Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[Simonatsea]

Originally Posted by pstrisik

Congrats & Welcome! .... looking forward to your impressions - I have the same amp, though sounds like there may be some design variation. I haven't tried it in the KT150 yet, though I just got one - Mullard made (branded different though) 5AR4. Brent Jessee, the seller, calls it a 7 notch 5AR4. I had bought one for my SLP-05 and perceived a noticable difference in smoothness and ease (compared with a very cheap 5AR4 that came with it). This one's not a cheap tube though. $135. If you are interested, scroll down on this page: audiotubes.com/audtube.htm Audiophile Tube Price List to where it says "5AR4/GZ34 Mullard Great Britain 7-notch copper lined plates, short bottle" He has been good to work with and has some nice descriptions of tube brands, features, and sounds. Oh, and the important question....................... what color are you getting?

That Mullard 5ar4 is supposed to be one of the best. I just received my eml 5u4 mesh plate.... I had previously been running the sovtek 5y3 that Dennis included. I was listening to the Black keys "brothers" albumn and was blown away by the dynamics and texture that the inspire 6v6 had given to the album.... Equipt with a full music 6sl7 , a pair of penta kt88's and the 5y3. Truly fell in love with the LP for the first time. I then swapped out the 5y3 for the eml 5u4, well its like somebody took their foot off the gas pedal. The energy and drive was gone the texture that gave me chills faded. It was replaced by a holographic 3D image though. Gotta give it time, it may not have the power and grit I was getting from the cheap 5 y3 but it has an amazing quality of expanding the sound stage in all directions. Time to let the eml burn in a bit.

Initial impressions of my two driver tubes, I have fallen in love with my full music 6sl7 compared to my shuguang treasures cv181z. No questions, sound stage, clarity, dynamics, air. The full music is a great driver tube....

Still undecided on the eml 5u4, love the penta kt88's for power, tone and texture.

Just popped the 6v6 gold lions in for a listen..... Smooth and natural with the eml 5u4 and the full music 6sl7....

Gotta say I am sold on this wee power amp! Who would have thunk it would transform everything I thought i knew about my system..... New appreciation for every component i my system, might be because I am finally able to hear their potential.

[Simonatsea]

My new eml 5u4 burning away. Full music 6sl7 and penta kt88's

[Simonatsea]

Tube rolling fun!

[Loop4fun]

Simon, Where did you source this Full Music tube? I see some pairs on Ebay.
Your room looks great!

[Simonatsea]

I purchased it from parts connection at their bargain basement sale, only had one left, $37 canadian! Couldn't resist

[nhparrot]

Does Dennis include an owners manual and a list of recommended swappable tubes with the amps when shipped?

[Simonatsea]

Better shot of my listening space.... As you can see the room is far from ideal, but Dennis' wizardry of amp design has really blown me away with how good my setup can sound.

[Simonatsea]

Originally Posted by nhparrot

Does Dennis include an owners manual and a list of recommended swappable tubes with the amps when shipped?

No documentation at all, but he seems more than happy to answer emails regarding the like. He sent me the picture of all the tube swapping specs for the 6v6 amp when I asked. For the comparably little money we've paid for these amps the level of one on one service is amazing, its like having a legendary personal amp builder in your back pocket... I don't think you'll find that too many places.

[nhparrot]

Originally Posted by Simonatsea

No documentation at all, but he seems more than happy to answer emails regarding the like. He sent me the picture of all the tube swapping specs for the 6v6 amp when I asked. For the comparably little money we've paid for these amps the level of one on one service is amazing, its like having a legendary personal amp builder in your back pocket... I don't think you'll find that too many places.

Simon - I guess it is up to members of the "Inspire family" to maintain and spread the body of knowledge. I recently sold an amp that has been out of production for quite a while and the body of knowledge on it was maintained and spread by owners on a yahoo forum.

[Aercool]

Originally Posted by Simonatsea

Better shot of my listening space.... As you can see the room is far from ideal, but Dennis' wizardry of amp design has really blown me away with how good my setup can sound.

You should really send in your pic (if you haven't already) to Zu Audio's "Free Lunch Friday" promotion to win some stuff. Looks like yours could be a winner!