the sound to benefit of many listeners.  My best advice is that if you have compatible speakers, you would be smart to acquire a Dennis Had amp. I feel fortunate that all the knowledge and skills he applied to his Cary Audio line of tube gear is still available to us tube-amp lovers in his current line of tube equipment.  There are lot of fine SET amps available on the market these days, but the price of most of them is quite expensive, out of my budget for sure, but the cost of Dennis's gear is affordable to all music lovers. 
Cheers, Whitestix
whitestix
whitestix OP
720 posts
 
Audioman,
It was a big jump in performance from the EL34 to the KT120's, night and day.  However, I plugged in a pair of new KT150's this week and after a dozen hours on them, I'd be hard press to notice the improvements you refer to above.  I will swap the KT120's back in after 100 hours for a useful comparison.  BTW, I have never been much of a fan of JJ tubes, but the Gold Lions KT 88's and the big Tung Sols have been an excellent value/performance proposition.  

I just ordered a KT88-based amp from Don Sachs in which he spec's the Shuguang  KT88 Treasure tubes.  It will put out 60-70wpc and Don feels it is a significant improvement on the upgraded HK-CII amp that has been near and dear to his heart for many years and which I had for a couple of years.  I am running the Shuguang CV181-Z (=6SN7) Treasure tubes in Don's preamp and they are simply stunning and in Don's view, better than nearly any pricey NOS tube around.  They are faultless to my ears and fairly affordable.  Happy listening!
lula
213 posts
 
Whitestix, have you compared Dennis' LP27A with the Don Sachs preamp?

whitestix OP
720 posts
 
Nope, I haven't.
buellrider97
399 posts
 
Hi , I too have a Dennis Had Inspire. I've been enjoying it for about 10 months . Mine came with the Gold Lion reissue KT88's and a Gold Lion rectifier . I am using Zu Omens and a single 10" sub. I have a Rogue RP-1 pre with Tecktronix Telefunken ECC82's. I have upgraded cables , interconnects and a power conditioner . The tube combos I've tried so far are JJ KT-77's with a NOS RCA 5UG4 and a NOS TESLA E88CC, the Gold Lion KT88's with a NOS Phillips 5R4GYS and a NOS Telefunken E88CC , New production TS KT120's with a NOS Mullard GZ34 and the Telefunken E88CC. I also have tried a NOS Mullard E88CC, Phillips Herleen PQ E88CC, JAN ECG , and a Russian Rocket . In the pre I've also tried NOS Mullard and NOS JAN RCA. Overall I like the Gold Lion KT 88's the best. I've switched around all the driver tubes and rectifier tubes ( the amp is extremely forgiving) . The Phillips rectifier is the most detailed and the Mullard takes away the harshness of the KT120's that took forever to break in . I would like to try the Gold Lion reissue KT77's . I will eventually buy a metal base rectifier and some nos power tubes like GEC KT 88's and Tung Sol 6550's. All of the tube combos have been enjoyable ! A BIG HAND TO DENNIS FOR THIS ! I'm running FLAC files with a Schiit dac. I will eventually get a new turntable . I appreciate all of your input, as it has been very helpful. Regards and Happy Listening , Mike .
whitestix OP
720 posts
 
Buellrider97,
You have auditioned the holy grail of tubes for the amp so you have heard most all variations that the amp can produce.  Dennis's amp would be a match made in heaven for your efficient Zu's.  Don Sachs and Jim McShane, and humbly, myself, are all devotees of the Gold Lion KT88's.  However, the Psvane Treasures are much better and definitely worth a listen.  Don Sachs spec's them in his KT88 power transformer.  They are pricier than the Gold Lion's but Don thinks they are well worth the money.
Cheers,  Whitestix

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