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Inspire by Dennis Had Enjoying Vacuum Tube Audio

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  #3071  
Old 12-26-2016, 10:10 PM
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x3workshop - one of the most well-reasoned posts on listening that I've read. What works for one does not necessarily for another. We all have our own ears.
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  #3072  
Old 12-26-2016, 10:17 PM
Musica Amantem Musica Amantem is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x3workshop View Post
I think everyone listens differently. I don't mean that we all 'hear' differently, that's a given, but that our listening criteria are vastly different.

I'm assuming that you're commenting on the fact that Dennis's listening space isn't super carefully thought out since his life has been about music reproduction? Maybe it is and that's the beauty of the Inspire gear. It's made to enhance the experience in almost any space. Of course treatments and speaker placement improve the acoustics. No question.

I know you are a very critical listener who, from what I surmise from your posts, prefers absolute accuracy and balance of reproduction with the least bit of interference from a room. *Please correct me if I am mistaken.*

I think it is genre dependent as well. An opera or classical listener will have different criteria than a Folk, Jazz, or Rock listener will. I don't know what Dennis's tastes are, so I can't comment.

Curious to hear other's thoughts as well.
You raise good points. I agree. I just assumed his meticulous design and implementation work would be accompanied by similar listening demands. I have experienced significant improvement even with modest room conditioning tweaks and devices, but that's just me.
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  #3073  
Old 12-26-2016, 10:48 PM
x3workshop x3workshop is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Musica Amantem View Post
You raise good points. I agree. I just assumed his meticulous design and implementation work would be accompanied by similar listening demands. I have experienced significant improvement even with modest room conditioning tweaks and devices, but that's just me.
I'm curious to hear what you've done.

I have a very well carpeted living room and bedroom - heavy Persian & Berber carpets over heavy felt pads- mostly out of respect for my downstairs neighbors, but it also enhances the sound. Twelve foot ceilings, tall windows with only shear curtains that I rarely pull across. I have no sound dampening on any walls.

It actually works pretty well. I have a passive attenuator for my sub next to my pre that I can adjust depending on the music & recording if I need to tailor the low end, which I do often.
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  #3074  
Old 12-27-2016, 12:07 AM
Musica Amantem Musica Amantem is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x3workshop View Post
I'm curious to hear what you've done.

I have a very well carpeted living room and bedroom - heavy Persian & Berber carpets over heavy felt pads- mostly out of respect for my downstairs neighbors, but it also enhances the sound. Twelve foot ceilings, tall windows with only shear curtains that I rarely pull across. I have no sound dampening on any walls.

It actually works pretty well. I have a passive attenuator for my sub next to my pre that I can adjust depending on the music & recording if I need to tailor the low end, which I do often.
Nothing fancy, mostly a trial-and-error effort. I moved relatively recently and had to dial-in the new listening room's sound by combining diffussors and absorption pannels. One lateral wall has windows and I have heavy curtains with black-out lining which fold enough to also provide some diffusion, but mostly absorbs.

The opposite wall is bare masonry so I have a battery of four diffusor pannels, on simple wooden stands, one next to the other, from the first speaker impact all the way to the corner. On that side, the speaker requires more toe-in than the one on the curtains side since there is an opening hallway to the back on that side

I use 2 inch thick polystyrene foam pannels in all corners. In this room, I've found I do not need my SUB anymore as my floorstanders provide just the amount of bass I apppreciate. I also have a persian rug in front of the speakers to lessen floor reflections/vibrations.

No big deal, but I don't get any buzzing or echoeing, and the sound is pretty balanced. I also slightly lift up the front of the speakers to have them project the musicians in a more human scale, otherwise their sounds, especially vocals, come from under the top of the speakers, which make them seem as smaller scale than in real life. Sounstage is wide and overall lively. It's a work in progress yet, but it is going in the right direction.

Last edited by Musica Amantem; 12-27-2016 at 12:09 AM.
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  #3075  
Old 12-27-2016, 07:51 AM
x3workshop x3workshop is offline
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I think I may simply prefer a more 'live' sounding living room space. It definitely makes speaker placement something not to be ignored, but it allows me to live with the music and not be restricted to a single seat in order to appreciate it. Running ESL's in there so dipole reflections can make or break the sound.

My bedroom setup is much more uncolored. Along with the heavy carpets, I have one carpet hung vertically behind the headboard of the bed. It makes for a 'closer' studio sound which works for my Rega R7's. There, I am in one spot for the most part.

I spend a lot of time in mix studios because of my work, and the guys know which room I prefer to work in for a TV mix as opposed to movies because it actually has flaws. More of a real life setup I think.

For a film mix, it has to be a dedicated, carefully designed, larger room. The only way to mix music and dialogue for film. The bigger the better.

Last edited by x3workshop; 12-27-2016 at 09:18 AM.
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  #3076  
Old 12-28-2016, 12:25 AM
Musica Amantem Musica Amantem is offline
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I think it depends on the specific listening room characteristics. I've found in my new setup if I don't diffuse or absorb some of the high frequencies these may be too much for my taste. I also have heavy padding behind my softspot, covering about a third of the wall's surface from the floor to certainly well above my head.

IME, the trick in smaller rooms, like mine, are diffusors: These offer livelyness without the reflecting issues. It also helps to have a flat frequency distribution pattern from the speakers, without emphasis in the midrange, as some do.

Last edited by Musica Amantem; 12-28-2016 at 03:27 AM.
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  #3077  
Old 12-28-2016, 06:20 PM
findthomas findthomas is offline
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Folks,

Been lurking in AA for sometime, primarily in the Mc forum.

Having read through this forum on Dennis' amp designs, I thought I'd give his Dragon IHA-1 amp a try. See attached image.

So far the sq of this IHA-1 from Dennis is *very* impressive. (I'm new to tubes).
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File Type: jpg Inspire-IHA1.jpg (11.2 KB, 23 views)
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  #3078  
Old 12-28-2016, 07:17 PM
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Welcome thomas.
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  #3079  
Old 12-28-2016, 07:31 PM
pstrisik pstrisik is offline
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Hello findthomas and welcome. I'm not a serious headphone user so haven't looked much at his headphone amp. I'm sure it is every bit as good as his power amps!

I see that it optionally comes with a preamp out making it versatile as well. Stock tubes or something exotic? I once had one of Dennis' previous flagships, the SLP-05 and a combo of Sylvania Chrome Dome vintage RCA 6SN7 was my choice. It used a bunch of tubes, so I had the flexibility of mixing brands. The Sylvanias were clear and more forward, the RCAs warmer and more laid back.

If you catch the rolling fever, you will at least be limited in variations compared to the SEP amps!
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  #3080  
Old 12-28-2016, 07:33 PM
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Well, I guess I made it onto the nice list this year. Santa gifted me a LP-27a Special Edition to pair with my PSE. My sweet wife told Dennis to give it the Works. I haven't spoken with him yet to find out what SE options were included. Cannot say I have a real good handle on it yet. It is very different than my LP-2 and LP-3a. I like it but I am not sure why. Less gain but more linear volume control which I am sure has much to do withe the stepped attenuator. I think it is considerably more transparent. Anyway, I am one happy boy. Pretty sure it is going to ultimately cost me a diamond or two.
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