Dennis Had Inspire PSE 300B WOW!!!

The added key to success we can see here is you have horns, and what appears to be at least two other power amplifiers involved doing the heavy lifting in the bass and lower sub-frequency range. Nice setup. Enjoy!

Am I missing something? I see four empty sockets for the 300B's? 

Yes, you are missing something. The top photo looks like it has not been fully installed as there are no cords attached to the amp, the old amps are still there and the power cord is still coiled on the left corner of the table. The lower photo shows the 300B's installed and the old mono blocks removed.

Yep, I'll be listing the Coincident monoblocks this weekend.  They have been in my system for years and have never missed a beat and are spotless.  Regarding the horns I have done the entire tour a couple times from SET+horns to Wilson Audio and extreme power amps and back.  Actually, I also have another set of horns as well the BD-Design Oris-150s with Voxative Ac2.6 drivers.  However, using the smaller BD-Design Orphean horns with the new Celestion AXi-2050 has made the Oris-150 no longer needed.  Any takers?  And finally Yes class-D amplification to control the low frequencies is critical to success.

First off, I wish your wife a speedy recovery.

Beautiful Oris 200’s! What full range driver are you using in the horn and what amp are you using to drive the BD15 bass bins? Active or passive x-over to the bass amps?

Thanks and good listening!

@woodsage  Actually these are the BD-Design Orphean-220 horns utilizing the new Celestion AXi-2050 driver.  The amplifier for the BD-Design compact reference base enclosures is a Crown XLS-1500.  Both amplifiers utilize minidsp as the xover.

I do have in addition a pair of Oris-150 horns utilizing the Voxativ AC-2.6 8" full range driver.  I have used Lowther and AER in the past and found that the Voxativ to be superior in my listening room.  I am happy to sell the Oris system if anyone is interested as well as the Coincident Frankenstein 300B monoblocks that are the perfect match for these speakers.

Enjoy !   I have heard that is a great amp.    

Hope your wife has a full and speedy recovery.

I've been intrigued by Mr. Had's handiwork, but current gear needs a couple hundred more watts.  Plus I'm in tube recovery, two years clean.

My last tube setup was Mr. Had's design.  An AE-25 DJH and matching pre-amp.  I probably should have kept it...I also sold the big Klipsch speakers they drove.

@ross6860

My last tube setup was Mr. Had’s design. An AE-25 DJH and matching pre-amp. I probably should have kept it

Understood. I imagine that the sound/music presentation was quite wonderful.

Charles

His latest amps definitely require proper speaker matching to perform their best.

Having been through three different Cary amps originally designed by Dennis and lastly  a Dennis Had Inspire Hot Rod amp (8-10w), an audio buddy and I messed with too many different speaker combos, trying. He got it right, and I did not. For my lower efficiency speakers I had to go back to a bit higher power mono tube amps with a bit more drive to get my speakers to light up properly at lower volume levels.

How OP @tinear123 has his set up now, with separate amps driving low freq, is the way to go, imo, that is the ticket.   I can imagine its very enjoyable, 👍

The Dennis Had Inspire PSE 300B is definitely a keeper. At one time I wanted to purchase one but the process and method is not for me. Enjoy your new amp :-)

@tinear123 Thanks for your detailed reply describing your horns. I almost updated my Oris 200 (AER drivers)/BD15 bass bins to the Orpheans but discovered open baffle and the rest is history. 

Congratulations on the new amp and GLWYS of your horns and Coincident amps. 
 

So, after 3 days with my new Inspire PSE 300B, I could not be any happier with the amp.  I'm stunned in the improvement over my trusty Coincident Frankenstein monoblocks that have defeated all challengers for the last 5 years.  

Specifically, the areas that PSE bested the Frankensteins were the lower midrange, the power and clarity of the highs, and the simply huge amounts of air and space around the instruments & performers.  The soundstage also expanded about 20% in width BUT at least +50% in depth.  Downsides?  The only one I can come up with is the amp does run hot but that is the logical outcome of having 4 300Bs and a total compliment of 10 tubes. 

@tinear123 

Congratulations !!

It is good to read that you are very happy with your new amplifier.

Charles

@tinear123

Wondering which coincident version you have and which tubes are you using?

Also wondering how hot the Dennis had 300b is running?

thanks John

Hi John... The Coincidents are the MK-II version upgraded with Jupiter Premium Copper Foil caps.  I did an A/B with the Mk-III version a year ago and frankly liked the MK-II w/ Jupiters better.  As for 300B tubes I have Western Electric, PSvane, etc. but the WEs are easily the best.  As for the other tubes I have a bunch of NOS 5U4 ect.  I'm actually on vacation this week and next but if you have interest in the amps let me know as I'm going to list as soon as I get back.

Som for Dennis's PSE 300B it does run hot.  Personally I think the chassis could be made a bit larger to enable better cooling.  But with four 300Bs and a number of large resisters needed for tube not transformer coupling I guess hot is the logical outcome.

Best regards,

Mark

Hi @tinear123 ,

What is an input and driver tubes in Dennis's PSE 300B?

Which rectifier and voltage stabilizers does it use? Is voltage stabilizers used for driver or input tube?

@jonnycopy

i can check in a couple weeks when I return from the Caribbean.  What I can tell you is no matter the heat the PSE 300B is staying in the system.  It’s that good.   

I read your review on the Audio Afficianado forum. Happy you’re experiencing great things with Inspire amps. Great looking speakers too!!!

Hi @tinear123,

I am a DIY person. So for me is very interesting to know how this great amplifier is built.

Can you give me some more information? What is the input and the driver tubes are used?

Regards,

Alex

@tinear123 do you still have the Dennis Had PSE 300B?  Been looking into that same amp or his inspire 300b. 

@c_cocobean Yes, I continue to use the 300B-PSE.  It really is quite good.  The power supply & driver circuit is very different to the Inspire-300B and of course has twice the power not that I needed the power with my very sensitive horn speakers.  My only small complaint would be I would have put it in a larger chassis as the current one is very tightly packed and does get hot.  From a sound perspective I love it.  By far the best 300B or frankly any amp I have ever owned noting that I have had some heavy hitters at significantly higher prices.

@tinear123 happy to hear you are enjoying the amp. I may pull the trigger on one. If you decide you'd want to move yours, reach out, I'd be happy to purchase. All the best!

Questions. Where can one purchase a Dennis Had amp? What is the difference between the PSE and Inspire 300b amps? Thanks.

@rdschicago if you are patient you can wait for Dennis’s amps to show up on eBay. You can also make an account on Audio Aficionado and ask there. 

The PSE uses 2 300b in SE parallel for each side and so should go I’ve you more power/better dampening. It also is fully tube regulated which looks amazing but is also supposed to have sonic benefits as well. The regular one uses a single 300b per side and a more conventional power supply. 

@rdschicago, Dennis had one listed yesterday on EBay at $4250. Take a look and contact him. His email is Radioman??? , but start there. He’s busy but very approachable.