I was lucky enough to be present yesterday for the listening session. More people, more amps, more insights and much fun. Learned some new things and most important I got to hear the final versions of the Universal amps. To start, I had a realization which I confirmed with Dennis. My prior understanding of the name ‘Universal’ was that it was somehow solving the SET vs SEP dilemma. That was not exactly accurate. The term really comes from the design not being tailored to a given tube. To date all our amps have been made to make the most of and in turn named for a given tube. The Universal circuit is not that way. It is universal in that it is not tailored to a specific tube type. The effect is amazing. When switching tubes you hear immediate and definitive differences. There was no wondering if you are hearing a change. I doubt this was a specific intention but more of a welcome result.
Last I visited just a few weeks ago I was able to hear his Universal 2 channel and one PSE (T) mono. (See previous write up). There was a collective guffaw when we hooked up the PSE (P) 2 channel Inspire. IMHO It rather belittled all the triode strapped circuits. I understand afterword Dennis went back to the shop with a bit of determination. The prototype Universals were not ready for market. They were missing something. They had that midrange magic but not the punch you get from the SEP designs. (BTW, I am not referring to SPL. That is handled by the volume knob.) We all heard it and Dennis was going to apply his genius to this. He was successful, big time. What he has done is add the high and low sparkle and punch to the mid range magic of the triode strapped pentodes. A remarkable achievement. We listened to a Willie Nelson track over and over. There was a weight to Willie’s voice on the Universals not present on on the other amps. Something akin to the depth of his lungs as he belted out the lyric. Hard to explain but not my imagination I assure. A significant improvement.
As Tony (Straitwire) mentioned earlier today here, I tempted fate by bringing along my 2013 KT 66/88/120. This may have been an early attempt by Dennis at a universal design. It has bias switch on it, though, as I recall, it was still designed with the KT 88 as the baseline. I have had Dennis add a second rectifier for the IIPS mod. This is a very unique amp at this point and it has many thousands of hours on it. Hours not easily replaced. I am very attached to it. Would it hold up? It took a few minutes to warm up and a russian 6f6g I brought did not survive the trip but it did get a chance to sing. (Thanks Tony for throwing in some of those metal jacket 6L6s.) The temptation was strong to leave it there. Dennis is working out a trade in policy. Strong temptation. The Universals are that good. They had less than 100 hours on them and were refined well beyond my KT,... and I love that KT amp. The KT went back in the car.
I had wanted to throw in a PSE (P) 2 channel as maybe I would trade in mine. There was a copper tone prototype PSE(P) there in a repurposed organ amp chassis. Sadly I ran out of time. Kids and wife were ready to be picked up so as to complete our journey to the coast. It was a welcome coincidence that I was headed East on the same day the guys were getting together. My awesome wife was nice enough to take the kids to a movie while I went over to the shop for a listen. Sadly I could not stick around for a while longer.
Back to those Universals. I have been writing this off and on today and wondering, was my original understanding of them correct? Do they settle the SET (Single ended beam powered tube wired in a triode configuration. Not to be confused with true Triodes like AA’s 45 & 71a PSEs.) vs SEP Inspire decision? Do they make my PSE or KT amps obsolete? They are something special. I have been rationalizing some both ways. Go ahead and get one, or two. I’m in the middle of a major addition/renovation to my house, it can wait. Back and forth, back and forth. In the end, they do not diminish the quality of mine unless I let them, which I am trying not to do. If I was to order another inspire tomorrow I would get the Universal... and I may.
Scott
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