Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[Breakdown7]

Sure, I’m happy to measure my 300B-v…
Depth from speaker terminals to the end of the gain knob is 10.5”. The width is 10.25”. The height to the top of the Western Electric tubes is 8.5”. My unit is on the top shelf, so I wouldn’t know about how much space would be needed above the tubes for ventilation. They do run quite hot, so I would keep that in mind. How much space needed over top of the 300B tubes would probably be a great question for Analog Addict.

[Showme]

Thanks for the measurements. It would be interesting what AA has to say about the ventilation.

[BlackBess]

My Inspire 300PSE is designated as a “Fire-Bottle”, whereas my 6FLV-v is not. Can anyone explain to me what the label “Fire-Bottle” indicates? Also, I’ve yet roll any KT66 tubes into the little Had & was curious if anybody has any thoughts on these, any manufacturer, but specifically the TAD KT66’s & the Wathen Cryotones. As of lately the PSE is hogging most of my spare time. 4 WE 300B’s kick some serious buttons. But the cute little pup downstairs needs to get its juices pumping regularly or I’m not keeping her happy.

[cgn-dt-n]

Hi BlackBess,
I have had good experiences with the Gold Lion KT66.
But I have to admit that I found most of the 6v6 better.
I will not continue to try the 66 with the KT88 SEP.

[cgn-dt-n]

I had problems with the new phono pre.
there are some records that I could not listen to undisturbed.
There were distortions that I didn't have with the solid state.
Mostly on both channels.
Support force controlled, but true.
some tubes changed, still the same problem.
Geometry checked but was fine.
a 12AU7 instead of the 12AX7 brought minimal improvement, but it was not good.
used other template for adjustment. Now it's better.
instead of DIN I have now set to ICE.
on 2 recordings I still have problems with the saxophone which was recorded very loud.

Can this be due to the tubes used or should I use a shielded RCA cable between phono and pre?

Does anyone have an idea?

[Analog Addict]

Originally Posted by Breakdown7

Sure, I’m happy to measure my 300B-v…
Depth from speaker terminals to the end of the gain knob is 10.5”. The width is 10.25”. The height to the top of the Western Electric tubes is 8.5”. My unit is on the top shelf, so I wouldn’t know about how much space would be needed above the tubes for ventilation. They do run quite hot, so I would keep that in mind. How much space needed over top of the 300B tubes would probably be a great question for Analog Addict.

To be safe I would recommend at least 1.5"-2"(4-5 cm) headroom between the top of the tubes and an upper shelf. Make sure there is plenty of ventilation as well...

[Akinkano]

Hello fellow AA and Analog Addict. I've been reading this specific thread, "Dennis Had Inspire Amps", and it's surprising how much good information on tube amps. I'm considering buying my first tube amp and I'm wondering if anyone here would post any comments on the differences in sound among the 300B, EL84 and EL34 tubes. Quite popular tubes with distinctive personalities.

[nhparrot]

Originally Posted by cgn-dt-n

Hi BlackBess,
I have had good experiences with the Gold Lion KT66.
But I have to admit that I found most of the 6v6 better.
I will not continue to try the 66 with the KT88 SEP.

Have you tried KT77's

[cgn-dt-n]

Originally Posted by nhparrot

Have you tried KT77's

sorry, but I haven't tried the KT77 or the EL34.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything.
but since I have made the best experiences with KT88 and various 6V6 I will not try in this direction

[2bornot2bop]

Originally Posted by Analog Addict

So Bearcity, Straitwire, and myself met up with Dennis last Friday for an afternoon of listening and conversation at the Toyshop....

Untitled by 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.

Untitled by analog addict, on Flickr

Here's some more pix of the modified LP-2030...

Untitled by analog addict, on Flickr

Untitled by 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.

Untitled by 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...

Untitled by 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.

Untitled by 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....

Beautiful components! Does anyone recognize the Red tubes in the center of the grey amp? I’ve never seen them. What are they?