Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by manise

Hello,

I own the IFA-1, currently setup with TungSol Reissue EL34, Tungsram ECC85 and RCA 5Z3. I love the sound of the amp, but i am facing an issue... the amp produces a loud hum... you can hear it 8-10 feet from the speakers... I changed the power tubes, rectifier, small tube, all to no effect. Does any of you encounter this issue? What's the remedy to the hum?
I purchased the amp thru the auction site, unfortunately, I live in Singapore and the shipping cost prohibit me from sending the amp to Dennis, for him to check and repair. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JT

Have you tried a cheater plug?

[manise]

Thanks for all the comments/suggestions. I'm in communication with Dennis on solving the issue. I will post the steps and outcome.

JT

[MWalt]

Has anyone else noticed how hot the power transformer on the KT88 Fire Bottle amps get? Mine seems to run way hotter than any of my other tube amps.

[Simonatsea]

I wondered this myself, however Dennis confirms that they are running well within temperature range for the transformers. This might also be a reason why his latest amps use such a huge transformer in the power supply.

[x3workshop]

Originally Posted by MWalt

Has anyone else noticed how hot the power transformer on the KT88 Fire Bottle amps get? Mine seems to run way hotter than any of my other tube amps.

Yes, they run hot, but they reach a point where they seem to stabilize. I had mine running for about 14 hours yesterday as I'm working from home. Reached the 'hot' zone after about 2 hours and stayed at that temp for the rest of the day. The OPT's got quite warm too.

Long term, I don't know what to expect, but am hopeful that it'll be just as good as it is now.

[robert_kc]

Originally Posted by MWalt

I have read nearly every page of this thread and have not seen much reference to those that have used the 6L6GC power tubes.

With my Klipsch RF-7II speakers, and when driven directly by my Oppo universal player, I prefer the sound of my “Inspire ‘Fire Bottle’ SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO” when equipped as follows:

• Substitute GT6L6 GE for KT88
• Substitute 6DJ8 for the 6CG7
• Substitute 6Z34 / 5AR4 for 5U4

[MWalt]

Originally Posted by robert_kc

With my Klipsch RF-7II speakers, and when driven directly by my Oppo universal player, I prefer the sound of my “Inspire ‘Fire Bottle’ SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO” when equipped as follows:

• Substitute GT6L6 GE for KT88
• Substitute 6DJ8 for the 6CG7
• Substitute 6Z34 / 5AR4 for 5U4

I have some GE 6L6GC. I haven't tried them yet, but I will soon. How do you like those Klipsch RF-7II speakers?

[FloridaBoy]

Originally Posted by Twanny

Yes, they run hot, but they reach a point where they seem to stabilize. I had mine running for about 14 hours yesterday as I'm working from home. Reached the 'hot' zone after about 2 hours and stayed at that temp for the rest of the day. The OPT's got quite warm too.

Long term, I don't know what to expect, but am hopeful that it'll be just as good as it is now.

What tubes are you running? With 6L6 or 6V6 tubes mine does not get very hot. I believe we have the same amp.

[jimi55]

I have the 6L6 Fire Bottle. With 6L6 and 5U4G my power transformer stays around 130F. Measured with one of those cheap hand held infrared laser pointers.

[robert_kc]

Originally Posted by MWalt

I have some GE 6L6GC. I haven't tried them yet, but I will soon. How do you like those Klipsch RF-7II speakers?

I think that the Klipsch RF-7 II is an excellent value. When carefully matched with an amp they can achieve a natural sound. (I use a variety of tube amps.) And they are able to handle the dynamics of opera and large scale classical music. They’re not as nice looking as the Palladium, but they’re much less expensive.

Which version of the Firebottle amp do you own? (Apparently there are many variations, and its difficult for me to figure out who owns which amp. Perhaps we should include a brief description of our amp whenever we share our observations about its performance.)

BTW, I'll listen to mine sometime later today, and I will check the transformers for their temperature.