So Bearcity, Straitwire, and myself met up with Dennis last Friday for an afternoon of listening and conversation at the Toyshop....
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analog addict, on Flickr
Dennis had a new surprise waiting for us. A LP-2030 reworked to beef up the filament supply so that 300Bs can be swapped in for the lower filament current tubes like the 01A. Pictured are a standard LP-2030, the PH-1A phono preamp, and the modified LP-2030.
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analog addict, on Flickr
Here's some more pix of the modified LP-2030...
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analog addict, on Flickr
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analog addict, on Flickr
He had also modified the speakers for increased bass response and flipped their orientation so that the tweeters were inside the woofers.
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analog addict, on Flickr
Providing the power was a series of choices, from right to left, a 46 amp, a 6FLV, a Kleen Sweep, and Straitwire's upgraded 300B. Underneath is Straitwire's PSE6550. Here's another of the 300B...
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analog addict, on Flickr
So after a lot of switching back and forth, shifting speaker position and orientation, it was decided that the best sound came from the combination of the PH-1A, LP-2030 with 01As, the 300B playing through the new speakers. This was also with all US made tubes in every part of the signal path. We also decided that the 01As sounded better than the 300bs in the preamp, but Dennis says he has more work to do on modifying the 2030 to get the best sound out of the 300bs in the LP-2030.
Dennis has all of this at home now and is using a PSE 300B for the amp.
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analog addict, on Flickr
He told me today that the PSE 300B is the best amp he's ever heard, let alone designed, and it is better than his 805 amp for that former company he used to own.
Seems like high praise indeed....