Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[bwilson51]

Originally Posted by FloridaBoy

No worries, they are NOS new production tubes. Give them a go.

Thanks I will give them a try it can get confusing to know what rectifier tube goes with what power tube or driver tube with the preamp.I like the sound of the preamp with 5y3 rectifier tube but the rca one i use I can get some noise when using it as I change sources.My amp comes in today and I am ready to set it up.

[bearcity]

Originally Posted by bwilson51

Thanks I will give them a try it can get confusing to know what rectifier tube goes with what power tube or driver tube with the preamp.I like the sound of the preamp with 5y3 rectifier tube but the rca one i use I can get some noise when using it as I change sources.My amp comes in today and I am ready to set it up.

Maybe I can explain the rectifier thing as I understand it in a remedial way. A rectifier tube changes AC current to DC current for the tubes and amp to run on. 5Y3 has a large voltage drop (Vdrop). 5AR4 a small, meaning the voltage passed to the output tubes is greater for the 5AR4 than the 5Y3. A 5AR4 can pass to much voltage to say a 6V6g but really gives a KT88 what it wants. A 5Y3 will be fine with any output tube. 5AR4 with fewer but in Dennis’s amps almost all. 6f6 (all), 6v6 metal and 6V6g (6V6GTs are fine) should have a 5Y3. Pretty much any 5 volt rectifier with a 5T base (8pin (octal) with specific pin out) will be ok. Here is a link to a rectifier chart.

http://www.fourwater.com/files/fullrect.txt
I might get in trouble for that.

I have not found a lot of difference between same rectifier of different manufacturer but the difference between rectifiers is quite significant. Like all things audio YMMV.

[bwilson51]

I have been playing with my hot rod amp and LP-3.1 preamp today and swapping our tubes.First was Gold Lion KT-88’s with red letter black plate 6sn7gtb and Sylvania 5u4gb.Plenty of bass and very open top end playing my Klipschorns with no hums.I have have amp and preamp power cords going into a core power technologies equi core 180 power conditioner.I then swapped out the KT-88’s for winged C 6l6 and to me I lost some bass .I plan on trying an RCA Mullard 5ar4 and. Russian 5ar4..I also have el-34 and kt-66’s I will try over the weekend.I plan on moving the amp and preamp to another room and using them with a pair of single driver cardersound Madison mkII speakers.Thanks

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by bwilson51

I have been playing with my hot rod amp and LP-3.1 preamp today and swapping our tubes.First was Gold Lion KT-88’s with red letter black plate 6sn7gtb and Sylvania 5u4gb.Plenty of bass and very open top end playing my Klipschorns with no hums.I have have amp and preamp power cords going into a core power technologies equi core 180 power conditioner.I then swapped out the KT-88’s for winged C 6l6 and to me I lost some bass .I plan on trying an RCA Mullard 5ar4 and. Russian 5ar4..I also have el-34 and kt-66’s I will try over the weekend.I plan on moving the amp and preamp to another room and using them with a pair of single driver cardersound Madison mkII speakers.Thanks

The Winged C's, all new tubes actually, will require some hours to settle in.

[bwilson51]

I have been playing my Inspire Hot Rod amp all day and I am using it with my LP-3.1 preamp and both pieces are quiet without any hums or noise though my speakers.No listener fatigue I could continue to listen all night but I am done for now.I would like to thank everyone on this forum for their help.

[bwilson51]

Originally Posted by x3workshop

I see no reason to leave my tube gear on 24/7 unless I'm listening 24/7. That said, I do leave them on for 10-12 hours a day.

How much heat does your amp and preamp have leaving them on that long.I am using KT-66 gold lion with rca 5y3 rectifier tube and the sound is sublime but both the amp and preamp chassis gets very hot.

[sfleming]

Hi everybody.
I've been around a number of audio forums for about 20 years but only recently came across this one in researching the Inspire amps.
Loving the amp so far, even though one of the 6F6 tubes I got from Vivatubes is windy and I'm only currently able to use some winged C EL34s (along with an RCA 5u4g and a Sylvania 6sn7).

I've got a few other input tube possibilities around and of course will start stocking up on some other output tubes.

I've read through the pages here a few times since there's such a great amount of info from people with these amps. Seems like the post volume has slowed down a bit of late, but there's a lot of new Inspire owners from watching the auction site so maybe that'll pick up again.

-Steve

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by sfleming

Hi everybody.
I've been around a number of audio forums for about 20 years but only recently came across this one in researching the Inspire amps.
Loving the amp so far, even though one of the 6F6 tubes I got from Vivatubes is windy and I'm only currently able to use some winged C EL34s (along with an RCA 5u4g and a Sylvania 6sn7).

I've got a few other input tube possibilities around and of course will start stocking up on some other output tubes.

I've read through the pages here a few times since there's such a great amount of info from people with these amps. Seems like the post volume has slowed down a bit of late, but there's a lot of new Inspire owners from watching the auction site so maybe that'll pick up again.

-Steve

I bought mine used about 15 months ago and love it. What speakers is it driving?

[sfleming]

Lowther DX-3 in OB. The two Eminence 15a per side are driven by a Class D amp.
I'm using an actve xo.

I've had a few 2a3 amps over the years for these, and for 1976 Heresys before them, but tore the last ones I made down and parted them out.

Using a Bottlehead SEX as my headamp and it's now doing preamp duty too. I just was feeling I could do a little better than the SEX with the Lowthers given previous experience with a SEP EL34 I built a long time ago and with the 2a3s I'd had.

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by bwilson51

How much heat does your amp and preamp have leaving them on that long.I am using KT-66 gold lion with rca 5y3 rectifier tube and the sound is sublime but both the amp and preamp chassis gets very hot.

I using a quad of 6L6G's with a 5Y3 rectifier and the amp runs warm. Not hot at all.