I was able to make another trip to Cary last Friday. My brother was celebrating his 50th at the Durham Widespread Panic shows. A great excuse to take an afternoon to visit the Factory. As usual we started with lunch at Dennis’ favorite sandwich place. Tony (Straitwire) was able to join us. Sadly, Allan (Analog Addict) had just left town. Lunch was great. It is fun listening to Dennis and Tony talk shop. Supply details, orders to be filled, which OPT goes where. Of course most if it is over my head by a mile. Stuffed with a Club sandwich we headed to the shop.
I had talked Dennis, earlier in the week, into keeping one of the new LP-3.1s around. It was sold and ready for shipping but he was nice enough to keep it around for a little longer. I told him I wanted to bring my LP-27a to compare. It turns out he wanted to compare them himself. Also in store was a new creation he has been fine tuning of late. An SET 45/2A3. A really cool addition to Inspire line. Dennis really has made great leaps with his Triode designs. They are no longer the ‘old man’s amp’ of the past with beautiful mids but no sparkle or punch. Somehow he has gotten those flea powered tubes to really provide a complete and rounded presentation. He really is a genius when it comes to audio. This 45/2A3 runs 2watts and 5 watts respectively as I recall. If I was in the market for another amp. This would likely be it.
Back to the preamp comparison. The shop lp-3a was there. The one with the 3 gas regulators. We compared the lp-3.1 with the 3a to start. The dynamics of the 3.1 were markedly better. A very noticeable improvement. Another Inspire winner. BTW, tube complements were identical as I recall. Then we plugged in my lp-27a against the 3.1. Now this was a close match. We were listening really closely. We probably A/B’d them a dozen times. Ultimately they were equal but different. I’m rather tone deaf so your typical audiofile lingo I cannot regurgitate. I did feel that the 27 handled vocals slightly more realistically and the 3.1 the distortion of an electric guitar. Of course this this entire comparison listening to one song over and over. It is likely that another song may have yielded different impressions to my ears. If walking in to buy a preamp and both were sitting there on the shelf I would likely have to flip a coin. When I went I was seriously considering trading in my 27a for a new 3.1. In the end I left with my 27a and no regrets.
We had a ball discussing different subjects and listening to a few other albums. An old friend of Dennis’ dropped by. We played with some DIY folded horn single drives speakers I brought. More on that later and likely on another thread. Much fun was had. As always, I strongly suggest if any of you all are in the Raleigh, NC area, do make it a point to visit the shop. It’s a blast.
Scott
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