Dennis Had FIRE 300 B tube SET

I think the owners all congregate over at Audio Aficionado. You gotta pay to use the forum but it is the best place to see what he is up to. Dennis reads all of the posts there and some of his tech partners are there too. 

The choice to use the WE 300b is a great example of how he selects the components to use. He tunes the amp to a sound and uses the parts he needs to get there. You can see some fancier caps in some of his other amps but he only uses them where he thinks it will make a positive difference. Fancy, more expensive parts are not objectively better in every case. Some folks get the idea that it is the parts that determine the sound when in reality it is the entire circuit. It is much more important to “tune” the amp and use the parts that get the sound you want. Mick from Supratek will customize builds for you but he won’t change the components he uses. He knows what his preamps sound like and the reputation they have built. He won’t build with boutique parts because they make his preamps sound different but not necessarily better. He can stand behind his design and the sound quality of his preamps but he doesn’t want to send out something that doesn’t sound like the rest of his gear. Dennis has been making 300b amps for over 50 years and is intimately aware of the different compromises that go into the sound of an amp. Like Mick, he builds to a sound  

But speaking of compromises, his current round of amps have fewer of them because he is doing it for fun. He is retired and does not depend on amp sales to make a living. They are a labor of love for him. He says the current amps are the best sounding he has ever made. I believe him. Mine is certainly wonderful:)

@isaacc7 

I appreciate your informed post. I have never heard a Dennis Had SET/SEP amplifier but I do not doubt that they sound terrific!

Charles 

@charles1dad fyi, fwiw. Between my former Cary SLI-80 and Cary V12 amps, Denis built me an Inspire Hot Rod with KT150s. He really wanted me to try it given my past with his former Cary designs. I used my Cary SLP-98 preamp to drive it for about a year. Still use the same preamp today, like it quite a bit for my needs. 

While the smaller Inspire amps were a little better at mid-volume levels, it never quite drove my 6ohm 93db sensitive speakers properly at low volume levels. Kept my Cary 6SN7 preamp and, re-sold all of the Cary Inspire amps. On to the next Mono amps I went. I share this as those amps are sensitive to speaker selection.  

Next:

Due to my speakers not being ultra efficient or closer to stable 8ohm higher impedance, I had to try something else, more, different - it paid off.

Moved to larger Quicksilver Mono 120s with the much larger and higher quality transformers. For my own reasons to compare apples-to-apples, I upgraded to much higher-end coupling caps and a better small signal input/driver tube set. Much-much better drive and clarity at low volume listening levels (night time listening). After the cap and tube upgrades, boom, game over, done. Never looked back. The new QS KT Monos are sweet, more versatile for speaker matching. Simply put a great triode preamp in front of them, and the result is high value.

@isaacc7 A very well written and well informed post I've enjoyed Cary gear from the Dennis Had era and I have no doubt his current amps sound good paired with appropriate speakers.

@decooney 

I certainly understand your preference for the bigger and more powerful Quicksilver push-pull mono blocks. It absolutely depends on what one is seeking to accomplish. Undoubtedly the bigger amplifiers allows greater speaker choice flexibility etc. For my particular needs SET 300b mono blocks are the best solution. Each individual scenario will invariably differ.

Charles